Because It's You (Carolina Rebels 2)

I skate away because it is the same thing and he’s pissed me off. For the rest of the day, I stay extremely focused and don’t talk to anyone unless I have to. When I get home, I tidy up, take a nap, and then get started on dinner, trying to let what Scotty said go. I have a different set of problems to deal with.

There’s a knock on the door and I shout, “Come in!”

I hear the door open and close, hear her set her purse and keys down on the end table in the living room, and then her soft footsteps. I glance over my shoulder as I give the hearty pasta one last stir. She already has a frown on her face. What the fuck?

“What’s wrong with you?” she asks with a curious tone.

“Nothing. Why?”

“You always look relaxed and you don’t look relaxed at all right now.”

“Are you ignoring Scott?” Elizabeth’s face blanches. I shake my head, decide I don’t care to get into the middle of that, and add, “Have a seat. Is water okay? That’s all I have to drink.”

“Water’s fine,” she answers. I chuckle at how she pronounces water. Who knew such simple words could bring so much humor?

I fix our bowls, glasses, and set them on the bar. There’s room for a table, but I don’t have one. I sit next to her and take a deep breath. Finally, I feel as if I can relax.

“So, Scott told you I was ignoring him?”

“Only because he thought it was because of me for some reason. It’s not, is it?”

“No.”

“Then I don’t care.” Elizabeth’s eyes widen. “It doesn’t have to do with me, and believe it or not, I don’t like to be in the middle of things.”

She nods and takes her first bite of pasta. She had been poking at it up until now. She moans, covering her mouth with her hand. “Are you sure you’re not Italian? This is the best pasta I’ve ever tasted!”

I grin. “The original Marco Polo was Italian, I think. Maybe the nickname gives me magical powers.”

“It must. Let’s not talk because you’ll probably ruin the deliciousness.”

I shake my head, but stay quiet. I don’t think I’ve ever sat in silence for a meal. It’s nice and weird all at the same time. Unsurprisingly, I only last five minutes. “How was work?”

“It was okay. My co-workers have something new to talk about now.” She shoots me a quick glare.

“So, the lipstick left on my face that you let me walk into practice with was advance payback?”

She tries not to giggle at first, but she can’t help it. “I thought you might see it before you got that far. I’m sorry.”

“Yeah, I can hear your sincerity through your laughter,” I reply dryly, which only serves to make her laugh harder.

“Did you see it or did someone tell you?”

“Noah told me after the security guards failed to clue me in on why they were giving me funny looks. Thankfully, no one else saw me.”

“That’s what you get for showing up at my work.”

“Won’t happen again unless it’s a dire emergency.”

“Good.” After a moment, she turns in her chair to angle toward me. “I feel like I should warn you.”

“About what?”

“There’s a good possibility I’ll turn into a flaky, uptight, stressed out, emotional bitch for a few months and if there are days when you just don’t want to deal with me, I’ll completely understand. Don’t say that won’t happen because you don’t know. I usually hole up in my house around this time of year and interact with Sylvia and Scott as little as possible, so I don’t know what it’s going to do to me to force myself to be around someone when I’m normally not.” She laughs a little humorless laugh to herself. “You thought I was crazy before...” Her voice is strained as it trails off.

“Do you want me to stick around, Elizabeth?” I ask.

“Well, yeah, I think so.”