Winter Jacket (33 page)

“I know, Ellio.”

Her use of the nickname tugged at my heart.  I braved a step forward her and took the scissors from her hands, just in case.  I set them down on the countertop and cautiously wrapped my arms around her waist and pulled her close.  “Am I forgiven?” I asked quietly.  There seemed a stillness in the room that I dared not disturb.

Her lips quirked, but she nodded.  I closed my eyes and let out a deep breath.
The tears that tumbled down my cheeks, however, were an unexpected addition to my apology.  “I missed you so much.”

I felt her fingertips sweep along my cheekbones.
“Ellio, it’s okay,” she hushed as she wiped away the tears. “You don’t always have to be the strong, stable one.  I can be your rock sometimes, too – if you’ll let me.”

I breathed noisily out my nose and pressed my forehead against hers. “I have a
really
hard time letting anyone take care of me.  It’s one of the reasons why I don’t let myself get sick.”

She pulled back and quirked an eyebrow. “You don’t
let
yourself get sick?  I didn’t realize you had those kind of special powers?”

I smiled cheekily. “It’s all mind over matter, baby.  I never get a cold.”

“You know that’s like the Kiss-of-Death, right?” she countered, looking amused. “You just totally jinxed yourself.  You’ll probably contract the Ebola virus now.”

“Stop it,” I waved, making a disgruntled face. “Don’t distract me.  I’m trying to have a serious talk with you.”

The smile immediately fell from her lips and her face became somber. “I’m sorry,” she said, straight faced, her voice nearly robotic. “I didn’t realize we were still having a serious moment.”

“Well, we are,” I huffed.  I didn’t want to let her go.  Having her let me hold her this close was something I’d missed more than I realized.
“After this Tenure Review is over, it’ll either be very, very good news or very, very bad news.  And either way, I’ll need to get out of this town for a little bit to either celebrate or lick my wounds.”

Hunter
’s serious face became a little injured. “Oh.” She wet her lips. “For how long?”

I shook my head. “I’m not sure.  How long can you get away fo
r? I know your internship still goes over Winter Break.”

Hunter
blinked once, apparently needing a moment to let my question register. “Wait.” She blinked again. “You want me to come with you?”

“Of course I do.” I tightened my grip on her, never wanting to let go. “Did you think I’d just vanish for a couple of weeks and leave you behind to fend for yourself?”

“I’m not a rescue animal,” Hunter snorted in protest. “I managed just fine before I met you.”

I shook my head and grinned. “Sometimes I wonder.”

+++++

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

Later that evening I returned to Hunter’s apartment.  I knocked and waited a few moments before the door was abruptly thrown open. The scowl on Hunter’s face was quickly replaced with a look of surprise. “You’re early,” she said in an emotionless voice that would normally make me anxious.

Because of the car accident and our fight she hadn’t done anything yesterday to celebrate her 21
st
birthday.  I wanted to make it right, even if it was short notice and the day after her actual birthday.  My ability to throw her a proper birthday party was limited though.  Her family was out of the question and I still hadn’t met Sara, her roommate, or really any of her friends.  But I knew that would come in time.  She was being mindful of my desire to keep a low-profile, at least until she graduated in May.

“I couldn’t wait to see you,” I told her t
ruthfully.  I wasn’t really that early – maybe just half an hour. I wasn’t going to let her sour mood ruin our night before it even began.  We’d stay in instead until I could turn that frown upside-down.  Actually, I kind of preferred that to going out, but it was her birthday, and this is how she wanted to spend it.

I grabbed onto her wrist as she started to turn away. “Hey, are you okay?” I gently asked.

“I’m fine,” she insisted. “I just really want this night to go well, you know?  I kind of feel like this is the Universe giving us one final chance.”

I nodded and leaned in until our foreheads were just barely touching.  It felt so amazing to be this close to her
again. It was like my nerve endings were hyper-aware of everything surrounding us, and yet, at the same time, I was completely consumed by her.

“You sure you want to go out tonight?” I asked.  I reached up and gently brushed a strand of hair out of her face. “We could always stay in.” My thumb stroked along her right cheekbone.

She swallowed hard, her nostrils flared, and the vivid image of taking her, hard, against the kitchen counter suddenly fluttered through my mind.  I shuddered and closed my eyes at the intensity.  I wondered if it would always be like this between us.

Her voice pulled at me. “We should get going before you make me change my mind.”

I couldn’t help my smirk. I could make this difficult for her, harder for her to leave this place instead of us tumbling straight into her bed, but I didn’t.  So instead of lingering any longer, I took her hand and pulled her toward the front door.

+++++

I stared at the nondescript neon sign that announced the name of the club.  Peggy’s. Hunter’s hand was light on my waist, anchoring me when I was more than ready to take flight.  “You ready for this, Professor Graft?”

“Let’s do it.
” I turned and gave her a weak smile. “It’s not every day that my girlfriend can legally drink.”

Wh
en we walked inside the bar, I paused long enough to slip out of my jacket. I froze when I recognized the bartender working tonight.  Megan, the bartender whom Troian had been convinced was going to be my wife, gave me a smile.  I was surprised when she seemed to recognize me.

"Long time no see, Dr. Elle.”

"Megan,” I greeted, trying to not appear more awkward than I felt.  “How have you been?"

"Can't complain," she shrugged, wiping down the bar
top. "Went back home to New York for a few months, but Peggy kept my job for me."

"That was nice of her
," I said, not really sure what else to say.  Apparently Peggy was a real person.  I learned something new everyday.

"Yeah. It was." She raised her painted eyebrows. "What can I get for you and your friend?"

"Oh, sorry," I said, turning to Hunter who stood silently beside me. "Megan, this is my girlfriend, Hunter."

Hunter
folded her arms across her chest. "Nice to meet you." Her face was impassive, and the warmth of her words didn't reach her tone.

Megan nodded in greeting.
 "Two beers?" A strange smile passed her lips. "Or maybe shots?"

"Two ambers will be fine," I said in a rush before she could say anything incriminating. "Whatever's on tap." I hoped it was dark enough
inside that my red face wasn't visible.

I paid for our drinks and gave Megan a brief wave.
When I turned back to Hunter to hand her a beer, her lips were pressed together. Her displeasure was palpable. "Old friend?"

I cleared my throat. "Not really. She's just a girl," I said si
mply. "At one time Troian tried to set us up."

"Did you sleep
with her?" she asked me pointblank.

“I slept in the same bed as her once, but we didn’t have sex."
Because I passed out next to her.
I kept that part to myself.

"She's pretty,"
Hunter observed. She drank from her glass and stared at Megan over the rim.

"Yeah, but you're beautiful."

She turned her eyes to me and clucked her tongue against the roof of her mouth. "Such the charmer, Dr. Elle," she noted, borrowing Megan's nickname for me.

I rested my hand on her hip and toyed with the bottom hem of her shirt.
I could feel the heat of her skin through the material. "I like Ellio better."

Her grin widened and any previous annoyance was banished from her face. "Dance with me?"

I couldn't handle how adorable this woman was.

A girl I didn’t recognize walked up to us with a wild grin on her face.  “
Hunter?” she grinned warmly. “I thought that was you.”  What the hell was up with tonight?

Something about the way this woman was looking at my girlfriend made me feel more than a little territorial.  My arm found its way around
Hunter’s waist.

“Oh, is
this
Elle?” the woman exclaimed as if noticing me standing there for the first time.

Hunter
nodded, looking terrified for some reason.

The nameless woman not so subtly raked her eyes over my body.
I wasn’t a fan of the leer on this woman’s face. “Well,” she purred, not taking her eyes off me, “now I know why you didn’t get back to me,” she said, giving me a wink.

I looked at
Hunter, hoping she could help me make sense of all this. A pained smile was plastered on her face. The stranger wasn’t entirely obtuse, however, and seemed to recognize her uneasiness.  “Well, I guess I’ll see you around,” she chuckled before turning on her heels and sauntering away.

“Who was that?” The slightest bit of heated jealousy stained my tone.

Hunter turned her head from my inquisitive gaze. “Just a girl.”

“Uh huh.” I wasn’t convinced.
I knew there was a story here.

She sucked in a sharp breath. “Ok, fine. She’s the girl…that I…
at Troian and Nikole’s party…” She trailed off.

At first I was confused when she didn’t finish her sentence.  But then I remembered. 
Hunter’s hand was immediately at my elbow, catching me before I could storm off and do something we’d both regret.

“Let me go,” I hissed.  I tugged with annoyance at her tight hold.

Her grip was unforgiving; I wasn’t about to break free. “Stop.” Her breath was soft against my ear and she placed a single kiss near my earlobe. My body relaxed without my permission and she released her hold.

Even though I was no longer mad enough to punch a hole through that girl’s face, I still continued to glare at her across the slightly crowded bar.
“Is that your type?” I asked after a moment of unbroken glaring.  My voice sounded like it had come from someplace outside of my body.

“My type?” Her hand found its way into mine. “Honestly?”

I finally turned to look at her.  I was filled with nothing but apprehension.  “Am I going to like the truth?”

She ducked her head. “Actually, I first noticed her because she kind of reminded me of you.” She looked up and gave me a lopsided grin.

I flicked my eyes away from her face and back to where the other girl stood. “No way do I look like that piece of –.”

A well-placed finger interrupted my tirade. I crossed my eyes slightly and stared at the finger pressed against my lips. “Don’t,” she gently chastised. “She’s not important. None of that is. You’re my type,” she said. “Just you.”

My eyes uncrossed when I stopped fixating on her finger. My lips curved up, and her hand fell back to her side.  “You planning on dancing with me anytime soon?” I challenged, “I’m getting a little antsy.”

“I need to go to the bathroom first,” she nodded, “and then we can finally have that dance.”

I downed the rest of my drink with alarming speed and ease.  I wiped at my mouth with the back of my hand and set the empty pint on the bar.  “I’ll come with.”

She quirked an eyebrow. “Don’t trust me enough to go to the bathroom by myself?”

Her hand found mine once again. There seemed to be a lot of hand holding going on tonight, but I certainly wasn’t complaining. “Oh, I trust you. I just know that trouble has a habit of finding you,” I joked.

Her bottom lip stuck out and I leaned in to nip at it.  She squeaked and pulled her lip back tight against her mouth.  Her
grey-blue eyes twinkled under the club lights, making me warm all over. 

She pulled on my hand and guided me through the crowds towards the back of the bar where the restrooms were located.  I took the opportunity to admire her backside as we made our way closer to the bathroom.