Chasing Ella (Love Ever After 1)

At my side, and standing off to a weird angle, Shawn hooks his arm around me and pulls me into him with the other. “It’s cold, you are not wearing a decent jacket, and there are weirdos out here. I’m walking you to your front door. End of discussion. Try and stop me from getting on each bus with you.” He says the last part under his breath. I already caused a scene once tonight. We don’t need him making another.

“But I can stop you from walking me home,” I counter.

“No, you can’t.” He says against the shell of my ear, the warmth of his breath leeching into my cold skin. “Nothing is stopping me from sharing the sidewalk with you.”

“They have a term for that,” I say, chuckling to myself.

He tightens his grip around my stomach. “Oh, yeah, and what’s that?”

I smile up at him. “They call it stalking. If you weren’t failing your law classes, you would know that.”

He laughs at my comment. “I was right about one thing.”

“Uh-huh. What were you right about?”

“You are a know-it-all and a fucking sexy one, too.”

I don’t mention the mystery girl again, mostly because it’s pointless to lead him in other directions when he was dead right about me all along. Instead, I return his smile and tilt my head back so that our eyes meet in the darkness, enjoying the moment.

Shawn

Ella’s house is not a family home but an estate set on a massive lot that spans farther than the eye can see.

Tall shrubs wall off each side of the property, serving as an extension of the gate that creates a private oasis. When she said her father was rich, I had no idea she comes from this kind of money. And here I thought Ella was more like me than the rest of the students at Strickland University.

Well, I suppose the fact she has to take three buses to and from school each day makes her more like me, despite her family’s overwhelming wealth. For rich people, they sure have neglected the place. Even in the dark, it’s easy to see the brick is crumbling in certain places, vines twist up the white pillars that hold up the porch, and the front steps are in desperate need of repair.

When my foot hits the second step, the wooden board is so loose I almost lose my balance, which causes me to pull Ella tight against my side to keep us both from falling. This place is deceptive. From the street, the grounds and the mansion situated on them remind me of a small palace. But up close, you see all the cracks in the foundation along with every imperfection.

Ella bites down on her bottom lip, before meeting my gaze. “Thanks again for doing this. I appreciate you walking me all the way to the door. You didn’t have to take this much time out of your schedule just to make sure I got home okay.”

“I like taking the bus with you. It was the most fun I’ve had in a long time,” I confess, meaning every word.

She taps me on the arm and laughs. “Stop it. We both know that is a lie.”

I shake my head. “Nope, it’s the truth. It was nice to have someone drive me around for once. I also had the chance to enjoy the company of a beautiful woman. It was a win-win for me.”

Ella turns her head away from me, her cheeks growing redder by the second. This girl does not know how to take a compliment at all, which makes her even more attractive in my eyes. Most of the chicks I encounter at school fish for compliments, while Ella acts as though she’s never had a guy hit on her in her life. She has no idea how to react whenever I say anything nice about her.

How is a girl this gorgeous so unaware of her beauty?

Ella glances at the glass front door, nervous and afraid as if someone is watching us from inside. After hearing stories about her stepmother on the ride here, spying on Ella sounds par for the course. I wish there were another way for her to get what she wants and still have a normal life apart from her family.

Once her eyes meet mine, she smiles, and I return her sweet gesture. Ella takes my breath away.

Holding her gaze, I wonder if she will let me kiss her, or if she will blurt out that she’s a virgin again just to keep me from going any further. While I wasn’t the least bit shocked that Ella is so pure, I also wasn’t expecting her to confess something so personal in front of complete strangers. For a girl who seems to have her entire life mapped out, she’s often unpredictable and full of surprises.

Should I make a move again? Am I stupid for thinking this is a good idea to pursue my tutor? What about the masked girl ?

The verdict is still out on whether she and Ella are one in the same. Ella sounds like her, has the same denim colored eyes that lured me in the first time, and she even has the same laugh. Her soft features and flawless pale skin also match the girl in my mind as well as the one in the picture on my cell phone.

For the life of me, I cannot see Ella hanging out at a fraternity house on a Saturday night, especially after hearing about the rules her stepmother enforces. Her stepmother doesn’t want her to date out of fear she might get pregnant, forcing her to pay for another child. From the sounds of it, she cares more about losing her live-in maid than the risk of Ella becoming pregnant.

If she knew Ella at all, she would know that she’s not the type to spread her legs for someone she doesn’t know, even though it sure as hell seemed as if she were ready to give herself to me at the party. Things went a little farther than either of us had planned in the back hallway of my house. I don’t regret a single thing, and if Ella is the girl, I imagine she shares my opinion.

Ella edges away from me, her fingers slipping from my grip, answering my question about wanting to kiss me. If only she would let me kiss her, so I can call off my search party and give back the gold charm.

My mom always told me that I would know when I found the right girl. Her advice was always on point, and this time is no different. We have an undeniable attraction to one another, but what I have with Ella is more than lust. What we share is a deep-seated connection so real it’s like electricity dancing between us, like two live wires fused together to create a perfect charge.