“You don’t know me,” she stated. “You might think you do, but you don’t. And you don’t have any say in what I should or shouldn’t do.”
“Not yet. But I will.”
She rolled her chair forward. She couldn’t deal with him right now. She couldn’t deal with the warring parts of her. One part wanting to go back inside and enjoy the party, give in to the part of her that longed to put that Jasmine costume on and just forget everything else. The other part of her wanted to get out of here. To be free.
“Eden—”
“I have things to do, Zeke. What I don’t have is time to sit here and listen to you talk in riddles.”
She didn’t know why he was always on her case so much. Sure, he was close with Kent and Clint. But she wasn’t his responsibility. And all he saw when he looked at her was a brat. She knew his type. He liked submissive and sweet.
And that was not her.
“You’re not going out now, Eden. It’s late. You should be in bed asleep.”
She snorted. “It’s ten on a Saturday night. The night is just getting started.” She moved towards the ramp.
“One day, baby, you’re going to stop running from me.”
She nearly stopped. That soft, cajoling tone that had the power to make her heart race, to cause cracks to appear in the shields she had very carefully and thoroughly erected.
“I’m not running. I can’t, remember.” She waved her hand at his legs, as though he might have forgotten.
“You know exactly what I mean. And just so you know, pointing out that you’re in a chair won’t make me back down. When I look at you, Eden, I just see you.”
More cracks.
Fuck. Fuck. She had to get out of here.
“You’re gonna be mine, Eden. And then these late night trips out on your own are gonna stop. So are all the secrets. The crazy, reckless behavior.”
Not a chance in hell.
“I’d never let a man change who I am.”
“Don’t intend to be the man who changes you, baby,” he drawled.
Christ. Baby again. He was killing her.
“I intend to be the man beside you, in front of you, protecting you. Even from yourself.”
Yep. Definitely killing her. And without a retort for that, at least not one that wouldn’t resort to something childish coming out of her mouth, she wheeled herself quickly away.
7
Bear and Ellie
“I wish Eden would have stayed.” Ellie looked over at Charlie worriedly as they all changed into their outfits. Ellie was Cinderella. Charlie was dressing as Belle. Abby had chosen Snow White and Daisy was Aurora. “You don’t think she feels left out, do you?”
Charlie bit her lip. “I asked her if she wanted to come. Clint told her he’d set up a proper bed for her and stuff. But she said she’d prefer her own bed.”
“I can understand that,” Daisy said quietly.
“She says this isn’t really her thing, but I think she’s wrong,” Charlie told them. “I’m just not sure that she knows what she wants.”
“Trusting people with who you really are can be hard,” Abby said solemnly. “We all know that.”
“But everything worked out amazing for us!” Ellie said. “I want that for Eden too. She looked sad just now, and I want her to be happy like we are.”