Page 76 of Wrecked By You
“Oh, I know.” She turned to Johannes, and her whole demeanor shifted into seduction mode. As good as undressing him with her eyes, her gaze slowly traveled the full length of his body, and she crossed her arms so her tits squished even closer together.
I clenched my hands into fists, stuffing them into my lap. Only Johannes’s flat, bored gaze when he stared back at her stopped me from smacking her one and screaming “Back off, bitch. He’s mine.”
“And who might this delicious man be? I thought you ran off with that older guy.”
My blood turned to ice, my breathing quick and shallow as I risked a glance at Johannes. His expression was unreadable except for the smallest flare in his eyes.
I ignored her question. If Johannes didn’t introduce himself, then I wasn’t about to. “No, you must be mistaken.”
She shook her head. “No. I’m sure it was you. The school gossip train was in full flow over it. Rumor was that he’d knocked you up and your parents made him marry you.”
Ah, finally something I can dispute from a position of truth.
“He didn’t knock me up, and my parents never made me marry him.” My voice came out small. “It was a brief fling. That’s all. I haven’t seen him in years.”
And… back to the lies.
“Oh.” She refocused her attention on Johannes. “Well, your choices certainly improved.” She flashed him a grin. He didn’t return it, his stare glacial. Arabella’s smile fell.
“Well, I must dash. I’ve got my own hottie waiting for me.”
She gestured somewhere behind her, but I couldn’t see whom she was referring to. I pitied the poor soul, whoever he was.
“Toodles.”
She wiggled her fingers as if we were children and, without waiting for a reply, bustled off, having dropped a bomb in the middle of my life and leaving me to pick up the pieces. I toyed with my napkin, folding and refolding it before laying it on my lap. I couldn’t look at him, or rather, didn’t dare to.
“Sorry about her. She’s—”
“Why did she call you Eloise?”
His question went right to my heart. It spluttered, then skipped a beat. Then another. Dots appeared before my eyes, my head woozy.
Tell him,my inner consciousness screamed.Tell him everything.
I opened my mouth, but instead of the truth, lies spilled out.
“It—Ella—is my middle name. I don’t like ‘Eloise.’” A blush stole across my cheeks. “So I go by Ella now.”
He tapped a fingertip against his lips. “And this older guy she mentioned? Is he Chloe’s father?”
“No! I told you. Chloe’s father was a one-night thing.”
More lies. They drowned me, sucking me down like quicksand. It was too late to back out now. I had to see this through to the bitter end.
“The older guy was nothing. Nobody. A teenage rebellious streak. It fizzled out.”
He peered at me, his eyes narrowing. I cut him off before he could hit me with a barrage of questions I could see burgeoning.
“Just drop it, okay? I never liked Arabella at school, and I haven’t changed my opinion. We all have a past.” I stared at him pointedly. “Don’t we, Johannes?”
It was an unfair shot, but I took it anyway. If he was going to poke around in my past, then by God, I’d poke around in his.
He flexed his jaw. “Yes, we do.”
I picked up the glass of wine I’d hardly touched and drank half of it in one go. My hand shook, and I doubted my legs would hold me up if I tried to stand.
“Don’t let her ruin the evening.” I made myself smile even though I was far closer to tears. “I nearly punched her when she eye-fucked you.”