Page 242 of Love Unwritten
I zip my lips and toss the invisible key over my shoulder, earning a chuckle from Dahlia and her mother.
“Why didn’t you say anything?” Ellie places her hands on her hips and stares at me with the cutest scowl.
I shrug. “It’s top secret.”
Her eyes sparkle. “Does that mean you’ll have to kill me if I tell someone?”
Tía bumps her hip into Ellie’s. “He wouldn’t, but don’t count me out. Julian says he has the perfect place to bury a body should I need it.”
“Did you hear that, Lorenzo?” Julian asks from the living room, earning an eye roll from Dahlia and a laugh from Ellie.
Tía sighs. “I told him to behave.”
“He’s just hangry,” Dahlia offers.
Ellie and my aunt wrap up making lunch together while Rosa and Dahlia prepare the table. It’s obvious Ellie fits like a missing puzzle piece, perfectly falling into place with our family like she’s always been a part of it. In some ways, I guess she has, but I had never paid much attention to the relationships she had with my family outside of Nico.
With every question they ask her, I can tell they gain a bit more respect for her, only for that respect to double when they catch her instinctively passing me her plate with a few forkfuls of green spaghetti. Dahlia’s brows rise, my aunt’s eyes water, and Lily hides her smile behind a fist. Lorenzo, her fiancé, has a look of disgust on his face as his gaze bounces between Lily’s smile and my plate.
Take some notes on a real relationship, asshole.
Even Julian, who has a professional poker face, seems taken aback.
Ellie, on the other hand, doesn’t even notice as she continues telling Rosa some story about her mom and the music shop.
When they catch me staring, everyone looks away, while Ellie…
She turns to me and smiles, and I swear, I fall in love with her all over again.
Later that night, when Nico and I drop Ellie off at her house, her parents invite us inside for homemade brown butter cookies and a drink. Nico was hesitant at first, but after a reassuring squeeze from me and a promise to leave whenever he asks me to, we head inside.
Nico takes some time to warm up to Ellie’s family, most likely due to him still struggling with getting close to people he just met. Burt doesn’t give up at the first brush-off, though, and it doesn’t take long for my son to become interested in hearing about Burt’s time as Ellie’s music teacher before he started dating her mother.
“So she got free music lessons forever?” Nico asks.
“Yup. She’s a moocher.” Burt winks.
I smile while Ellie’s eyes roll as she says, “I didn’t ask you to become my tutor.” She mentions needing to use the restroom and disappears down a hallway.
Burt’s eyes brighten. “I was trying to impress her mom and spend more time with her.” He then tells Nico about Ellie’s time on the drumline, and her mom scrambles to find a video of one of the performances.
Nico giggles before looking up at me. “Can Ellie give me lessons forever too?”
Burt grins. “If Ellie says no, I’ll convince her for you.”
“What am I saying no to?” Ellie reappears in the hallway leading to the bedrooms.
“Burt told me to ask you if I could have music lessons forever and ever.”
Ellie pretends to think about it for a few seconds. “Of course. You’re my favorite student.”
Nico laughs. “I’m your only student!”
Ellie looks over at me with a secretive smile. “Not anymore.”
As of last week, Ellie officially became my music tutor too after she caught me messing around with one of Nico’s guitars. She claims she is doing my ears a favor by teaching me some basic chords, but I think she wants another excuse to touch me.
Nico gasps. “You have another student? Who? You’ve got to tell me!”