Blue Violet - By Abigail Owen Page 0,30
class. I’ll see if I can find him. I’ll keep in touch.”
“Be careful. Please.”
“Do you really have to say that to me?”
“Probably not.”
Ellie didn’t hear from Griffin again after that, and it made for an incredibly long day. She must have acted pretty spacey, because her friends kept giving her odd looks. Once school was finally over, she rushed out to the parking lot, her mind focused on one thing and one thing only: to get home and see if she could find Griffin.
Halfway across the lot she stopped suddenly, shocked. Alex was leaning up against her car. Given that six weeks had passed since she’d last seen him and he’d done little more than nod at her in passing, his timing was suspicious.
“Hi, Alex,” Ellie said as she approached him. Despite her state of panicked rush, and her anger with him, she secretly felt thrilled. It just figured that he’d pick today of all days to finally talk to her. She unlocked the passenger-side door and threw her backpack in the back seat. Alex still blocked the driver side.
“Sorry, Alex, but I’m in a bit of a hurry.”
He didn’t move. “Oh? Where’re you off to in such a rush?”
“Just home.”
“Griffin there?” he asked in a too-casual way, and Ellie’s eyebrows popped up.
“Yeah.” She drew out the word, implying by her tone that she thought that a bit of a silly question.
They eyed each other for several moments. With an impatient gesture, she finally snapped, “Do you mind?” and tried to shoo him away from her car. From the corner of her eye she saw Adelaide, Lila, and Nate approaching them.
“Who exactly is Griffin, anyway?” he asked her.
Ellie hid her surprise. Adelaide knew Griffin was her brother. Guess she didn’t pass that on to Alex, Ellie thought. Her stubborn streak kicked in. Well, after the silent treatment the last few weeks, I’m not in the mood to enlighten him.
“I really am in a hurry, Alex,” Ellie answered brusquely. Why on Earth did he decide that the one moment he wanted to talk to her was the one moment she couldn’t? And why talk to her about this? She risked touching him, pushing against him to try to move him out of the way. She was tempted to let her hand linger on his arm. It felt warm and rock hard. And touching him at all just seemed so intimate, so right. A strange yearning settled somewhere in her heart.
Alex stared into her eyes so intently, Ellie felt almost trapped. She couldn’t turn away even if she’d wanted to. Her breathing accelerated along with her heart rate. It was the kind of look a man gave a woman he wanted. Knowing. Sensual. Slowly, he obligingly scooted aside. Still caught in his gaze, Ellie just managed to yank open her car door in an awkward motion and flop in. Turning the key, she revved the engine. Alex signaled her to roll down the window, and she took a deep breath and complied.
He leaned down as if to speak with her, but then he suddenly popped his head through the window and placed a light kiss on her unsuspecting lips. Ellie gave a little squeak of surprise and stared at him with wide, astonished eyes.
With a sexy grin he said, “Just giving you one more thing to think about.” And with that mystifying comment, he turned and walked over to where his siblings were waiting.
Ellie sat for a moment, gathering her chaotic thoughts and emotions. Holy crap, he just kissed me! Quickly followed by, Who the hell does he think he is? Sheesh! The guy completely ignores me for six weeks, and then wham-bam-thank-you-ma’am!
Finally it registered that maybe Alex Jenner wasn’t indifferent to her after all, and a bubbling excitement fizzed through her entire system, threatening to explode.
But Ellie squashed her growing excitement. One kiss didn’t make him any less of a jerk. And as much as her body wanted to focus on that amazing moment, Ellie had more pressing matters to deal with at the moment. She put her car in gear, and with a slightly dazed wave in the general direction of her friends, she headed home.
*****
Alex watched Ellie as she drove away. He didn’t even hide it now. Adelaide, Lila, and Nate had all seen him kiss their friend. Adelaide smiled serenely, while Nate and Lila gave him incredulous looks.
“What the heck was that all about?” Nate demanded.
Alex just shrugged. Mentally, he swung back and forth between a crazy satisfaction