Heartbeats in Moonlight

Chapter 70

David raised both eyebrows and waited for her explanation.

Ella ran her tongue over her lips. "Why would we do anything about anything?" This was getting out of control. Ella shook her shoulders in a shrug, and said, "I already accepted your apology, remember." David grimaced at her tone. Ella rolled her eyes but she did not change her tone, "You thought I hit on you, back then, at that rugby training camp, because you thought that was in my nature."

"That is not true." He moved his head side to side. "That is definitely not true." He repeated.

"Yes, it is." She snapped.

"I hit on you! Not the other way!" David corrected with frustration. "You were so shy, I pursued..."

"Yes. I was shy. Still am, actually." Ella retorted.  He grimaced as she reminded him. "But come on, you accepted your mates' words!" 

"It was just for a few seconds, I realised pretty fast..."

She glared at him and interrupted, "I thought you liked me. I was flattered by your attention." David raised his eyebrows. 

"I did like you. I still like you!"

"Utter rubbish!" " Ella snapped. "You looked at me as if I was a Mata Hari, after listening to your mates .  You threw out what you knew about me" David ran his palm across his face.  Ella tried to remain cool and aloof. "So, yes, thank you for your apology, and I accept it." She glared at him, "But you have no idea ..." Her voice catching she took a breath to gather her composure.

David interjected, "I'm sorry Gabriella..."

Ella interrupted, "As I said, apology accepted. But if you really knew me ....!"

David ran his fingers over his jaw, and opted for sincerity, interrupted again, "Look, my mind was all over the place. I wasn't thinking. I was in shock."

Her eyes narrowed in temper and snapped at David, "And accepted I was a slut, because your mates said I slept with everyone!"

"No, Gabriella," He threw up arms in frustration and said, "I didn't know you were at school!" He remembered they were meant to portray a happy couple so he lowered his voice, just in case other passengers noticed they were arguing.  "That really threw me."  

"Oh really?" Her response was full of sarcasm. "That is rubbish! You are only a few years old than me."

This conversation was falling apart. David nodded as he accepted her statement.  Ella folded her arms and looked away.

David ran his fingers through his hair, buried his face in the cage of his arms as his fingers locked behind his head, and closed his eyes. "Ok, ok, I know that." He said quietly. Opened his eyes, unlinked his fingers and lowered his arms. "I thought you were roughly my age. I didn't know that you were still at  school." David looked directly at Ella. As if that would help his situation. She still glared at him." When everything blew up, after Henry, all I heard was I was with a school kid, that you knew the team, that your dad was the manager. I felt like an idiot. I had feelings for a school kid. A perv! I was so embarrassed."

"Pervert? Embarrassed? Are you kidding? Why? I was nearly eighteen. You were twenty. What is wrong with that?"

He rubbed the back of his neck. "Nothing is wrong with that, Gabriella. But no-one mentioned your age. Just that you were at school! A school kid, it rattled in my head! How could I fall in love with a school kid? What would people say about that?" That was the problem, back then, one statement, the fact she was at school and he was falling for a school kid.

She snapped, missing his statement about falling in love with her. "No one would bat an eye!" Why would he worry about that?

He sighed out a long breath, "I overreacted. Ok. What registered was you were a school kid. And I conjured a kid, someone who could be thirteen, fourteen, fifteen and I was twenty."