Page 121 of Love Unwritten
Busted.
With more confidence than I feel, I walk over to the bench and sit. “What are you working on?” When I try to peek at the page, she shuts her notebook.
“A song.”
“Really? I thought you didn’t write music anymore.”
“I’ve decided to give it another try.”
“Why the sudden change of heart?”
She readjusts the flower I tucked behind her ear earlier tonight before dropping her hands. “I don’t want to stop doing things I love because I’m scared.”
“What are you scared about?”
Her lips remain firmly pressed in a thin line.
Fine. I deserve her shutting down, especially when I’ve been a closed book, but it bothers me. Just like it did earlier when I noticed she had been crying.
That’s twice in one day that I’m finding myself getting annoyed over Ellie keeping me at arm’s length, and I’m not sure what to make of it yet.
Not sure I want to, either.
I snap a photo of the sunset for my family before tucking my phone back into my pocket.
“What was up with Nico tonight?” she asks a minute later.
“I don’t know.” I tried to press him about it when Ellie went to the bathroom, but he didn’t take the bait and moved on to another subject altogether.
“Is it true?” Her eyes flicker with amusement.
“What?”
“Did you say I was pretty?”
My mouth curls at the corners. “Who’s the one fishing for compliments now?”
“I’m curious.”
“Why?”
She glances away, her cheeks turning as pink as the sky. “Forget it.”
I stare at her until she meets my gaze again. “I wasn’t about to tell my son what I was really thinking, if that’s what you were wondering.”
She releases a shaky breath. “What was that?”
“That you looked so damn gorgeous, it physically hurt me to look at you because I knew you could never be mine.”
Her sharp inhale fills the quiet. “Is it because I’m Nico’s nanny?”
“No, it’s because of me.”
CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR
Ellie
“What’s that supposed to mean?” My notebook falls to the ground as I jump off the bench. I’m not a confrontational person, but Rafael always draws this fire out of me that I find hard to extinguish, even with deep breaths and Willow’s yoga mantras.