Chapter 21
CHAPTER
TWENTY-ONE
THE AROMA OF coffee awakened Elijah. He sat up on the couch, not in his house, and he studied the living room. Everything in the room screamed Georgia, from the bright painting hanging on the wall behind the television, to the yellow throw blanket, and of course, the music.
Taylor Swift was softly coming from the other room.
Thank god she wasn’t singing. He smirked.
Who was he kidding? He would definitely listen to her sing again despite her sounding like a cat being thrown into a river. Her upbeat attitude was contagious, even for someone like him, who wasn’t known to be all sunshine and rainbows.
Standing, he stretched and saw the little details in her space.
One thing was certain: she loved color. Elijah walked to the wall next to the television, which was covered in framed photographs.
There were pictures from her childhood, from college, and even a recent one of her, Sophie, and Anna at Roman’s house.
He recognized the outfit. It was a memory ingrained in his head when he went down on her for the first time.
That night was so fucking hot. It started his obsession with making her orgasm.
Damn, he was getting hard just thinking about eating her out.
“Good morning!” Georgia, a ray of sunshine, greeted him. She stepped over the blanket and met him by the collage of photos, handing him a cup of coffee. “Not to ruin your reputation of being a tough guy, but you are so adorable when you sleep. That’s why I didn’t wake you.”
He took a sip of the black coffee. “Just promise to keep it a secret.”
A quick knock on the door had Georgia rushing to answer it. He heard her yell out thanks and come back to him in the living room, holding a paper bag.
“I can make coffee, but I need to go grocery shopping,” she told him as she got comfortable on the couch. “I DoorDashed us egg wraps and fruit salad. Come sit next to me.”
Elijah made his move and didn’t leave much space between them. Once his coffee was on the table, she handed him the wrap. “How long have you been awake?” he asked before he took a giant bite of his food. He didn’t realize how hungry he was.
“It’s seven now, so this feels like sleeping in. The clinic opens late on Wednesdays, so I don’t go in until nine,” she explained, moving her hand about as she spoke. “I’ve always been a morning person. It doesn’t matter what time I go to bed. What about you?”
Elijah paused to sip his coffee, wanting the caffeine to put him on her energy level. “I’m an any-time-of-day person.”
She grabbed the sandwich wrapper and threw it at him. “Show-off.”
“Hey,” he laughed, putting the paper down, “over the years, it hasn’t mattered if it’s morning or night. Whenever I get up, I’m ready to go.”
“Does your shift schedule mess with you?”
“I don’t know any different, but I’m sure you’d have a field day telling me about a proper sleep routine.”
Georgia took a bite of the breakfast wrap.
“I understand the complexity of your job and schedule, so I wouldn’t nag you about it.
But the shift schedule is hard. I did a rotation in my residency in the emergency room, and I couldn’t handle the wacky hours.
I’m so proud of you for being able to push past it to put our community first.”
Damn, wasn’t she the sweetest person?
“I’m not a hero.” Elijah didn’t take praise well, especially when it was about his career. To him, it was no different from anyone else doing their job.
“Oh, I know.” She grinned at him over her coffee mug. “I mean, you only sleep with people who don’t live near you. That’s not hero behavior.”
Elijah licked a piece of breakfast debris from the corner of his mouth. “I seem to have made an exception for you.”
He watched her as she took a deep breath, and then she sat up tall. “That’s not true.”
“I took your virginity and made you orgasm.”
“I can make myself orgasm too.”
Oh fuck, the thought of Georgia touching herself ran through his head. It was impossible for his cock not to get hard around her.
“But you are adamant we can’t do it anymore,” she said, with blush creeping over her face.
“I don’t want to hurt you.” Elijah wished she understood that.
Georgia crossed her arms, both of them silent as they watched each other.
“It’s my choice to make,” she told him with a tone like she was reprimanding a child. “I need to shower and get ready for work. Make sure you lock the door on your way out.”
She dismissed him, and Elijah wasn’t sure he liked it.
SOPHIE FLUTTERED AROUND Georgia’s bathroom, getting prepped for Anna’s party. Georgia was dressed, makeup and hair done, so she sat on the toilet watching her best friend act like she was getting ready to meet the cast of Off Campus instead of a bunch of firefighters.
“Are you nervous for Anna’s party?” Georgia blurted out.
Her friend stopped moving. “No, I just want to look good.”
She wasn’t too sure of this. Ever since the game of telephone, when Nash told Anna, who told Georgia, who, of course, told Sophie that Nash was bringing someone to the party, Sophie has been off.
Which didn’t make sense.
Sophie and Nash were like oil and vinegar.
But her reaction told another story.
Georgia tapped her hand on the bathroom counter to get Sophie’s attention as she went back to curling her hair. “I’ve never asked you this before, and you can tell me to zip it if you want to, but is there something you’re feeling about Nash bringing someone to the party?”
Naturally, Sophie rolled her eyes. “You can ask me a million times, and my answer will always be no. Nash is always with someone. This is nothing new.”
Hmm, it wasn’t exactly an answer, but if Sophie wanted to tell her, she would. Georgia wasn’t going to push.
Back to styling her hair, Sophie asked, “Are you excited to see Elijah since you two had your impromptu sleepover?”
“I am, but who knows what flavor of him I’ll get tonight.”
“What do you mean?”
Georgia tilted her head to the side, biting her lower lip, thinking of how to explain the different versions of Elijah. “My favorite version is when he confides in me, and his sarcasm is out, which always makes me laugh.”
“I thought your favorite part of him was when he was kissing you or doing other magical things with his tongue or dick.” Sophie suggestively wagged her eyebrows.
This made both of them laugh.
“Fair!” Georgia giggled. “I do love when he touches me. But when that isn’t happening, I love talking to him.”
“What other flavors, as you said, do you get?” Sophie questioned her.
“There’s him being all brooding and no talking. Then there is when he gets annoyed. Let’s not forget when he acts like he knows what is best for me.” Georgia counted off on her fingers.
“But do those things stop you from liking him?”
“Not in the slightest. Elijah is complex and guarded, but he’s also smart and funny.”
Sophie checked herself out in the mirror and then turned back to Georgia. “He’s also sexy as fuck.”
“There’s that,” Georgia agreed. “But he’s stuck on not wanting a repeat performance of us sleeping together. He doesn’t want to hurt me or lead me on, though it’s not his decision to make if I get hurt.”
Sophie reached out to Georgia, and Georgia took her hand, walking out of the bathroom and into the living room. “I agree with you,” she said. “But I want to play devil’s advocate. Elijah has a fear of commitment. Maybe he’s worried he is leading you on if the two of you have casual sex.”
“I hate when you make sense.”
Sophie grabbed her clutch off the coffee table. “Nonsense, you love me.”
Following her lead, Georgia picked up her purse and opened it up, checking to make sure her keys were in there. “Do you regret that your first time having sex was with someone you don’t talk to anymore?”
The summer after high school, Sophie went to tour some colleges, and she lost her virginity to some guy at the University of Delaware. She didn’t talk about it too much, but Sophie was over the moon when it happened.
Until she wasn’t.
“I don’t regret it.” Sophie was quiet for a minute as Georgia locked up her apartment, and they headed to the elevator. “But I wish he cared. Maybe Elijah cares. I bet he is pushing you away because you deserve more.”
They stepped out of the elevator, both lost in their own thoughts when they got into her car.
Georgia wished Elijah got it. He already did care.