Shifted

Chapter 7: Gaining Traction

The next morning, I woke up to Eleanor packing her bag. Change must have been in the air for her to be awake before we could consider it brunch time. She was just zipping her duffel bag when I got out of the bathroom, ready for the day.

"So I'm going to let you two take the car and I'll take the train to Kerry to meet Addie and Charlotte. Then we'll fly to London," Eleanor explained, pushing her passport into her purse.

"How did you get it sorted so quickly?" I asked.

"It just took Google and a call to the girls to arrange a time to meet. Was pretty easy."

"Oh, well that's great. Are you sure we can have the car, it won't be putting you out too much?" I worried.

"Of course, it's all planned already so don't even worry about it." She walked over to me and put her hands on my arms. "This is your path, one hundred percent. It's gonna be okay."

"He shot me down yesterday, Elle. It's just going to be torture in the car today," I whined.

"Then he's an idiot, he'll realize it soon enough," Eleanor encouraged. "I've got to go if I'm going to catch the train. Text me, call me, keep me up to date on how things are going."

"Okay, you too. Let me know when you get to London," I said, pitifully.

"I will," she hugged me tightly before walking out the door. She said something to Dillon and laughed out loud. He laughed too, his deep tone resonating throughout the room.

I tried not to listen as I stuffed things into my duffel bag and threw the backpack Addison had filled onto the bed.

Eventually, their voices stopped and Eleanor closed the door as she left. I'd have to face Dillon soon, but I didn't want to see his annoyingly attractive face. As if he could hear my thoughts, his head popped in the doorway.

"You ready?" he asked, unreasonably cheerful. I ignored him, pretending to stuff something in my backpack. "Briony, let me explain last night," he started, taking a step into the room.

"Don't worry about it," I threw my bags over my shoulders, walked past him, and quickly out the door. I didn't give him any time to say anything else before sweeping down the hallway. As I stepped into the lobby, a staff member immediately took my bags and asked to pull the car around as I checked out. I would definitely miss the hospitality of the Hayfield.

"Can I have your name, Miss?" the receptionist asked, politely. Her name tag read Sinéad, which I hadn't the slightest idea how to pronounce. Her aura was a calm, blue-green color.

"Briony Shea," I replied.

"Lovely, did you need help with bags or your car?" she asked kindly, looking up at me. Her eyes flitted to something over my shoulder and her aura brightened to a light pink as an arm slid around me. Dillon's hand rested on the counter to my left. His body pressed lightly against mine, to my right. My heart started pounding in my chest and I looked up at him in confusion.

"No, we've got them taken care of, Sinéad," Dillon answered, peeking at her nametag. He ran a hand through his hair and flashed her a smile causing her aura to flare even darker pink. Her cheeks quickly matched the color.

"Ah, grand. We hope you had a wonderful stay and would love to see you again," Sinéad said solely to Dillon. He gave her a small nod and put his arm around my waist to lead me toward the door.

His body was rigid now as we walked. I was still completely shocked and didn't have time to consider smacking his arm away. We got through the front door and his body relaxed a little before glancing behind us.

The way Dillon's arm felt around me made me forget for a minute that I was still pissed with him about last night.

"What on earth was that?" I whispered, smiling at the front door staff.