I wish Ellie looked at me with the amount of lust her sister does. Hell, I wish she looked at me in general.
The thought of Ellie already being in a relationship crossed my mind. I’d dismissed it after watching her with those guys the first time I saw her, but maybe I was wrong. My hands clench into fists at the thought of Ellie’s boyfriend. I hated the guy more than I’d ever hated anyone, and I didn’t even know if he existed yet.
Aunt Janice pulled me from my nightmarish thoughts with another sigh. “I still worry about you overdoing it. Make sure you drink lots of water. Don’t overheat.”
“I’m not a car, Aunt Janice,” I said.
I kissed the top of her head, then headed outside, praying today would be the day that Ellie and I would finally speak.
It wasn’t. At least, not then. I did my workout as normal with no interruptions. Ellie was nowhere to be seen.
Angela checked the mail twice.
Aunt Janice was right about the heat. No matter how much water I guzzled during my workout I was still dying of thirst. I grabbed another ice-cold bottle from the fridge before hitting the shower. As I drank, I glanced out my bedroom window at the house across the street.
Ellie’s bedroom was directly across from mine. She had a tendency to leave her window open with the shade all the way up, and that habit, I hate to say, was turning me into some kind of stalker. I’d even broken down and found my binoculars. I couldn’t not look. A person’s room says so much about them, and I needed to know everything I could about Ellie if I was going to make her mine.
I didn’t notice Ellie until I’d emptied my water bottle. She was standing in her window looking right at me. Our gazes met and a rush of adrenaline surged my veins. It was the first time we’d made eye contact. But as quickly as we’d noticed each other, she ducked out of sight.
She scrambled away like she was embarrassed. It was almost like she thought I’d caught her staring at me and not the other way around. Hope sprang inside me.
Had
I caught her staring? Was it possible she watched me the way I did her?
I waited. I had to know if she’d look again.
Come on, Ellie. Look again. Look at me
. I willed it to happen. Even just a tiny peek and I’d be able to tell something of her thoughts. I’m extremely good at reading people.
Sure enough, Ellie slowly stepped back into view. She was far enough away that I couldn’t read the expression on her face, but I could tell she was startled to see me still standing there. I could tell she was embarrassed. It was enough. Whether she’d been watching me, or just happened to notice me, she’d taken a minute to check me out. I was sure of it. And judging from the level of discomfort she displayed, she liked what she saw. She may have even had a few dirty thoughts. I hoped so. It’d make us a little more even.
I wasn’t sure how someone could have such an effect on me, but my entire body felt alive with reckless energy just knowing that she was looking at me. That she was thinking about me at that very moment. I liked that—liked it too much, maybe.
I thought she’d duck away again but she surprised me and waved as if embracing her guilt. It was sheepish and defiant at the same time—as though she felt shy for the first time in her life and didn’t quite know how to handle it.
The idea that I could make a confident girl like Ellie feel shy was so hot that I couldn’t return her wave. It was too casual a gesture for the kinds of thoughts I was entertaining right then.
Our moment was over too quickly. Something or someone startled her so badly she practically jumped out of her skin. Considering her parents both worked, I knew who that someone probably was.
With our moment officially over, I went to get ready for my day, trying to come up with a good way to approach her. Because I couldn’t wait for her to come to me anymore. Not after that. Not now that I knew she’d noticed me. Today was the day. One way or another, I was going to talk to the girl of my dreams.
It didn’t happen like I expected. It was only about forty-five minutes after I’d seen Ellie in her window. I’d managed to shower and do my hair, but getting dressed had been trickier. I didn’t know what kinds of guys Ellie liked and I absolutely didn’t want to make the wrong impression.
It was clear that I was her sister Angela’s type, and I was pretty sure that in Ellie’s opinion that would count as a strike against me. I needed something that might suggest there was more to me than good looks and a nice car. Jeans were obviously a given, but I didn’t own a sports jersey of any kind—Ellie’s standard attire—so I figured since we had the same taste in music, a t-shirt of my favorite local LA band would be good. It could be a good conversation starter.
I’d just splashed on a little cologne when I heard what I’d come to recognize as the sound of skates jumping the curb. I wandered over to my window and sure enough, Ellie was standing on her driveway looking like she’d just come back from a good, long workout.
This was perfect. She had no car, and an obvious weakness for ice cream, and she was currently dying of the heat. I was betting that if I went down there and asked her if there was some great local ice-cream place nearby she wouldn’t be able to turn me down, even if she wasn’t interested in me.
She took off her helmet and wiped at the sweat on her brow—a gesture I found unreasonably endearing—but then she looked up startled. She threw her hands out in front of her and yelled, “Bruno, no! Stay! Bad dog!”
The dog was big and looked fierce. He had clipped ears and a stub for a tail like a pit bull. I’m no dog expert, but this couldn’t be good. I’d learned about dog attacks when working with a K-9 unit once in Los Angeles. After watching what those police dogs could do to a full-grown man, I stay clear of them. But I wasn’t about to let one eat my future girlfriend.
I didn’t even think, really. I just reacted on instinct. I grabbed my Taser, which I always keep on hand since Aunt Janice won’t let me carry a gun, and ran downstairs. By the time I came flying out the front door, Ellie was on the ground unconscious and the dog was on top of her. The thing went for her face and I didn’t hesitate. I stunned that dog into next Tuesday.
The dog yelped and fell to the ground, but he’d be fine eventually. I was more worried about Ellie. There was a decent sized pool of blood staining her driveway. She’d cracked her head open pretty hard, but on the bright side she was already awake.
Her gaze looked a little rattled still, but when she noticed me hunched over her she was able to focus her eyes on me. Such a pretty hazel. More green than brown, with tiny flecks of gold in them. They were beautiful eyes. I couldn’t believe I was finally getting to stare into them.
“Hi Ellie,” I said. “It’s nice to meet you.”
I couldn’t keep the smile off my face. This was so not the way I’d imagined introducing myself to her, and yet, somehow, it seemed appropriate that our first meeting involved weapons and a lot of blood.
Ellie apparently didn’t appreciate the unusual circumstances of our meeting, because she shrieked like a banshee. She must have been confused from the bonk on the head because she looked up at me with sheer panic in her eyes and immediately began pushing me away.
“Easy there, Ellie,” I said, trying to sound calm. She was going to hurt herself even more if she didn’t lie still. There was a lot of blood and I needed to stop it. The only thing I had was my shirt—ironic considering how long I’d taken to pick it out.
With a sigh I yanked it over my head and pressed it to her wound. She screamed again, but after a moment she seemed to understand a little better what was happening and began to calm down. Once the fear had subsided, she groaned. I couldn’t blame her. She probably had a killer of a headache and all that screaming couldn’t have helped anything.
“Ellie! What the freak is with the screaming? I’m on the phone!”
I’d forgotten about the older sister. I was really hoping to get to know Ellie a little before I had to interact with the vulture, but I supposed in this situation it couldn’t be helped.
I suppressed a sigh as Angela approached. She screamed a blood-curdling scream that sounded nearly identical to Ellie. I guess they were related after all.
“Don’t worry, she’ll be all right,” I assured Angela. “But she’s going to need stitches.”
“They’re blue,” Ellie said suddenly. “Deep, dark, ocean blue.” I had no clue what she was talking about until she added, “Gorgeous, just like the rest of him.”
I nearly laughed outright. Not that I wasn’t equal parts thrilled and relieved to know that she was as attracted to me as I was to her, but this was hardly the time to flirt. She must have hit her head hard.
I waved my finger in front of her face and she moaned like she was about to throw up. “She may have a concussion, too,” I said to her sister. “We should get her to a hospital. Are your parents home?”
Angela had been staring at the blood on the ground, but snapped out of her trance at the sound of my voice. She finally came rushing over beside me. “They’re both at work!” she cried, nearly hysterical.
“Obvious much, Ang?” Ellie asked. I followed Ellie’s gaze to where her sister was ever-so-delicately clinging to me. This time I did laugh. Out loud. Even in her concussed state she managed a disgusted smirk.
The sisters glared at one another for a moment, but then Ellie’s focus slipped and she started blinking. She needed medical attention. I plastered Angela’s hand to the shirt against Ellie’s head. “Hold this,” I said. I hoped she’d be able to follow at least that much instruction until I came back. I had my doubts, though, so I hurried just in case.
I burst through my front door moments later with the unconscious dog in my arms and my aunt jumped up from the table. “Seth? What on
Earth
—”
“It’s a dog. I tased it. It attacked the girl across the street.”
“It attacked…” My aunt’s voice trailed off, horrified. She ran to open the back door for me. “Is she all right?”
“It didn’t bite her,” I assured her as I laid the dog on the back porch. “But she hit her head. I think she has a concussion.” I ran into the laundry room and grabbed the first shirt I could find. “The dog has a collar. Could you call its owner while I drive the girl to the hospital?”
“Of course.” Aunt Janice followed me to the front door. “Do you need help getting her there?”
“Her sister’s outside. We should be fine.”
“Okay. I’ll call the girl’s parents. Her mother gave me her phone number when we moved in. Which sister was it?”
“The redhead.”
Aunt Janice nodded as if unsurprised. “She’s an interesting one, isn’t she?”
I didn’t realize I was grinning until Aunt Janice gave me a sly look. “Of course,” she said with a playful sigh. “The redhead. I should have known.” She looked around the hideous, non-air conditioned house. “It all makes sense now.”
“Goodbye, Aunt Janice!”
Outside, Angela actually had managed to keep pressure on her sister’s head. “You know where there’s a hospital?” I asked, giving her my keys.
“Uh, just a mile or two from here.”
“Good. I’ll get her. You drive.”
Carefully, I scooped Ellie into my arms. All I can say is it’s a good thing I work out. Ellie must be made of all muscle. I could feel how skinny she was beneath her baggy clothes, but she was far from a lightweight. Suddenly, however inappropriate it may have been at the time, I was imagining what it would be like to get into a good wrestling match with her. I would
love
to try it.
I was snapped from my daydream by another scream. “There’s so much blood!”
I glanced back at the driveway. It wasn’t as bad as I’d originally thought. “I’ve seen a lot worse.”
“You’ve seen worse?”
“She’s got plenty left. Trust me. Can you open the door for me?”
As I climbed in the car Angela asked, “Doesn’t blood stain? You’re going to get it all over your car.”
Instantly, an image from my nightmares flashed in my mind. “Wouldn’t be the first time,” I muttered.
I tried to push away the memory as I crawled in the back and carefully adjusted Ellie in my lap. I pushed the shirt to the back of her head again and tried to ignore the blood. This was not the same situation, and this was definitely not the time to have a panic attack.
“W-what d-do you mean not the first time?” Ellie whispered.
She sounded weak. Tired. But she nuzzled her face against my chest and my years-ago accident was forgotten. “Shh,” I said, giving her a wink I hoped she found comforting. Then I snapped, “Just hurry, okay?” to Angela, who had yet to move the car.
When we turned the corner out of our neighborhood onto the main road Ellie groaned and her eyes rolled in back of her head. “Ellie,” I whispered, giving her a gentle shake. She didn’t wake up, so I slapped her cheek with just enough force to wake her up. If there was one thing I knew about head injuries, it was that you weren’t supposed to go to sleep if you had one. “Oh, no you don’t,” I said, smiling from relief when she opened her eyes. “No falling asleep.”
“Can’t help it,” she murmured, melting like butter against me. “I’m so tired and you’re so comfortable.”
She fit so perfectly against me that it was almost as if she were made for me. If I weren’t worried about her physical well-being I could have held her like that forever. As it was, even bleeding all over me, I wouldn’t have given back this moment for anything. I fought a shudder and pulled her tighter against me.