Loving Ean (The Fae Guard Book 2) by Elle Christensen Page A

around.
    Hello, pot? This is kettle.
    She let on that Aden had issued some kind of ultimatum that ended Friday. There’s nothing like messing with your big brother, so when Hayleigh and I invited her over for a girls night, we planned it for Friday. That lifted my spirits for the day.
    I glance at the clock on my phone and see that it’s a little after eight, then set it back down on the red, wooden end table next to my couch. He’s late. Shocking.
    I don’t want to be nervous, it’s not like this conversation will contain any surprises. I even talked myself into putting on black yoga pants and a purple, oversized t-shirt. I would not dress up for him, damn it! However, the butterflies in my stomach won’t settle down, so I get up from my seat and grab a glass of wine from the kitchen. After another half hour, and two more glasses, I’m sufficiently buzzed. I’m now lying on the couch, trying to decide at what point I give up on him appearing and go to bed, when there is finally a knock on my door. I glide over and open it, ushering him in a wide, sweeping gesture. “So good of you to grace me with your presence. To what do I owe this benevolent honor?” OK, I might be a little more than buzzed.
    He looks so damn good in his jeans and black sweater, I immediately start questioning my choice of attire, and my messy bun. Ean gives me a speculative look as he enters, and then his eyes drift to my empty glass on the coffee table next to the mostly empty bottle of wine. I shut the door and lean back against it, waiting, letting him take the lead on this conversation. He closes his eyes and pinches the bridge of his nose, a long sigh escaping from those perfect lips.
    “Laila,” he scolds, “Are you drunk?”
    I smile and saunter past him, putting a little extra sway in my hips. “I was well on my way before you showed up.” Making my way to one of the overstuffed chairs in my living room, I plop down with absolutely no grace. Every minute he stands there, the fog from the wine clears away and honestly, I’m not particularly happy about that. “Don’t harsh my mellow, man.” I giggle at my quote, but looking at Ean’s straight face, he is obviously not amused.
    “Fine.” I sit up and ditch the humor. “What did you want to talk about, Ean?” He starts pacing and eventually, I get a little dizzy. “Ean, just sit the fuck down and spit it out!” I say, harshly.
    His pacing stops and his head whips toward me in surprise. I raise an eyebrow and gesture to the couch. I don’t quite believe it when I see one side of his mouth tip up, the movement so small, I almost miss it. He moves to the couch and sits on the edge, near my chair.
    “We’ve got to get past what happened, Laila. Our lives are too intertwined to leave things the way they are.” He looks at me expectantly. Is he waiting for me to agree?
    “Ean, may I just point out that you were the one avoiding me? I was ready to have this conversation weeks ago.”
    He shifts, looking slightly uncomfortable, and a little guilty. He opens his mouth to say what I’m pretty sure would be a litany of excuses, so I put my hand over his lips, and glare at him. After a minute, he nods, so I take my hand away. The places where our skin touched are warm and the heat runs straight to my core. Why do I have to be so freaking attracted to him?
    I sigh and decide I just want this to be done so that I can go to bed. “Look, what happened was great.” He starts to speak so I rush ahead, cutting him off.
    “I don’t want to hear that you’re sorry, Ean. Just keep your trap shut for five minutes!” His eyes narrow, but he doesn’t say anything, just leans back into the couch and gestures for me to continue. “Thank you. As I was saying, it was great. Incredible. But, I know where you stand. I’m not sure exactly where we go from here. I do know that I don’t want to lose your friendship. So, let’s just chalk it up to a moment of insanity. I don’t want to