It Started With A Book

Chapter 11

I'm getting the sense you don't know what an insult is.
___

"What are you doing in my room?"

Goosebumps trailed the length of her skin a result of a small shriek plunging from her lips. Sunlight floated through the window, casting her a warm glow.

She'd been up since midnight with a sinking feeling lodged in the pit of her stomach. A few times the gnawing nuisance threatened to come rising up and spill its contents on the floor. At the top of her non physically existing list was not to be hounded when all she truly desired was a nap.

She groped for the phone nearly dropping it onto the floor, back still turned. She slid it onto the night stand, clearing the recent apps so Elliott would be none the wiser.

"Brin I'm waiting,"

"And I'm waiting for you to--"

Snapping, she followed his voice towards the opposite side of the room. Her feet shifted amongst themselves, dampening with sweat.

High cheekbones flooded with crimson, her eyes straying from the one place she should've been looking at.

Was it possible to be in awe and angry at the same time?

"You're not wearing a shirt."

"And you're very observant," Elliott replied.

The smell of pine surrounded her senses, drawing her closer to him. Chiseled features conjured up Olympian images in Brin's brain. Everything from his jawline to his abs rendered Brin speechless. She hadn't associated the words sculpted and Elliott in the same sentence before; his hoodies and boxy t-shirts clearly not doing his figure justice.

An old enemy known as inadequacy welled up forcefully inside her.

Brin's fingertips brushed the hem of her dress she'd scored off the smaller rack when the adult sizes swallowed her figure. Where Elliott towered, Brin stunted. She was convinced her growth spurt was now lost in the mail.

Water droplets slid down Elliott's face and neck, falling when he gulped.

Her scanning stopped, retreating upwards once she spotted the green towel resting on his hips.

She teared away from his brown eyes, furrowed brow and tight lips.

Her face lifted but not of her own accord.

Elliott's fingers rested underneath her chin positioning Brin's features to the left, exposing her ear.

He bent low, and Brin was sure she'd stopped breathing.

"Brin..."

"Hmmm."

His breath fanned her ear causing Brin to imagine her life as one of those Wattpad girls she'd read about.

His chuckling brought upon a non fearful shiver up her spine-- daring even.

"I know you didn't come to see me in all my glory, so spill. What did you come for?"

Still enamored in her forest fresh high, Brin applied an honest-like approach.

"I was looking for something."

Key word: like.

"And what would that be," his mouth fell into an amused line, relishing in the effect he had on her.

"You actually."

Elliott's dormant heart leaped somersaults in its cavity. Struggling to keep his tone even, he replied.