Page 33 of Defying Ella
“I hope you washed that thing.” I wrinkled my nose.
I should have played it safe, focused on my book and pretended to ignore him. Yet the memory of his desperation for company surfaced, making it next to impossible for my stupid soft heart to block him out. Instead, I let my phone drop into my lap and turned to lean my cheek against the back of the sofa while I watched him.
“Of course I did.” He walked towards the kitchen. The shirt tightened and lifted slightly like he was sniffing himself to test the fabric for the truth. “I’m not that disgusting, Sparky.”
Sparky?
Had he… given me a nickname? Overnight?
“No slick comeback?” Jared opened the fridge and glanced at me over his shoulder, his brows raised. He took in my slack expression and straightened. “What did I do now?”
“Sparky?” I asked.
“It’s just a word. Don’t get worked up over it.”
“Forgive me for trying to believe your claim of wanting this being nice thing.” I rolled my eyes. “My bad.”
“Shit.” He dragged a hand down his face, before fixing mewith an apologetic smile. “I’m sorry. It’s hard to break old habits.”
Staring at that charming face, I wanted to believe him. Despite Mel’s plea that I listen to my gut, past hurt screamed louder. It didn’t help that it was all still too fresh from last night. I couldn’t stop myself studying him, searching for glimpses of the heat I’d experienced with him.
I picked up my phone and returned to my book, blocking him out entirely. If we didn’t engage, we could hold up this entire charade.
The quiet stirring of a melody drew my head up hours later. Jared sat on the other sofa, his brow furrowed in concentration while he felt his way around the strings of a guitar.
“I didn’t know you play the guitar.”
“I don’t.” His hand clapped down on the acoustic guitar, halting the pretty sound. He scowled at the fireplace while he set the instrument aside.
“Okay, they weren’t your fingers working the strings.” I snorted. “My eyes are lying to me. Got it.”
Shaking my head, I turned back to my book. Try as I might, I couldn’t tune out Jared or the growing ache behind my eyes. I couldn’t remember when I’d drunk water or even moved last. Clearly, I needed to put the screen down for a while. Maybe find some painkillers.
“You don’t need to know everything about me,” Jared muttered as he stood.
Maybe I should have blamed him for my blossoming headache. He made me tense enough to cause one.
“Excuse me for trying to be nice.” I stood with a shake of my head.
My gaze tracked across the open space. There had to be painkillers somewhere.
I ignored him as best I could, opening cupboard doors in the hope a package of painkillers would fall out and hit me. He followed me to the kitchen, crowding me against the worktop. His hard chest pressed against my back. My eyes fluttered closed for a second, enjoying the press of his body far too much.
“Just because we have friends in common doesn’t mean you have a right to my life.”
My eyes popped open as tension burned at the base of my skull. I turned in his arm, glaring up at him.
“I didn’t ask you for anything, jackass.” I pushed at his chest, he didn’t so much as rock back. “I didn’t realise complimenting you would turn you back into a psycho. I’ll remember not to bloody talk to you from now on.”
“That’s not what I said.” He ground his teeth.
My brows rose. “No? Then maybe you need to listen to yourself because this,” I shoved at his chest again, “is not friendly and it is definitely not a truce.”
He stared down at me, his face far too close for me not to get caught in his green eyes. Why had I even agreed to try? I knew better when it came to him. He would always be sweet words filled with an undercurrent of chaos.
“Then stop being nosey,” he whispered, the angry heat slowly seeping from his expression.
“How the hell was that nosey? You had a guitar right in front of my face.” I pointed towards the sofas before my focus dropped to his chest. I shouldn’t have felt sad, I’d known it wouldn’t work from the start. Yet my shoulders still slumped, and my chest hurt. “You know, this was a terrible idea. Pretending is pointless. We can’t be friends for even a day.”
