“That’s because I am older.A whole twenty minutes, right, Dante?”Casper reached across her to shove Dante in a universally bro way.
“Not that you ever let me forget it.”Dante’s voice was tight and fierce.Not something she had ever expected.It occurred to her that despite the time, there was so much she didn’t know about him, about his life.The little snippets she’d caught on their text chain weren’t enough.
“What’s up with you today?”Casper voiced her own feelings.“Missing ship life already?”He leaned over Ellery, as if intending for their bodies to be too close in the back seat.“Or just missing the ship sex?”
Dante slashed him with a murderous look.Ellery’s heart raced as she glanced into the front seat where the driver was decidedly not looking at them all.
“Here,” the driver said, stopping the car abruptly.He tapped the sign hanging over the back of the front passenger seat, which readIt don’t mean a thing if it ain’t 5 Stars.
Casper tapped the tip and rating buttons on his app, opened the door, and helped Ellery out.Good.She didn’t have any interest in hanging around for some family feud.
She climbed out of the car and glanced around the streets of the Gaslamp District.Redbrick shops and clubs and bars, people milling around in the pedestrian-only zone.She wrapped her arms around her chest, squeezing in the warmth.She should have chosen a thicker jacket.Who knew it would be cooler in San Diego than Los Angeles?
She heard the car take off, likely for its next fare.If she had to spend the evening with Dante and his brother fighting like toddlers, at least they could find some decent music here.
“Where do you want to go?”Casper placed his hands on his hips and looked up and down the street, his expression open and eager.“I could definitely use a drink.”
“Whatever.”Dante, in contrast, stood with hands in the pockets of his jeans, looking everywhere but at her.
She sighed, using her ears to guide her toward what was hopefully a decent concert.
Dante matched her pace, his gait more determined than willing.What was up with him?“Are you okay?”Ellery bit her lip and rubbed her palms against her arms.
“I’m fine.Everything’s fine.”
Which meant nothing was fine.
“So,” Casper said, in a clear attempt to lighten the mood.“Where are you staying, Ellery?”
She shrugged in response.The good music was getting louder, which seemed like an oasis in the desert of Dante’s conversation.“I don’t know.I figured I’d drive back to LA tonight.Beat the traffic.”
“Oh, no way!I can ask my parents if you can stay with us at the hotel.”
Dante scoffed so loudly it practically reverberated through Ellery’s bones.
Enough of this.She stopped in the middle of the street and whirled.“Do you want me to leave?”
He had the decency to look chagrined.“What?”
Casper stepped out of the line of fire and busied himself with his phone.
At least one of them was being mature.Ellery crossed her arms over her chest.“Do you want me to leave?You’ve barely said three words to me all day.I thought you wanted me to come.But I’m not going to hang around where I’m not wanted.I skipped out on overtime at the store for this because I thought you wanted to see me.If I hit the 405 right now, I can be home and in my own bed in less than three hours.So.”She jutted her hip to one side.“If you want to fight with you family, who flew here from Seattle to see you, then fine.No harm done.We’re friends, right?”
Dante stared into the ground, like his eyesight could cause fractures in the space-time continuum.Good.Maybe they could go back to before that night at the bar when her life changed irrevocably.
Tears stung at the backs of Ellery’s eyes, but she didn’t know why.She didn’t have time to figure it out.“Fine.Good night.Casper, it was great meeting you.”
She stalked down the street, her vision blurry in the weird light from the combination of faux gas lamps and restaurants’ low lighting.This had been a giant mistake.A whirlwind of a mistake.Hurricane level five mistake.
“Ellery, wait!”
A warm hand slid around her arm, firm and comforting.She stopped, the soles of her sneakers squeaking against the pavement.She couldn’t look at him,wouldn’tlook at him.
Even as her heart begged her to.
Who was she kidding?Her heart didn’t know what it wanted.They were friends.That was all.This was only the second time they’d ever met in person.Two years of texts and emails and the rare video chat made a friendship.A shared love of music.
Nothing else.
