Find Her, Keep Her (CFTM Sequel)

Chapter 26

*Note: Click the Youtube video above to listen to the Audiobook Version of this chapter voiced by Kristen M. (kaelking12)featuring music by Paramore, Saint Raymond, Smallpools, and Alex & Sierra.

Alex

Elias and I are still holding on to each other when we reach the parking lot. He sinks to his knees as soon as we stop running and pulls me down next to him on the pavement.

I trip over my shoelaces and tumble into the space next to him. He reaches out, steadies me, and slowly guides my head into the space on his shoulder like it's an old habit.

For a split second, I almost forget when and where we are. The present slips back into the past, and, suddenly I remember what it was to be that girl who used to be at home in his arms.

But then my conscious violently reminds me that this moment is just an illusion of who we used to be.

Before everything fell apart.

Before we made the kind of mistakes that left behind ugly scars and uglier secrets.

I force myself to sit up and put necessary space between the two of us, but he throws his arm over my shoulders and pulls me back towards trouble. I stiffen up the second we make contact. My arms straighten out like chopsticks, my neck and head tilt away from him, and my legs can't seem to decide whether to be crossed or not.

Elias turns to me and smiles the kind of easy going smile that comforts and terrifies me all at once.

"You okay, Jersey?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. Why?"

Do you really need an answer to that, Alex? Maybe, if you weren't squirming around like a beached octopus, he wouldn't be eyeing you like a freak. Stop moving. Sit like a normal person, and get it together.

Stat.

"'Cause you're moving around like you sat on an ant hill."

"No, I'm not. I'm just getting comfortable next to you, friend."

Elias lets out something between a laugh and a sigh and tightens his grip around me.

"Just relax, Jersey. I'm not trying to creep on you or anything. You just looked a little down earlier, so I figured you needed someone to lean on for a little bit, but if I'm making you nervous then--"

"Nervous? Who's nervous? We're all friends here, Elias. F-r-i-e-n-d-s. Indigo and I do this kinda thing all the time too. No big."

"Does Indigo make you blush?"

Touché.

"I am not blushing. We just ran down like, four flights of stairs and crossed the entire quad to get here. People's faces get red when they run. It's science."

"Sure it is."

"Think what you want, Elias. I am perfectly capable of being this close to you without getting nervous about it. See?"

I latch onto his side like a barnacle and wrap my arms around his waist just to prove how comfortable I am. Is it a complete lie? Absolutely. But I refuse to give Elias King the gratification of knowing that he still has the power to give me a series of silent panic attacks.

I hold my ground and wait for him to react to my obvious display of hormonal solidarity, but he doesn't speak.

He leans against me until the clean beachy scent of his cologne sneaks past my nostrils. I shut my eyes for a couple seconds and breathe him in. It's amazing how quickly someone's smell can bring you back to a moment.