Fun With Eli

“How was Thanksgiving?” I ask Sawyer as I’m getting ready for bed. From his extended sigh, I’m guessing not well.

“Miserable, and even more miserable without you.”

“What happened?”

“Do you even care, Mel?” he snaps, and I flinch.

“Of course I do.”

“Can I ask you something this time?”

“Sure, Sawyer, ask away,” I answer as I slide into bed.

“Do you miss me?”

“More than you could probably imagine.”

“I miss the fuck out of you, Mel. Come home.”

I laugh and turn off the light next to the bed. “I’ll be there in less than ten hours. Now, stop avoiding and tell me what happened.”

“You first. How was your day?”

“It was good. Eli and I spent the morning and afternoon together, I hung out backstage at his show, and they had dinner catered in for us. Afterward, I got to watch while he did some interviews and everyone fangirled all over him. I can’t tell you how much I don’t miss that part of touring.”

“That’s it?” he asks, surprised.

“Well, yeah, it’s a tour and a holiday, you know how busy things get. I mostly wondered what you all were up to today and Mama wasn’t able to fill me in since she was at Marcus’ house.”

He laughs. “Like Anna wasn’t texting you updates.”

“Not like you think she was. It was more about the amount of drama and lack of alcohol, but not what kind of drama.”

“Yeah, so Mom decided not to make her traditional egg nog. Since I prohibited anyone from spending the night, she used it as an excuse for people to not drink and drive. I’m pretty sure she did it because it’s Rory’s favorite and she’s pissed that Rory drove you away.”

“That’s not exactly fair,” I begin to protest.

“Fuck yeah it is. If Rory wouldn’t have been such a bitch to us, you would have never left. Saylor and Darren were really happy you made the sweet potatoes and left them for us all. I’ve got a picture for you, too, hang on a sec.”

My phone buzzes in my hand and I take a look. It’s a photo of Nate and Cadence eating their first batch of sweet potatoes. “Sawyer, that’s adorable! I should put that on Belle’s blog tomorrow.”

“I wish you would have been here for it. Families are supposed to be together on the holidays and there was enough drama with or without you. Rory sulked the whole time. My mom didn’t even speak to her. Diane tried to play go-between but once Rory figured out she knew about us, that was the end of that. My dad was oddly quiet, and everyone else sat around uncomfortably, waiting for it all to be over.”

Shit, that sounds miserable. “I’m sorry, I thought it would go better than that.”

“Just promise you aren’t going to duck out on Christmas, too.”

“I promise. Christmas is for families and besides, Eli will be home for Christmas,” I add with a light laugh.

“Not fucking funny, Mel. You’re not running from me and back to him, are you?”

“Sawyer, no. You know that’s in the past and if I can ever work it out in my head, my heart, and with your family, someday you will be my future. Okay?”

“We’ll figure this out, Mel, because I’m not letting you go.”

When we hang up, he sends me the video link for “Hold You in My Arms” by Ray LaMontagne, and my heart soars. Even when I’m lost, Sawyer is always trying to pull me from the abyss.

After I listen to his goodnight song, I send him one of my own, “Tangled Up In You” by Staind. No matter how fucked up I am, everything about me right now is exactly that. Tangled up in him.

When I arrive home the next morning, Sawyer meets me at the airport with a grim look on his face.

“What’s wrong?”

“You’ll see,” he says, taking my hand and pulling his sunglasses back down. As soon as we exit the airport, we’re under siege by paparazzi.

“Amelia, is it true you and Eli Watts have rekindled your romance?”

Between camera flashes, more questions are shouted out.       

“Is it true you and Eli Watts were married last night in a secret ceremony?”

“Amelia, don’t you think it’s too soon to be dating after losing your husband?”

“Amelia, where are your wedding rings? Is that an indicator you have already moved on?”

Holy shit. My head is spinning by the time Sawyer shoves me into the SUV and Ryan takes off like a bat out of hell.

“What the hell happened to spark all of that?” I cry out, and Sawyer passes me the L.A. Times. There’s a photo on the front page of the entertainment section of me and Eli hugging when he picked me up at the airport.

“This? Two friends hugging is what they’re going off about? Unbelievable.”

Sawyer pulls my hand to his mouth and kisses it. “I’m sorry, Princess. The house is under siege, too.”

“Why is this even news? This makes me so angry. You don’t think it’s true, do you?” I ask, turning my attention to him.

“Come on, Mel, you know me better than that. I’ve seen Eli pull that same spinning hug on you every time he sees you for almost three years now. That hug is as innocent as can be.”

I take a picture of the photo and send it to Eli.

Have you seen me on the news yet? Guess we’re all the rage again.

His reply comes within minutes.

Eli: Not yet but I can remedy this real quick. Give me five minutes.

Shit.

Please don’t do anything we’re going to regret.

He doesn’t respond for the next fifteen minutes and when my phone does finally ding, it’s a link to one of the most popular gossip websites.

Who is this gorgeous redhead Eli Watts has been spotted with around town? Rumors about him and Amelia Weston are just that if this morning’s lip-locked couple is any indication. Our reporters spotted her going into Eli’s room last night and leaving there with a classic morning-after look just a few moments ago.

Time to fess up, Eli. Who’s the hottie?

I show my phone to Sawyer and he cracks up and pulls out his own phone.

“What are you doing?”

“Sending Eli my thanks.”

“Shouldn’t I be the one doing that?”

He flashes a killer smirk at me. “Well, you’re the one with slow fingers. Get to typing, Princess.”

He can be such a cocky bastard, but I’m dying to know who she is because I didn’t see her when I was there.

Who is she?

Eli: Some fangirl who was hanging outside of the venue last night. She was hot and I got a heads up there could be some gossip about us so I figured I’d be able to have some fun and squash some rumors at the same time.

Did you get her number?

Eli: Nah, she was a one and done. Pretty sure she would have been a stage five clinger.

I love you, Eli. Thank you.

Eli: Anytime, baby girl. Tell Sawyer I got his back.

Eli’s text gives me the feels. It’s important to me Eli approves of who I’m with and based on our talks yesterday, he more than approves of me and Sawyer. Turning my attention back to Sawyer, I ask, “When did you win Eli over to the dark side?”

“I’m the dark side, am I? I guess I can see where you came up with that. Good thing for me, you like walking on the dark side.”

“Stop being a cocky bastard and fill me in. I’m curious. I thought you guys hated each other.”

“It turns me on when you call me names, Princess,” he murmurs against my ear, and I look down to the obvious bulge in his pants.

“You’re so fucking dirty,” I retort in a hushed tone.

He laughs. “You fucking love that about me.” Crossing my arms, I sit back and glare at him. “To answer your question, I don’t know. After the Sara shit, we buried the hatchet, and he was always helping me taking care of you after the accident. We became friends. If I did something special, other than that, I’m seriously not aware of it.”

When we get home, the paparazzi are no longer lingering. Eli definitely worked his magic in my favor. When we get into the kitchen, there’s a tin on the table with my name on it.

“Cookies?”

Sawyer turns a frosty glare on me. “Yes, Mom said I had to leave those for you. She even put a note inside.”

As I pop off the lid and pull out the note, he never takes his eyes off me.

Amelia,

We missed you at Thanksgiving. I understand why you left but if you ever do it again, especially at a holiday, you’ll have to deal with my wrath. Sawyer was miserable without you. Remember what I said, you are loved, and no one but you believes the crap Rory said. She’s hurting and taking it out on you. I’ll see you before, but it goes without saying, I’ll see you at Christmas as well. Enjoy your cookies. There are twelve, and if there are any missing, you let me know.

Love,

Karen

“Haha! You’re mad because she left me a cookie count in her note.”

“Can I have one?” he asks, flashing me puppy dog eyes. “Come on, Mel, you know her cookies are my favorite.”

I put the lid back on the tin and hop up on the counter. He steps between my legs and I put my hands on his waist. “You can have as many as you want if you make me a promise.”

“What kind of promise?”

“I did some thinking while I was gone. I’m struggling a lot with what Rory said. Even more, I’m struggling with why I can’t seem to pack up Noah’s things and what that means for us. I want to enjoy the holidays with you and Nate.”

“Me, too,” he says sweetly.

“We need to take a few steps back, okay? I’m going to start sleeping in my room again. And I want to stop having sex.”

“Are you serious?” he asks with wide eyes.

“Yes. We keep doing this hot, super-hot, cold thing. We jump into explosive, mind-numbing sex, but don’t you think it’s weird we’ve never made love?”

His hand cups the side of my face. “It’s not that I haven’t wanted to, but I didn’t think you were ready for that.”

Nodding, I agree. “I haven’t been. But I need to be if this is ever going to work. So, from now until the new year, no sex. We go slow. I need to dial back the whore a bit so I can make myself believe I’m not one.”

“I’m going to fucking kill Rory.” His venomous words make me sad.

“She’s entitled to her opinion and I need to figure out how to deal with that. After the new year I’m going to watch Noah’s video to you. By then, after a month of taking things slow and dealing with my internal conflicts, maybe I’ll be in a better place to move forward.”

“Whatever you need, Princess. But does no sex mean I can’t fuck you with my mouth?”

Damn, he’s got such a talented mouth that is good for so much more than singing. “For now, yes. But maybe we can gift each other oral for Christmas. After all, it would be rude to refuse a gift.”

“Well, if that’s the case, I’m going to gift you a specific amount of orgasms from my tongue that you have to claim on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.”

“Thanks for the heads up. I’ll make sure to gift you some sixty-nine coupons. You know how much I like sucking you off while you’re going down on me.”

He laughs and pops a kiss on my lips. “And you say I’m dirty. You’re just as freaky as I am, Princess, but I fucking love it. You can have all the time and space you need because we’re going to get through this together.”

“Thank you,” I whisper against his lips.

“You’re welcome. Now, take what cookies you want because these bad boys are all mine.”