Chapter 46 #2
Glossy paper scraped against my skin as I rolled the commencement program between my thumb and pointer fingers.
I leaned forward, turning my head to get a better listen into their conversation.
There was no way that Elle had moved on to someone else so quickly.
Our time apart was for her to heal. To live how she wanted and learn what she wanted.
Did I fuck up, allowing so much time to pass? I cursed myself.
“Oh, Kimber, if she’s anything like you when she grows up, I’ll be a happy man,” Preston preached. But a preacher he was not. Instead of inspiring anyone, he only elicited a stiffened upper lip from Mr. Madelyn.
Daddy Mady hadn’t come to play.
I swallowed, forcing the chuckle desperate for release back down my throat. Elle’s father and I would get along wonderfully. If he spotted bullshit the same way I did, maybe he would recognize how good I could be for his daughter—how perfectly our jagged angles fit together.
“Oh, Preston, if he or she is anything like you when they grow up, what the hell are we going to do with two of you? Having one of you hanging around, hitting on my wife, is bad enough. Imagine another boy coming around. Christ.” Mr. Madelyn’s expression screamed annoyance.
“I’m so sorry, Mr. M. You know how my stepbrother can be. He’s a player. Always has been, always will be. The news that Preston was becoming a father came as quite a shock to all of us. I have noooo idea how Olivia puts up with him.”
Ruthie flung her arm across Preston’s chest as if she were holding him back before kissing him on the cheek. Playfully, he swatted her away.
He’s Ruthie’s stepbrother.
Relief washed my panic into the crowd as my shoulders retreated into their sockets. A fuckboy turned expectant father—Elle had already been down that road before.
He wasn’t her type.
Twenty minutes later, a swarm of students draped in caps and gowns flooded the main floor from multiple entry points. I stood, my short fingernails burrowing into my palms.
And then it happened.
No matter how tough I thought I was or how much life experience I had, the moment I spotted her left me second-guessing my need for oxygen.
Elle Madelyn was my goddamn oxygen.
Her head swiveled as she simultaneously walked and searched for her family. Her assured expression and matching posture let the crowd know she didn’t need anyone to tell her how proud they were of her. She was proud of herself.
Confidence looked incredibly sexy on her.
For eight months, I’d hoped I’d be able to keep the blood from rushing to my dick when I saw her—at least until after the ceremony—but, good God, all I could picture was shredding her gown and splitting her open again. I needed to touch her again.
To taste her.
I stared at her, unable to look anywhere else. She was stunning, maybe even more so than I remembered. Her hair was longer, in a half-up, half-down style that showcased her slender, sun-kissed neck.
Shiny peach lip gloss coated her lips, the overhead lighting reflecting off her mouth. Even yards away, I could practically taste their sheen.
Down, boy, I begged. My tailored dress pants tightened at the thought.
Elle sat in her assigned seat before turning our direction. For a moment, her gaze found every other family in attendance, apart from her own. When she finally found the row of people supporting her, she squinted and waved cheerfully, absorbing the distance.
She paused.
Frantic, I sat and reached under my seat, fingering tissue paper deeper into the gift bag I’d slid underneath, in an attempt at staying hidden a bit longer.
Elle didn’t need to see me and panic before the ceremony even began.
The moment was hers; she deserved to shine on her own merit while being free of me.
A pill that never got easier to swallow.
When I sat up, her body faced the front of the room.
The stage and the aged, accolade-decorated woman approaching the podium held her attention.
The back of her head still consumed mine.
Thirty minutes later, holding back my applause as she accepted her degree was not an option when she strutted her incredible ass across the stage.
Instead, I clapped and cheered her name while she received her achievement, confident my presence would wash into the sea of whistles and woooos around me.
Elle paused again, mid-stride this time.
Could she recognize my voice from so far away? Did she hear me? See me?
Her name felt therapeutic as it left my mouth. Her pace back to her seat in the center of the floor told me she hadn’t seen me, but I halfway hoped she’d heard me.
Her family sure had.
“Are you here for Elle too?” Ruthie turned around and asked. The flirtatious tone of her voice revealed that there were no wrong answers.
Between the hunger in her eyes and the dark lipstick staining her lips, I knew immediately that she and Elle together would equal a kind of trouble I couldn’t wait to see in action. Maybe she knew who I was after all.
“Yes, I am.” I smiled, nodding.
“Who are you exactly?” Her curious gaze studied mine.
“Of course. How rude of me,” I said. I reached forward and shook Ruthie’s hand. Her deep grip surprised me. “I’m an old friend of Elle’s,” I added.
“Really? How nice of you to attend today!” Kimber exclaimed, turning around in her seat. When Ruthie let go of my hand, she reached for it with both of hers, shaking mine genuinely.
Elle’s mother traded glances with her husband. Validation that they didn’t know who I was.
“You have a name, son?” Mr. Madelyn asked.
“Austin Carterson, sir. It’s a pleasure to meet you. All of you.”
I firmly shook her father’s hand.
His stare lingered on my face before looking me up and down. “I’m Tony, Elle’s father,” he added.
“It’s wonderful to meet you, Austin. How do you know our daughter?” Elle’s mother flipped her lengthy, straight hair over one of her shoulders. Many of the facial features now centered on me were shared with Elle, the timeless kind. Like the shape of her eyes and her naturally flushed cheeks.
“Yeah, how do you know our Elle?” Ruthie echoed.
“We were, uhhh … pen pals,” I concocted.
Tony’s puckered lips revealed he needed more convincing.
“You know, through one of those programs where college students send holiday cards and letters of support to service members to cheer them up. We became friends when I served in the Navy, and I wanted to surprise her today. I know she’s been through a lot this year. I couldn’t miss it,” I added.
“Aww, that’s sooo sweet! Funny, she never mentioned you.” Ruthie brought her fingers to her chin and stroked mischievously while examining me. “Come to think of it, I would have loved a pen pal like you!” Ruthie gushed. She bit her bottom lip excitedly and bounced in place.
She knew.
“Maybe she wanted to keep us a secret in case she ever needed me. Our connection has always been unspoken in that way,” I divulged, planting more seeds in Little Ms. Nosy’s mind.
“Yeah, I can tell just by seeing you in person why her pull to you would be so strong.” Ruthie smirked.
My chin dipped to her stiff middle finger, which lay flat against her thigh. Clearly, it was positioned there just for me. I smiled and looked directly into her eyes, respectfully acknowledging her cryptic message.
Yep, she definitely knew.
Small talk with Elle’s family grew as the remaining students of the graduating class walked across the stage, one by one.
While I enjoyed it, feeling more immersed in Elle’s world than ever before, the time separating me from her stretched on like it was keeping us apart by design.
Maybe, for a moment, it was. However, time was no match for the moment that the ceremony finally concluded.
The moment Elle and I came face-to-face in front of her family and friends.