The Stella I Remember

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I stood outside of Stella's door—at least, I hoped it was her door—and gripped my duffle bag in my hand.

After Marcus showed up at my place and lit a fire under my ass, I was running on pure adrenaline to see Stella again. However now that I was here, my guilt and nervousness was getting the better of me.

Guilt, because I shouldn't have reacted the way I did about her leaving. Nervousness, because I had no idea if she was pissed at me or not. Or if she wanted to see me. Yes, she said she was still mine in that goddamn letter, but after the way I acted?

I had no idea.

I continued to stare at the door knocker in front of me. If she didn't want to see me and this ended badly, it was going to fucking kill me. But on the other hand...

I decided to pull out my cell phone and finally turn the thing on. I had multiple voicemails and texts from Stella. I couldn't bring myself to read those right now. I clicked on the voicemail button and listened to the newest one instead.

Which was about twenty minutes ago. Fuck.

My eyes slid shut when Stella's voice came through the receiver. As good as it was to hear it again, the obvious pain was a stab in the heart.

"Hey, Elliot. It's Stella...obviously. Look I know you hate me and probably don't want to speak to me anymore. I just wanted to tell you that I ended things with Matthew. I was always planning to come back to you, Elliot. My mom was the reason I had to leave so suddenly. Anyway...I'm not giving up on us." There was a pause. "I love you, Elliot. It's always been you."

I listened to the message again. And again.

"It's always been you".

That's what she said...right?

As I stared at the door again, a new wave of love coursed through me. There was also the urge to bust this shit down and take possession of her mouth. Her body. Fuck. Everything. I wanted her.

I reached out and finally rapped my knuckles against her door.

Heavy footfalls sounded through the wood. I frowned. Maybe this wasn't the right place...

"Goddammit," a female voice groaned from inside. Then the door swung open. "I told you to—"

Stella. I smiled so wide my cheeks hurt. "Hey baby," I murmured.

"Elliot?" she gasped in surprise.

I wanted to reach out and pull her against me. I wanted to feel her soft skin against mine. I wanted my tongue in her mouth, kissing her deep as I drove into her over and over again.

But I didn't do any of that. I waited. The expression of shock and...something else on her face gave me pause.

"Stella? Are you—"

She threw herself into my arms, wrapping hers around my neck. I dropped my duffle instantly and held her against me.

"Stella?"

She buried her face in my neck and tightened her arms around me. Something was wrong. Something was very wrong. Vegas money says it had something to do with her mom or her ex-fiancée. Maybe both.

I stroked her back comfortingly. "Talk to me. Stella? What happened?"

Her body started to shake in my arms. Oh, fuck... Was she—fuck. She was crying.

First thing we needed to do was get out of her doorway. I ushered her inside and closed the door behind me. When she finally unattached herself from my body, she took a step back and looked up at me.