“Nothing, Dad, Jesus Christ,” I snarled. His face hardened.
“I’m just trying to stay involved in your life,” he protested, but I cut off him off before he could play the martyr any longer. He didn’t get to play that game with me, not with my friends.
“No. You’re treating me like a child,” I interrupted him. “Seriously, at least give me the privacy to spend some time with my friend.”
Dad looked between Floundy and me. He was bursting to make some other comment but didn’t say anything.
He already had Claude on me. What more did he want?
I couldn’t go anywhere, see anyone, or do anything without it being reported back to him. He was completely in control of me, as he always wanted to be, and I wasn’t going to pander to his ego. He could go fuck himself.
“Get out of my room,” I insisted, glaring at him.
His face hardened, and he turned and walked out. I watched him leave and waited till the door was closed behind him before I turned my attention back to Floundy.
“Sorry about that.” I gestured after him, but Floundy just shook his head.
“No, don’t be.” He shot an angry look at the closed door, as though sending furious vibes in my father’s direction. “I can’t believe the way he treats you. It’s not right. You’re a grown woman.”
He took a deep breath, as though saying these words somewhat pained him, but he wanted nothing more than to be on my side about this.
“Still under his roof, apparently.” I said.
“You really care about this Elliott guy, huh?” he conceded. “And I might not get it, but you deserve a chance to figure it all out with him. In person.”
“What are you saying?” I asked, and Floundy cocked an eyebrow at me, a smile crossed his lips.
“I’m saying, we need to get Operation Aria’s Escape moving,” he explained, pulling out his phone and glancing at the door. “Do you get reception in your bathroom?”
“Sure do.” I nodded, a grin breaking out over my face. He handed me his phone.
“Get in there and call your man,” he ordered. “I’ll stay out here and keep watch and make sure Claude doesn’t come busting in to cramp your style.”
“You serious?” I asked, and he nodded.
“Of course, I am.” He hustled me toward the bathroom. “But get in there already before I change my mind or your dad comes back. We probably don’t have a lot of time.”
“Floundy, I love you,” I said, giving him a huge hug and then bouncing off the bed toward the bathroom.
“Just wait until I call in this favor later,” he warned playfully.
I closed the door behind me and pulled up the number pad. I’d committed Elliott’s number to memory on the way home, staring at the numbers on the screen knowing Dad would take my phone as soon as we got back to the house. Nervously, I typed in the number, praying I got it right. I held the phone to my ear, my heart bouncing back and forth in my chest as I tried to keep my cool.
“Hello?”
Chapter Twenty-Three
Elliott
I waited, skulking between two of the enormous bookcases at the back of the public library. It felt like something straight out of a cheesy detective novel, except we were the ones being followed.
She told me this would be the easiest way to evade Claude, to give us a few minutes to ourselves to talk about what we wanted to do next. I was pacing back and forth behind the bookcases, stalking like I was some sort of animal trapped in a cage.
We hadn’t seen each other in a week, not since we’d been arrested on that beach, and I missed her something fierce. No matter how much Tucker tried to cheer me up and keep my mind off the fact that she was so far away, every time I woke up and found myself alone, I felt a twist in my stomach that physically hurt. We were risking a lot by coming down here, but I needed to see her and we needed to figure out how to deal with our intrusive families.
“Elliott?”
Her voice was soft, but it was undeniably her. I spun around on the spot and found myself facing Aria. Her eyes were wide and nervous, but as soon as our eyes met, she hurried toward me and threw herself into my arms. Before I knew it, my lips found hers, and we were making out hungrily in the quiet aisles of the library.
I backed her against a bookcase, raking my fingers through her hair and kissing her hard, as though I could force her into my memory if we made our bodies connect deeply enough. Our tongues explored each other’s mouths, and her body arched to meet mine. I grew hard at her touch, and she slid her hand between my legs and grabbed my dick. She let out the softest moan against my lips. If I thought we could have gotten away with it, I would’ve bent her over the nearest study table and taken her right there.
It had been a long time since I’d done nothing but make out, but Aria made it so goddamn tempting. The little noises she let out against my mouth and the heat of her breath on me when I leaned down to brush my lips along her neck and over her ear made me want to bite, to suck, to mark her, but it would give away our little encounter, and that was the last thing I wanted. I ran my hands up and down her waist and her hips, enjoying the feel of the curve beneath my fingers. Fuck, she was so hot. My body had missed this as much as my mind had, and I was easily getting carried away.
“We need to stop.” She pulled back, her breath coming quickly and her eyes telling me she wanted nothing more than to continue. But I did as I was told and pulled back, trying to remind myself just how much we were risking by pulling shit like this. If we weren’t careful, we’d get caught, and God knows we couldn’t let that happen again. Would it be a bit overboard to get busted for the same offense twice in the same month?
“Fuck, I missed you.” I gripped her face between my hands and kissed her forehead, closing my eyes, savoring these few minutes we had together.
“I missed you too.”
We looked into each other’s eyes, and for that second, nothing in the world mattered other than she was here and I was here and we could finally just be near each other. But we didn’t have time to waste. We had to move quickly.
I apologized quickly. “I’m so sorry for what happened,” I said, getting the words out to make sure she knew how I felt. “I should have said no. I should have known.”
“No, it’s okay,” she said. “Really. My dad got the charges dropped anyway. It’s just that now…” She trailed off, glancing around.
“My dad has me back at the house,” she said, shaking her head. “He’s practically locked me up in there. He has Claude follow me everywhere I go, and I feel like I can’t get a minute to myself. If it hadn’t been for Floundy, I wouldn’t have been able to call you.”
“Tell that guy I owe him a drink. Several drinks.” I shook my head. “Your dad’s even taken your phone?”
She shook her head “Yeah,” she said, her voice so sad it broke my heart.
“Why is he being such a dick? H can’t do that can he?” I insisted. “It must be illegal. If you talk to someone, a lawyer maybe, it could help.”
“Then people will find out about the thing on the beach.” She shook her head. “He kept it quiet for me, but if he changes his mind, the press could get hold of it and that would be that.”