I heard the sound of guitar music wafting up from below. I leaned over the railing, my hair dangling around me and saw Eli plucking at his strings just beneath my balcony. Well, crap. I hadn't seen Eli since I had text dumped him. Which was surprising, considering how much time he spent at his cousin's apartment just down the hall.
As if sensing my presence, Eli stopped playing and looked up. His face went perfectly blank and he lifted a hand in a halfhearted wave. “Hey,” he called up. I gave a short wave back.
“Hey.” We didn't say anything and I realized I looked like an idiot dangling over my railing. So I pulled myself up right and sat down in the white deck chair to finish my smoke.
“Maysie!” I heard Eli call out. I tried not to groan. But I didn't want to ignore him, so I got back to my feet. Eli had moved so that he stood out in front of my balcony. The guitar hung around his shoulders and I noticed off handily that he had let his hair grow out and that it was naturally curly. Interesting.
“What's up, Eli?” I asked, trying not to sound completely bitchy. But this was awkward. Eli reached up and scratched the back of his neck. He seemed nervous. Which was weird because I don't think I had ever seen Eli anything but high and laid back. Well except the night he and Jordan had gotten into it. But I didn't want to think about that.
“How've you been?” he asked, dropping his hand to rest on the front of his guitar. I took a last drag of my cigarette and knelt down to stub it out in the flower pot I kept for my butts.
“Um, fine,” I answered, standing back up and leaning my hands on the iron railing.
“Good. That's really...uh, good,” Eli said. He was being strange. Maybe he was on something.
“So have you taken up serenading in your free time?” I joked, trying to alleviate some of the uncomfortable tension. Eli chuckled and tapped a quick beat on the hollow wood of his acoustic.
“Why not, the ladies love it. You always did.” He glanced back up at me and I recognized that look. It was the one he always gave me before pulling me into a bedroom at his cousin's place.
I cleared my throat. “Well, I'd better get going.” I jerked my thumb in the direction of the sliding glass door to make my point. I turned around to head back inside.
“So why haven't I heard from you? In my world, wanting space doesn't mean you pretend the other person doesn't exist,” Eli called out just as I was about to open the door. I closed my eyes and leaned my forehead on the glass.
I turned around and went back to look down at Eli in the courtyard. “Can we not do this now? I mean, this isn't the best place to have this conversation,” I said shortly, kind of annoyed he was putting our personal stuff on display for the neighbors. Looking over I could see old Mrs. Graves sitting on her balcony, pretending to read the newspaper. But I knew that nosy lady was listening to everything we were saying.
“Well, let me come up so we can talk,” he insisted. Where was this coming from? I seriously thought he would be done with me by now. Hell, I strongly suspected he was hooking up with other girls the whole time we were “dating.” So why the sudden need to hash shit out with me?
“Now's not a good time, Eli. I'm getting ready to go out,” I said, trying to end the conversation quickly. I figured Jordan would here any minute.
Eli ran his hands through his hair. “I know you're with that other guy. The dude from the bar. I've seen him coming out of your place. Is that why you needed space?” Eli asked sarcastically. Okay, enough was enough.
“No you self-involved prick. I needed space away from your sorry ass. Got a little sick of the drunken booty calls and then not hearing from you for days. And let's not forget your attempts to take my clothes off in my place of employment. Oh, and how about going off to parties with girls practically shoving their tongues down your throat? Is that enough of a reason?” I bit off angrily.
Eli at least had the decency to look ashamed. “I guess I deserved that,” he grimaced. I barked out a laugh.
“You think?” I scoffed. Eli ran his fingers along the strings of his guitar making them tinkle prettily.
“I'd really like to talk to you though. I mean, if that's cool with you.” Before I could respond, someone else answered for me.
“No, she won't be talking to you, slick. Because she's gonna be with her boyfriend.”
I whirled around and saw Jordan standing in the open doorway looking pissed. Well, he was hot too. He had dressed in a worn pair of jeans that hung perfectly on his hips and a fitted gray t-shirt that made his body look downright edible. But yeah, he was pissed. I saw him click his tongue ring along his teeth and he came up beside me and gripped the railing so tightly his knuckles turned white. He stared down at Eli, looking very intimidating.
Eli stiffened. “Man, I wasn't talking to you. So just back off,” Eli warned. I saw Jordan's jaw clench.
“And I'm telling you that you're not gonna talk to Maysie. You got something to say, you say it in front of me, we straight?” I swallowed thickly. Damn, who knew Jordan was so freaking territorial. I glanced over at Mrs. Graves, who had stopped all pretenses of reading the paper and was watching the drama unfold with avid interest.
“This is not the place to be doing this. Jordan, go inside, I'll be there in a minute,” I told him. Jordan's eyes flashed to mine and his jaw ticked.
“I am not leaving you out here to talk to that piece of shit. I'm staying.” He crossed his arms over his chest and leaned on the railing. I sighed. I did not want to start our date like this so I didn't push him.
I turned to Eli. “I don't think we have anything more to say to each other, Eli. So I'll see ya around.” Eli's head dropped and I almost felt bad for him. He looked back up and his eyes zeroed in on Jordan and they turned to ice.
“Well, when you don't have this jack ass speaking for you, maybe we could have that talk. It would be nice to hang out with you again. But until then, I guess I won't bother. Later, Mays.” He swung his guitar around so that it rested on his back and stalked off.
I turned on Jordan, who was still standing there like a damn bodyguard with his arms folded over his chest. His muscles flexed in a way that made me want to touch them with my mouth. But that would have to be tabled for later because right now I was really mad. “He's gone. Happy?” I asked sharply, going into the apartment.
Jordan followed me and shut the sliding glass door. “Babe,” he said and reached out to put his hand on my arm. I tensed under his touch.
“What was with the alpha posturing back there? Don't you think you went a little overboard?” I asked, refusing to look at him. Jordan let out a frustrated breath.