“Felix?” Elijah feigns confusion, cocking his head to the side as he peers up at Bennett.A brief appearance of slight irritation flashes over Bennett’s features, but then he returns his charming smile and his kind blue eyes.
He adjusts his backwards baseball cap and nods.“The bunny I won for you. The one you kissed me on the cheek for.”
I know I must look like a possessive teenage boy with the way I’m glaring, but the thought of Elijah’s lips being anywhere near this asshole has a fire igniting in me—and not the kind of fire that normally leads to Elijah crying out in pleasure.
“Ohh,” Elijah concedes, his fingers fiddling with the wrapped silverware on the table in front of him. “ThatFelix. I think I left him in my car?”
I’m unsure if that’s true or not; it’s obvious he’s just trying to get under Bennett’s skin.
“Can we order now?” I interrupt, andfinally,Bennett’s eyes fall onto me. “We have things to do.”
“Rowan,” Bennett greets, and his voice is laced with venom. “I’m surprised you’re not sitting in your truck outside. That’s where you like to sit, right? When you’re taking unauthorized photos of innocent people?”
The worst part of this whole situation is that I think that Bennett genuinely believes he’s protecting Elijah. Our entire lives, he’s thought I was weird and snobby, and now he’s caught me borderline stalking the guy. So all of his anger and pettiness are valid in his eyes.
But unfortunately for him, I find it difficult to sympathize with his point of view when he’s constantly trying to take Elijah from me and forcing him to do things that make him uncomfortable.
“Sometimes I stand behind trees,” I counter, and Elijah stifles his laughter behind his hand.
“Charming.” Bennett glares.
“I’ll take a water," is all I say in return.
He nods as he turns and leaves, heading to the drink station. We have no time to debrief before someone else makes an appearance.
“Eli! How are you, cutie?” Kandi, whom I recognize as the grocery store owner’s daughter, though I’ve never directly spoken to her, appears from thin air.
“Hi, Kandi,” Elijah smiles sweetly. “I’m doing great. How are you?”
“Good!” Black-lined brown eyes turn to focus on me, and she grins even wider. “Is this your boyfriend? I didn’t know you were dating a local.”
She must know who I am as well, and from her appraising look, I don’t believe she shares the same prejudices as the rest of the town.
“Paws off, Kandi,” Elijah jokes, and I flush at the realization that he didn’t discount herboyfriendcomment.
“No worries,” she giggles. “I have a man on campus. Rowan is quite the looker, though, lucky you for snagging him.” Kandi pats Elijah’s shoulder before shooting me another wide smile. “Have a good breakfast!”
Then she’s off, and Elijah is sighing.
“Maybe I come here too often. Everyone seems to know me.”
“Maybe,” I shrug. “I guess you’ll need to be chaperoned from now on.”
“Oh, really?” Elijah leans onto the table, a mischievous smile working its way over his pillowy lips. A singular dimple begins to make itself known, and it feels like I’ve won a prize.
“Yep. I think I’ll need to follow you around permanently. Ya know, for safety reasons.”
To this, Elijah laughs loudly. “Still planning on taking sneaky pics of me, Row?”
“Am I allowed to?”
“Now,” he starts, waving a disapproving finger at me. “When did my opinion in the matter ever hold any weight for you?”
The jabshouldsting—I should be concerned that he thinks I don’t value his opinion. But the twinkle in his eyes tells me he’s not serious.
“Valid point. Then yes, I do.”
Elijah shakes his head, grinning down at his hands as a soft blush begins to dust his cheeks. It appears he’s not opposed to the idea.
