“He kept texting me. The first time I asked who it was and he told me Beckett. I said, like Ellie’s Beckett? And he got really short with me and sent this text about how I shouldn’t think of him like that anymore. Needless to say I was a little confused. Then he ate lunch with me one day and he was really flirty, but I was mostly freaked out. I mean, he wasBeckett. I’ve had a crush on him since I met you, but he’s always been, you know, off limits. He texted me later and asked if I was Ok with everything and if something was wrong like he had a right to know what was going on in my life. So I asked him what his problem was and he said he had fun the other night and he wanted to do it again. Then I told him I had no idea what happened the other night or what he was talking about.”
“Oh, no.” I sighed.
“Yeah, he did not take that well. And he’s been yelling at me ever since.” B sounded exhausted by the whole thing and I wondered if he had hurt her yet or just really confused her.
“Are you Ok?” I asked just as we reached the door to our apartment.
“I will be when he moves on,” she admitted. “Els, he’s hot, but he’s a little bit exasperating.”
“Tell me about it.” I rolled my eyes even though there was no way she could see me through the recliner and then nudged the door open with my hip. We readjusted the recliner again and then again and then one more time before we squeezed it into the doorway at an odd angle.
Fin and Jameson were stealing water bottles out of the refrigerator and all conversation died as soon as we walked in the door.
“Hey!” I yelled at them. “She said she would buy you beer and pizza, stop stealing my water!”
“Els, I don’t think Fin’s here for beer and pizza,” Britte stage whispered from across the chair.
We were still having trouble getting it through the door. We were stuck and I was smashed against the L shaped wall and the chair.
“What makes you say that?” I asked, my back was to Fin and I felt his heated stare on my ass.
“It’s probably the drool that’s been dripping down his chin since he saw you in those short shorts this morning,” she waggled her eyebrows at me.
I growled at her and then asked, “Hey Fin, what are you doing?” I shot Britte a smug look although I didn’t really know what I was expecting.
“Ogling you,” he said simply.
Britte snickered and I heard Jameson cough into his hand.
“Could you stop?” I gritted out.
“Probably not.”
A cleared my throat, willing my cheeks to stop blushing and asked, “Then could you at least ogle me over here? We need some help!”
I heard him move off the kitchen counter but he still said, “Only if you promise to ogle me back.” He stopped just behind me so that his body heated warmed my back.
“And here I thought we were getting good at being friends,” I said flippantly.
He reached down next to me, lifting the chair out of my hands. I let it go easily but he still stalled my retreat by whispering in my ear, “Not friends, Ellie. Never friends.”
I shivered, letting his words sink into my skin. I wasn’t going to let things get beyond flirting, not again, but it didn’t mean I didn’t love every moment of his attention.
“What do you think, Britte?” Fin asked as he shouldered most of the weight of the chair and guided it into the apartment. “Is Ellie ogling me? Is she holding up her part of the deal?”
“I think she’s been holding up her part of the deal since you showed up this morning,” Britte answered dryly.
I was probably going to kill her.
If Beckett didn’t get around to it first.
“I regret letting you move in with me already.” I threw her a nasty look and then joined Jameson in the kitchen. “J and I are deciding on pizza and you two aren’t allowed to vote. Don’t worry though, roomie, I have Fin’s credit card memorized.”
“I thought I was getting paid for this good deed?” Fin called back in while Britte directed him around the room with the chair.
“You were. But you’re not anymore,” I explained.
“I don’t have to pay for any of this, do I?” Jameson asked. He sounded annoyed but he’d been wearing a permanent grin all day.
