Page 23 of Defying Ella
Maybe I should have named him Mr Oblivious. That might have fit just as well as Loves and Leaves.
“People do weird shit when you’re famous. I just didn’t expect it to happen so soon to me.”
“It didn’t happen to you,” I growled. Fixing a glare on him, I started ripping chunks off the banana. His eyes dropped to my hands lazily. “How about you look at it from my perspective? The seemingly nice guy I slept with too many times turned out to be a manwhore, and then he appeared in my sister’s kitchen, making faces at my niece.” I pointed at myself with the chunk of banana, his gaze tracking it. “I’m the one who should be shouting about stalkers and giving you a hard time but I’m not. Do you want to know why?”
His focus flickered to my face for all of a second, and he nodded. Weird.
“I’m a bloody adult. Try it some time.”
I threw the chunk of fruit into my mouth. His face paled as I chewed. I needed a psychology degree to handle this man, and even then, I’m pretty sure he’d still be seventy-five per cent anomaly.
After finishing off the banana, I checked my phone. Surely twenty minutes had passed by now. I needed the timer to save me something fierce.
Ten minutes flashed on the screen and I sighed.
I glanced between Jared and the sofa.If I moved away, would he follow?With the way my luck was going, highly likely.
So instead, I settled back in my seat and matched him stare for stare. He really knew how to creep a girl out.
“What is it now?”
Jared blinked, glancing away sheepishly. “Whatever you’re making smells good.”
“Thanks.” The one word stretched out as I eyed him with suspicion. The insult would come any minute now.
He dragged a hand through his hair, his body bouncing in his seat as his focus jumped between me and the stairs. There were cogs turning in Jared’s head. Would I like what they churned out?
“Listen, I really am sorry.”
My eyes narrowed. “For?”
“For being a dick the last few weeks. I didn’t need to make things difficult.” His fingers tapped at the wooden tabletop, rattling out a beat to punctuate his words. Talk about distracting.
“No, you didn’t.”
“I don’t know why I did it.” His hands clamped together on the tabletop, stilling the rhythmic tapping. “You just… the last person I let get close to me…” A nervous laugh trickled from his lips. “Well, let’s just say it blew up because of me. Clearly, I don’t know how to be any other way.”
He couldn’t possibly mean what I thought he meant. “Are you blaming Emily for your shitty actions?” I didn’t even bother trying to mask the lowkey boil of anger in my voice. What would be the point?
“No, of course not,” he sputtered. His eyes widened and panic slithered across his face. “I’m blaming myself. We’re stuck together, Els, and I’d rather not walk out of here with you hating me even more than you already do.” He held out his hand. “So this is me offering a truce.”
I eyed his hand, my lips puckering as I turned his words over in my mind. He looked and sounded sincere. Why then, didn’t I trust him?
Probably because he’d had his nice guy moments in the last month and I’d been lulled into believing he’d turned overa new leaf. Only for him to make some kind of comment that set the hope on fire all over again.
“Please, Els. I’m trying.”
“You call last night trying?” I scowled.
“Last night was a mistake.” He rubbed a hand across his jaw. “It won’t happen again.”
“Oh, good, so you’re not going to make a habit of dry fucking me when I’m just trying to be helpful?” My brows rose and he shifted in his seat, his gaze drifting away for a second.
“I overreacted, okay?”
I smiled, all teeth and scorn. “No, your ‘it’ll never be you’ speech was overreacting. Either you have a serious self-control issue or you’re full of hot air.”
He stared at me, his jaw shifting and his green eyes hard.
