Unscripted - Nicole Kronzer Page 0,36

what they pay you the big bucks for, right?”

His lips twitched. Then he blinked and caught my gaze, holding it long enough for heat to wrap around my throat and the whole world to disappear around us.

“I’m sorry for not standing up for you during the prostitute scene.”

The tension in my jaw released. “Thank you,” I said. “Thank you for saying that.”

He gave me a half smile. “Things’ll get better. I promise. Forgive those guys. It’s really my fault. If you’re going to be mad at someone, be mad at me, okay?”

“I’m not mad at you,” I said, meaning it.

Now he gave me a full smile. “Good. Oh, hey—here they come. I wish we had a few more minutes, just for you and me.” His eyes glowed. I nodded, swallowing around my unasked questions.

“You ready?” Ben asked, in a low voice meant just for me. I nodded again.

Ben broke eye contact and called out, “Hey, guys!”

I brightened, determined to be Nina Knightley, to be awesome, to make things right with my team. “Hi, Jakes!”

“Hey,” they said, then peered up and down the road, ostensibly looking for the other guys. I racked my brain for a neutral topic of conversation to get the ball rolling, but came up empty. I exchanged a look with Ben—and I smiled, realizing it was the first time he’d allowed that with other people around.

Ben gave me a tiny nod. “Ellie, have you ever been on a high ropes course before?”

I raised an eyebrow. He was trying to help me. This was another change from the way he’d been behaving in front of the rest of the team. I dove right in. “Well, I’ve rock climbed a bunch. My parents are really into it. They’ve been dragging Will and me along since we could walk. And now that my feet have stopped growing, I even have my own climbing shoes.”

Oh, NERD, Zelda.

“Cool,” Ben said, even though I could tell deep down he didn’t mean it. But he was trying.

“She doesn’t need you to show her the ropes, then,” Jake 1 joked, smiling so widely, it made his ears poke out even further than usual.

“Good one,” I said, also trying. Trying very hard. “That’s funny.”

“I wouldn’t go that far,” Brandon rolled his eyes as he and Xander sauntered up to join us. He chucked his chin in Jake 1’s direction. “You trying to jump his bones or something?”

I forced out a fake laugh. “I was just—”

“Cuz Jakey’s game, right, Jakey?” Brandon poked him in the stomach. Jake laughed and pushed him back.

Xander joined in, grinding on Jake from the side. “Jakey’s all, ‘Do me, Ellie, I’m so funny.’ ” He made some grunting sounds.

Brandon ground on Jake from the other side and pitched his voice into a falsetto. “Oh, Jakey!” he tittered, apparently imitating me. “You’re so funny! I love it when you do me!”

The grunting sounds increased, reaching a fever pitch.

I looked to Ben to put a stop to this, but he just shook his head, smiling. “Relax,” he mouthed.

Jake was laughing, but was also looking increasingly uncomfortable.

I pursed my lips. Perform at the peak of your intellect. I couldn’t just “relax.” Putting my hands up, I tried to pitch my voice in a light tone. “Guys, come on—”

Xander reached a hand out imitating a cat paw. “Kitty likes to—”

“Can we please find another way to—” My voice came out louder than I intended.

“Ellie!” Ben reminded me in a slight singsong voice, “Team building, remember?”

Ben promised me things would be better. This was not better. Fire in my eyes, I met Ben’s. He raised his eyebrows for a fraction of a second, then elbowed me. “We’re going to have some fun on the ropes course, right?”

“Yeah, Ellie, we’re going to have some fun.” Brandon grinned. He slapped Jake 1 on the butt as a parting gesture.

I clenched my jaw. So, things weren’t going to be different. Those guys were still going to be weird and gross and Ben was still going to do nothing about it. Why was I even putting up with this crap?

Varsity. Nina Knightley. Saturday Night Live.

Right.

“Yup.” I nodded, looking at my sneakers, “Fun.”

“Hey, Ellie. Come on,” Ben said. “Smile.”

“She doesn’t have to smile if she doesn’t want to.”

Shocked, I turned around and smiled for real. Standing three abreast in matching olive shorts and wicking BSA T-shirts were my Boy Scouts: the cute one, the ginger one, and the silent rock one.

“Hi!” I exclaimed, relief washing over me. “How are you?”

“Good! Zelda, right?”