“Um… about what?”
“You.” She pointed at me indignantly. “You’re seriously hot, Joss. Okay, you don’t look like the pretty coat hangers Braden usually goes for, but you have those amazing eyes, that throaty sex-phone voice, a cup-size I’d die for, and this broody, standoffishness that’s completely at odds with the seriously cool and funny person you are. Believe me, I’ve heard the guys talking. You’re different, and guys being guys, they can’t help seeing that as a challenge. You’re hot.”
I was stunned that’s what I was.
Was that really how these people saw me? Embarrassed, I picked up my fork, mumbling, ‘whatever’.
I could feel my roommate’s smile without even looking up. “You need a mirror.”
I shrugged.
Then Ellie grew quiet and I found myself raising my gaze to make sure she was alright. She wasn’t smiling now. “No matter how much he denies it, Braden’s interested in you, Joss. He asks me about you a lot, which he’s never done before with anyone else and, believe me I’ve lost at least three friends he serial-dated out of my life. I don’t tell him much—
You told him about my family.
-because you don’t say much, so of course he’s even more intrigued. And like I said, Braden usually gets what he wants.”
“Please,” I huffed, “Give me a little more credit. I don’t just fall into a hot guy’s bed because he’s used to getting what he wants. Guess what? I’m used to getting what I want too. And what I want is not to fall into his bed.”
But it was like Ellie hadn’t even heard me. “If you don’t manage to resist, just be careful with him, okay. He’s been treated badly before, and I don’t want to see that happen again.”
Wide-eyed, I heard my fork clatter to my plate after my fingers dropped it of their own accord. They were in shock, as was the rest of me. “Wait. Are you worried about me hurting him?”
She smiled apologetically. “You’re a good person, which makes the fact that you don’t trust anyone, really hard for the people who care about you. And Braden, when he cares about someone, has to know everything so he can cover all the bases and protect them. He has to be a guy people can trust. It’s just who he is. If he started something with you, he’d only be hurt when you refuse to let him in.”
I only sort of took that in. Mostly, I just kept hearing ‘you’re a good person, which makes the fact that you don’t trust anyone, really hard for the people who care about you.’
“Am I hurting you, Ellie?” I didn’t want to admit how scared I was for her answer.
She exhaled heavily, seeming to weigh her words. “At first I was. But knowing that you don’t mean to hurt me helps. Do I wish you’d trust me more? Yes. Am I going to push it? No.” She stood up. “Just know that if you ever do decide to trust me, I’m here. And you can tell me anything.”
I felt my throat close up and I could only nod. In an effort to expel the moment, Ellie grinned down at me. “I’m going out tonight with Braden and Adam. I was kind of cool with Adam today. It pissed him off.”
Hmm, what are you up to, young lady? “Are you playing games with him?”
She scowled. “Yesterday I discovered he’d warned off Nicholas when he wanted to ask me out. So yes. I am.”
“Whoa, hold up.” I pushed my entire plate back now, totally confused. I’d met Nicholas. He was one of Ellie’s friends who hung out at the apartment sometimes. He was also a tutor in her department. “Adam did what?”
“I made some crack yesterday about not having had a date in months and Nicholas said maybe I would have had a date if Adam would stop threatening prospective guys. I was completely confused so Nicholas explained. Nick was planning on asking me out months ago, and he went to Adam for advice on where to take me out.” Her jaw locked as she thought about it. “Instead of answering, he warned Nicholas off with bodily harm. Told him to stay away from me. No explanation. Just ‘stay away’.”
I laughed in disbelief. “And of course Adam’s built and Nicholas looks like the promotion guy for Twiglets so Nick backed down.”
“Exactly.”
“What the hell is Adam playing at?”
“That’s what I want to know. He’s messed with me, so I’m going to enjoy messing with him.”
I had to admit, I liked this side of Ellie. People thought they could walk all over her, but they were wrong. I grinned up at her. “So the cold shoulder, huh?”
She grinned cheekily back at me, looking very much like a devilish angel. “Full force tonight. I may even flirt with some random to see if that ruffles his feathers. Then I can ask him what the hell he’s playing at. He was the one who didn’t want to be anything more than friends.”