“What about her?”
“She’s so smart and so driven, but I feel like my mom is filling her head with shit and she’s starting to believe it. I don’t know what to do. Sometimes I wonder if I should move back home.”
“I’m sure if Ellie needed you to move back home she’d tell you, Jeff. Where did she stay this weekend?”
“Ari’s house. They’ve been friends since they were ten. The girl comes from a shit-ton of money, and her parents have offered more than once for Ellie to move in with them.”
“She won’t leave your mom?”
He rubbed the back of his neck. “No. She worries about her, and so do I, but fuck, when is she going to snap out of it? I get that my dad left her, but hell, it’s past the time to move on and get back to your life.”
I looked back at Jeff. “Maybe there’s more to the story than you know.”
He half shrugged again. “Maybe. Who knows? I just want to make sure she’s okay. You don’t mind stopping, do you? It’ll only take me a minute to run in and check on things.”
“Still don’t get to meet her, huh?”
He shot me a half grin. “Not yet. She gets one look at you, and I’m afraid she’ll be stopping by the house for unplanned visits just to see you.”
I couldn’t help but toss my head back and laugh.
We were soon parked outside of Jeff and Ellie’s mom’s house. Before Jeff got out of the truck, the front door opened, and out walked Ellie. I strained to get a better look at her, but Jeff was blocking her the entire time he walked up to the porch. They hugged, and our eyes met when she looked over his shoulder directly at me in the truck.
My entire body shivered.
Shit. What in the fuck?
I couldn’t pull my gaze away from her, and she seemed to be having the same problem. When she stepped back, I turned my head and stared out the front window. My heart rate picked up, and I gripped the steering wheel harder.
“Dude, it’s just because she’s off-limits. Calm the hell down,” I whispered.
When I glanced back over, Jeff and Ellie had walked into the house. I let out the breath I hadn’t even noticed I was holding.
“Christ almighty,” I mumbled.
My phone rang, and I answered it without even looking.
“Hello?”
“Gunner?”
I stared at the door, willing them to come back out for just one more look at Ellie. Then the voice on the line registered.
“Casey?”
“Hey, how’s it going?”
“It’s um, it’s going good. How are you?”
“I’m going pretty good! Busy, but who isn’t, right?”
With a chuckle, I replied, “Yeah, I hear ya.”
“Listen, a few of us are getting together later tonight, and I was wondering if you’d like to join us. Be my date and all.”
Casey and I met last year at one of the frat parties. We’d hit it off and had gone out a few times. Nothing serious, but we had fun together.
“What are y’all going to be doing?”