So, she started at the beginning. All those months ago, when she’d met Elias at Marco’s, when Avian invited her to that party. She hadn’t been lying when she’d told her friend he was attractive, but she hadn’t had any ideas of anything beyondthinking about it. She had also, admittedly, been a bad party guest because she had not approached him to congratulate him as the guest of honor. Even then, there was something about him, and Eri had decided to keep her distance.
She might have gotten off scot-free if Avian hadn’t disappeared into the house for a minute, because it was then that he’d approached her during a lull in their dominoes game.
“I’ve been trying to think of the best time to introduce myself, and every time I decide, you seem to be further away from me. If I didn’t know better, I’d say you were avoiding me.”
Eri shifted her attention to the person who’d just joined her against the house as she people-watched after Bianca had left Marco’s orbit. Not that she needed to. She already knew who it was. For some unknown reason, she’d thought she could leave the event without talking to this man, at least without talking to him directly or with the buffer of her friend and his cousin.
It was a conscious effort on her part not to react to the timbre of his voice. His accent was less prevalent than Marco’s, likely because he’d been younger when they’d moved, but it was still slightly noticeable.
Eri knew he was aware she had been avoiding him. There was no other reason for him to bring the possibility up if he hadn’t already put it together. She’d caught him looking at her a few times, and unlike with most others since the incident, she hadn’t disliked it. Which only added to her resolve to stay away from him. However, she wouldn’t give him the satisfaction of knowing that.
“I don’t know you to avoid you.”
He smirked at her. “I need to change that. I’m Elias,” he introduced, holding his hand out to her as if Avian hadn’t made general introductions when she arrived.
Eri contemplated not giving him her name, but there was no point when he already knew it, and if he’d forgotten, he couldfind out from Marco because she knew Avian would not tell him if she asked her not to.
“Eri,” she responded, taking his hand to shake it, but he brought her hand up and kissed the back of it. She pulled her hand from his and refrained from glaring at him. A reflex to his action, to the strange feeling she was having.
“Now you know me.”
“Not really,” she countered.
“You wanna let me change that?” he asked. Eri was saved from answering as someone called his name and gestured for him to come over. “I’ll let you think about it,” he told her before heading off to where he’d been summoned.
Eri went to the drinks table. She felt eyes on her, and she knew they were his. She grabbed a drink, and soon, Bianca and another girl were standing in front of her.
“Don’t feel too special. He’s like that with everyone,” Bianca stated.
“Not with you, it seems,” Eri countered. “And why do you care? Is trying to jump on dicks that don’t want you a hobby of yours?”
Both women glared at her, and Eri didn’t know why the other woman was so pissed, but maybe it was birds of a feather and all of that.
“I’m not trying to, and I could have whatever man I wanted.”
Eri snorted because she’d seen four at that domino table that Bianca could not. The other woman just hadn’t read their energy or been able to pick up what they were putting down. “If you say so, Briana,” she stated, knowing full well that wasn’t her name, as Avian joined them.
“After that, anytime I saw him, I was determined to keep him at bay, but…” she trailed off.
“But something changed,” Cherell supplied. Eri nodded. “Tell me about it.”
She hugged the pillow closer. “The more I pushed and was mean to him, the more he just took it in stride. He never overstepped any boundaries, visible or otherwise. It’s like he knows what I need, what makes me comfortable.” She paused. “And the feeling that I would get when I was around him — I finally figured it out. It’s stupid butterflies in the pit of my stomach. Like I’m some little girl with a first crush.”
Cherell smiled at her. “That’s a good thing. It means that you aren’t bogged down by the events of that night. Those butterflies are proof that you are allowing yourself to feel and enjoy. The fact that you can pinpoint that feeling is a major step.”
Eri knew she was right, but something about it scared her. She felt it made her too vulnerable, too susceptible to being hurt or judged.
“Tell me about your date,” Cherell requested.
“We’ve sort of been on three.”
“Sort of?”
Eri nodded. “The first time we ran into each other at a restaurant and he asked me to have lunch with him. We went to a party the second time, but Avian and her husband were there; the third time, he took me to Electric Playhouse.”
“Did you have fun all three times?”
“I did,” Eri affirmed.
