13. Ellis #2
I grab a water from the fridge, chugging down the entire bottle before joining everyone in the living room.
For some reason, my vision lasers in on Scarlet. She’s made herself comfy in my chair with James in her lap. But the icing on the cake, so to speak, is the way knowing smirk curls her lush lips.
“He’s getting so big,” she marvels, holding my dude out in front of her, smiling at him like he’s the best thing she’s ever seen, while he uses her lap like a trampoline
“Growing like a weed,” Nora agrees, nearly glowing with how big she’s smiling. Motherhood looks damn good on my friend.
At least Atlas is on my side when it comes to Scarlet. He’s polite for Nora’s sake, but his dislike for her greatly outweighs my own.
Maybe that’s why I lied to him about what happened when we watched James. God knows, he’d lose his mind if he knew Scarlet’s stalker followed her here.
“Comfy, Princess?” I ask, slumping into the spare seat.
“Very.” She swivels the overstuffed recliner my way. “You’re so sweet to ask.”
Nora shoots Atlas a knowing look, but he shakes his head.
“How much longer until dinner’s ready?” I ask.
“About five more minutes,” Nora says, snapping me back to the present. “I pulled the lasagna out right before you walked in, so it is just about done resting.”
“Thank fuck, I’m starving.”
“C’mon.” Nora rolls her eyes as she stands. “Let’s start making plates.”
“You don’t have to tell me twice.” I’m up on my feet and trailing after her like she’s the pied piper.
Once were all gathered around the table with our plates piled high, Nora turns to Scarlet. “So, whatever happened with those notes you were getting?”
Be cool, be cool, be cool, I chant internally as Scarlet’s gaze clashes with mine. Her big, dark eyes are blown wide with panic, and I know if I don’t do something she’s going to rat us both out to Atlas and Nora, and they’ll know we lied to them.
So, I do what I do best and blow shit up. “Oh, yes, do tell, Princess.” I shoot her an exaggerated wink, hoping like hell she knows all the shit I’m about to spew is just that—shit. “Yeah, Scar, tell us about your secret admirer.”
“Oh, um.” She licks her lips. “It’s actually been pretty quiet.” She glances down at her plate. “No new notes or anything.”
She’s fucking lying. Her refusal to make eye contact with literally anyone is a dead giveaway. Guess we’ll be talking later, because I know I was clear when I told her to keep me in the loop.
“Makes sense.” I hum under my breath. “Must’ve lost interest.”
Nora makes a small noise of outrage while Atlas simply glares, but I don’t miss the shit-eating grin he tries to cover with a yawn.
He’s absolutely thinking the same thing as me—well, the same as me, had I not seen it with my own eyes—there’s no way in hell anyone in their right mind is leaving her love notes.
A pang of hurt flashes across her face. “Because not even a creep-o stalker could want me, right?”
“Your words, not mine,” I say, leaning back in my chair.
“Wait,” Nora says, leaning toward Scarlet. “What do you mean by stalker?”
Scarlet starts to reply, but I cut her off. “You know how your girl here loves to exaggerate.”
“Are you freaking kidding me?” Scarlet hisses, sounding as menacing as a pissed off kitten.
“Can’t you two be nice for once?” Nora asks, spearing some green beans onto her fork.
“I’m not the problem.” Scarlet cuts her eyes my way, silently but clearly insinuating that I am.
“I’m just saying what we’re all thinking, Princess.”
“You don’t speak for me, Ellis Wilder.” Nora pins me with a steely glare. “I, for one, think Scar’s a catch. Any man—or woman—would be lucky to have her.”
“Kind of feeling like maybe you don’t know what lucky means, Nora,” I quip back, shooting for playful.
But judging by the glare pointed my way, it was a swing and a miss.
“I’m well aware of what the word lucky means, Ellis Wilder. I’ve been to hell and back and lived to tell the tale. You’d do well to remember that.” Nora shoves back from the table and takes off toward her bedroom.
“Such a jackass,” Scarlet mutters, hot on her heels.
I turn to Atlas, only to find him with his brows lowered, lips tight, and arms crossed. “You know how out of line you have to be for me to agree with Scarlet?” he asks through gritted teeth.
“Fuck.” I shove a hand through my hair. “I didn’t mean—”
“I know you didn’t, man. Just like I know Scarlet gets under your skin. But maybe try to leave my fiancée out of y’all’s bullshit?”
“Yeah.” I easily nod my head. “You got it.”
“Good.”
We fall silent, both picking at our plates, as James squishes noodles and shoves green beans into his mouth. The kid’s making one helluva mess, but if I’m being honest, I think the one I created tonight might be bigger. Which really fucking sucks, because I was only trying to help.
When Scarlet and Nora come back into the dining room, I jump out of my seat and rush to apologize. “Nora, I’m so fucking sorry. I was careless with my words. I know exactly how strong you are and—”
She holds up a hand to stop me. “I know you didn’t mean anything by it, Ellis.”
“Anything else you’d like to add?” Scarlet asks.
The answer’s yes. I want to apologize to her, to explain, but now’s not the time or the place—not if we want to keep a low profile.
So, I throw a little more gas on the fire. “Nope.” I rock back on my heels. “That pretty much covered it.”
“Right.” She nods. “Of course it did. You know what,” she says turning to Nora. “I don’t think I have dessert in me tonight.”
Nora tries to say something, but Scarlet bulldozes right past her attempt. “Thank you for such a lovely dinner, Nora. It was delicious, as always.”
“Do you want to bring your pie home?” Nora asks helplessly. “Or some leftovers?”
“Nope,” she clips, grabbing her plate and stomping into the kitchen to scrape it into the trash before rinsing it. “Y’all enjoy it.”
“Sure thing, Princess.” I scoff. God, sometimes it’s like I’m unable to help myself where she’s concerned. “We’ll all enjoy your store-bought pie.”
“Honestly, you can choke on it for all I care.” She opens the dishwasher and loads her plate into the bottom rack, not sparing me a single glance.
“You really don’t have to leave,” Nora pleads as she follows Scarlet through the kitchen toward the front door.
“No, it’s fine. I…” She sucks in a deep breath before continuing. “I think maybe I should sit out the next few dinners.”
Nora goes to argue, but Scarlet yanks her into a hug, shocking the hell out of me and effectively silencing any rebuttal she may have had. “Kiss James for me, okay? We’ll catch up soon.”
We all watch in silence as Scarlet leaves. The second the door closes behind her, Nora whirls on me, hands on hips and face as red as a tomato. “Ellis Andrew Wilder, you… you absolute… ass!”
“Oh, shit,” Atlas mutters, looking undeniably pleased. He loves fiery Nora. “You done fucked up.”
He’s right, too, because Nora just about never cusses. So, I know my earlier apology is out the window, and she’s good and mad at me. I fucking hate it.
Even worse, I know I only have myself to blame.
But when Scarlet flashed me that deer-in-headlights look, I panicked.
I knew she was going to come clean to them about her stalker being here, and that would’ve opened a can of worms neither of us wanted.
Nora would’ve worried and Atlas would’ve gone full-on scorched earth.
“Nora, listen,” I start, racking my brain for any kind of reasonable defense, but any justification I can think of involves coming clean, which defeats the purpose.
“No!” She shouts. “I will not listen. I won’t pretend to understand the inner workings of y’all’s relationship.
Y’all’s banter used to be entertaining, but lately, you’ve been downright cruel.
I’m tired of it and I’m sure Scarlet is, too.
No one deserves to be spoken to the way you do to her.
She deserves better and I… I thought you were better.
You… you need to figure out your issues, Ellis. ”
“We don’t have a relationship.” My reply is lame, because holy shit, she may as well have stabbed me in the heart with those words.
“Ellis.” She pinches the bridge of her nose and leans into Atlas for comfort. “You’re testing me. You are both so, so important to me. I refuse to choose between the two of you. So, I mean it, figure out a way to get along with her or…”
“Or what?” I ask, my heart beating a hundred miles a minute.
“Or maybe you’ll be the one absent from family dinner.”
I rub at my chest as her words sink in. She’s dead-ass serious, and while everything I did tonight was to protect Scarlet, it blew up in my face and now I have to figure out a way to clean up the epic mess I’ve made. “Got it.”