HOW TO CATCH A BAD BOY

“What did Emily say to you?” Elena asked quietly. It was taking everything in her not to march up to him and shake the answer out of him.

“I can see it.” Chandler said,

Elena’s head tilted at his strange answer. She felt like a fish that had been plopped unceremoniously out of its bowl. It was hard to breathe because she had no concept of how to navigate this. “See what?”

He exhaled slowly, finally turning to face her. “You and Elijah.”

Her stomach was now the thing giving her all the ominous feels because it turned dangerously. What the hell did her sister say to him? “Elijah and I,” she repeated quietly. “Chandler… I-” Denial trapped in her throat. Nothing else came up. Because she couldn’t lie.

And he saw that on her face.

He nodded. “You’d look great together. And it’s probably really fucking stupid on my end that I never even considered that you were into him.”

“I don’t want Elijah,” she argued. Carefully, she approached him with her hands held up. Don’t spook him, Elena, because he walked out of that house and had his mind halfway made up already. “I don’t know what Emily said to you, or what she thinks she knows, but if she inferred anything that makes you think I don’t want to be with you, she’s wrong.”

“Don’t be mad at her.”

Ugh, her skin recoiled at his casual tone. The way he tucked his hands in his pockets as if this was no big deal, just any other conversation they might have had, standing under a cloudless sky. “She’s just speaking the truth.”

“How would I know? You haven’t told me what she said.”

“Fair enough,” he conceded. Chandler braced a shoulder on the side of his car and studied her face. “You wouldn’t have shown up at that bar the day we met if you knew he was with Lexi. Because the only reason you did was because you wanted a shot with the Golden Boy.”

Normally, Elena prided herself on being a levelheaded person. Seeing both sides. Understanding differing opinions.

But now, she saw red. “And you stormed out of the house because I might have made a different decision if I knew he was with someone else, when I’d never even met you before that night?” her tone gradually increased in volume, in pitch, in absolute mind-blown anger. “Is this a joke?”

His face slowly hardened into a mask. “I sure as hell don’t think it’s funny.”

“Neither do I, Chandler.” She stared him down. “I didn’t know you.”

“No, but you sure as hell knew him.” He tipped his head back and let out a dry laugh. “Everything you said in the car … so understanding about my past. You were covering your ass.”

“I was doing no such thing,” Elena protested. But hadn’t she been? Just a little. Discomfort ratcheted her anger up another notch.

“I have a pretty good bullshit meter, Elena , so be careful.”

“I wasn’t protecting myself, Chandler. I was trying to get to know you, talk to you about normal relationship things. You asked if I’d ever had a serious boyfriend, and I haven’t. Just you.”

“Yeah,” he said slowly. “Because the guy you wanted was here for every damn dinner and every occasion.”

“And you’re punishing me because I had a stupid, silly crush on him, one that I managed to ignore for a long time. I cannot change what I felt before I knew you.” No surprise, but the mask didn’t move, and not one word came out of the hard line of his mouth. Elena rubbed at her temples. “Chandler, come on, you are smart enough to know that it’s grossly unfair to hold that against me. I didn’t know you.”

Chandler’s jaw clenched, and his brows lowered a fraction. He didn’t want her to be right, but she saw it in his eyes-the complete and utter inability to argue with her.

“Are you going to just stand there?” she snapped.Text property © Nôvel(D)ra/ma.Org.

That finally cracked the mask. “What the fuck do you want me to say, Elena?” He spread his arms out. “That right now, it’s impossible for me to look at you right now, without seeing you with him. That it’s impossible to think about you wanting him-even if it was before me-without wanting to go wreck his pretty-boy face? Would that make you feel better?” he yelled.

Elena swallowed, tucking her arms around her waist. “No.”

“I have one member of my family who doesn’t treat me like a complete asshole, and that’s him, and now I want to break his fucking nose.”

Her eyes pinched shut.

“Maybe it’s not fair. But if I walk in there and say to him…. do to him what this makes me want to do, I will sever any and all relationship with my family. Not to mention what your sister… or your family will think of me.”

“Is that a joke?” she pointed back at the house. “Have you met Emily? She’d claw anyone’s eyes out if she thought they were making a play for me. I’ve seen her cuss out football groupies so badly that my ears almost bled.”

Chandler slicked his tongue over his teeth. “Groupies are not the same as my brother.”

“Your brother was a harmless crush and nothing more,” she said fiercely. “He never looked twice at me. And now? I’m glad he didn’t. Because I got you.”

He clenched his teeth again, watched her warily as she approached. But his eyes took on a warning glint when she moved to touch him. That was why she stopped. It was like stepping up to a bear about to charge.

They were standing closely enough that she could’ve lifted one hand and it would land on his chest. She’d be able to know if his heart was pounding and thrashing the way hers was. A thought came into her head quickly, that maybe this was all she and Chandler were destined to be. Something bright and hot and fast. Nothing that could sustain because of the way they started. It was too intense, and they burned out whatever heat had lit between them, simply by the nature of how their relationship had begun. Locked in a pressure cooker. It was a quick way to get started, but as soon as that lid was opened, everything dissipated into smoke.

“You’ll never allow yourself to overlook this, will you?” she said quietly. As soon as she said it, her anger drained immediately to sadness.