she's mine.

31

"Where was Jonny?"

"Running errands," I lied, still looking out the window as Eli drove us out of the boonies. We hadn't talked since i'd gotten out of the bathroom. Well besides his quiet knock on the door asking if I was okay.

"I'm okay," I reassured him softly through the door. I don't understand how he can make me even more emotional than I already am. He can change my mood in an instant. I hated it.

I tried to focus on the conversation at hand, I didn't want to slip up. Jonny hated people knowing who he was. I knew he would hate it even more if it were Eli or his friends who knew. Fighters were always targeted for, well.. a fight. He didn't want anyone to have any reason to egg him on.

He left this morning shortly after my meltdown to train just outside of Denver in Commerce City- not that I had any idea where that was- but he was sure to let me know where he'd be.

He hated leaving me alone, but he also wasn't going to risk taking me to a gym with someone he didn't know yet, in a city he had only been in for a week. He was going to train with a friend of his trainers, but Jonny was skeptical of everyone until he was proven not to be.

The only reason Jonny was allowing me to ride with someone else was because of Lea. Apparently she was very convincing. I am surprised that she already had a hold on my brother like this. She told him she would be with me the whole time and she may have hinted that her, Jake and I were riding separate from the others. She was good.

There was a long pause as we drove past fields and fields of crop toward the mountains with sun setting behind them. It was a beautiful scene really, even if it was a little unnerving not knowing where we were going while we left the safety of our small town.

I would've tried to stay home if I had any hope that Eli would let me, but i knew he wouldn't. I also didn't want to stay in that house alone knowing Jordan had already found me.

Not that I didn't want to go out tonight, I loved going out and I really enjoyed this group, but with Eli's mixed signals i'd rather stay in the comfort of my home.

He was so confusing. He tells me he wants nothing to do with me, then he kisses me, then he acts like i'm nothing when he gets a call. I was beyond scared to see how it would go when we were around his friends. If he acted like I was a problem he had to deal with I would cry. He was just so different when we were alone than when we were with people.

He didn't seem to let anyone see him soft, besides me. Which of course made me feel somewhat special, but if it meant that I would be a secret- something he was ashamed to show off to his friends- then I didn't want it.

Maybe I was over thinking it, I couldn't tell, but tonight I would find out. I tried to at least distract myself so I didn't dig myself a hole in my own thoughts.

"Where are we getting ice cream?" The diner here in Grand Canyon wasn't an actual diner. I mean it was old and run down and served good food, but they only had 5 items on the menu and none of them included a good shake or two.

"The Moonlight Diner," Eli responded glancing over at me. "Its where we spend our weekends usually. It's as far out of this small town we can seem to get." He sounded distant, like he were in deep thought as he spoke. "That and the drive in."

I let the silence sink in for a moment, but as always my curiosity got the best of me.

"How did you get this car?"

Eli's brown eyes looked at me in surprise. Then he let out a quiet laugh. He didn't speak right away, he seemed to be trying to decide how he wanted to answer. The truth or the story he told everyone I assume.