“Well…”
I pictured her sitting on her bed, picking at a torn spot on her jeans, surrounded by pink and frills. It was a little girl’s room, and while Saoirse wasn’t really a little girl anymore, it mollified me that she hadn’t made over her room. At least part of her wasn’t ready to grow up.
“Dad convinced me to look at colleges in Colorado, not just California. He knows I won’t move to Wyoming, but—”
“You go to school in Boulder, you’ll only be a couple hours from Dad.”
“Yeah. And I like Boulder. It would be really different, but I’ve lived in California my whole life.”
The idea was a good one. Saoirse was the kind of girl who needed to be able to spread her wings knowing she had backup nearby. I would have pulled for her to come to Savage U, but by the time she got here next fall, I’d have one foot out the door, and then she’d be on her own on the other end of the state.
“Is this call about me breaking the news to Mom?” I asked, already knowing the answer.
“Um…would you? No decisions have been made or anything. I haven’t even set foot on CU Boulder’s campus. But, like, I’ve looked at the programs and checked out some student forums. I think I might like it. It’s just…Mom, well, she’ll be pissed. She’ll accuse me of abandoning her and choosing Dad over her.”
The wobble in her voice at the end did me in.
“I’ll talk to her.”
“Really?” she squeaked. “You promise?”
“Yeah, baby girl. I promise. Doesn’t mean it’ll go smooth, though. You know that.”
“I know. Nothing with Mom is smooth. I don’t know how Dad ever put up with her.”
I set my beer down on the deck and rubbed my face again. “Don’t do that. Dad’s far from perfect. Don’t make her the villain, Saoirse.”
She giggled. “Lachlan Kelly, protector of women, even when they don’t deserve it.”
“Shut it if you want me to talk to Mom for you.”
That quieted her down. “I do, I do. Just maybe do it when I’m going to be out of the house for a few hours so she has time to cool down before I have to see her.”
“You got it, kid.”
We talked for a while about a little bit of nothing before hanging up. I leaned back in my creaking chair, staring through the dark at the lit-up window next door. Saoirse would probably like Elena. They were a lot alike—both brats with mouths on them. Either that, or they’d be at each other’s throats since they were too much alike.
I shook the thought off. They wouldn’t be meeting or making friends with each other, so it really didn’t matter if they got along in my head. I didn’t even know why I’d pondered it.
Elena’s eyes flicked to the window in my direction. I was pretty sure she couldn’t see me, but even so, the mirth in her face drained, leaving her with barely a smile.
I’d screwed up with her. I shouldn’t have gone there, not with a girl I had to see every day. Not without an up-front conversation first. I regretted that. Regretted hurting her if I had—and really fucking regretted having to live next to her, go to class with her, hear her laugh, see her smile at other people, knowing just how damn good she felt from the inside. How silky smooth her skin was. The sounds she made when she let go of her attitude and gave herself over to me.
Jesus. I pushed on my hardening dick, adjusting it behind my zipper.
This line of thinking would get me nowhere fast. Elena Sanderson needed to be out of my head for good.