Dragon Hearts (Book 1 of the Dragon Series)

Chapter 2

~Elle~

It’s been about a week since I met Elias’s friend Everett and we’ve all hung out pretty much every single day. Usually, all three of us will meet up after work or when I’m done with class. Elias and Everett seemed to have eased up on their weird competition thing. I know Elias doesn’t have romantic feelings for me, so it was weird to see him so flirty at first. Then I caught a glimpse of Everett’s reflection and realized he was doing it to make Everett mad. I won’t lie, I’m totally into Everett.

“Eli?” I said to Elias this afternoon. He was working in the IT lab and I was hanging out with him in between classes. I was the only one allowed to call him Eli. Everyone else had to call him Elias. He looked up at me from the computer monitor he was working on. “Eli, what’s the deal with Everett?”

Elias’s face became suspicious for a second before he smoothed into his usual goofball brotherly smile. His eyes were still guarded as he replied though. “What do you mean?”

“Well, I mean, does he like me? When I first met him, you kept being all weirdly flirty around me and I saw his face during one of flirtier moments and he looked pissed.”

Elias let out of a gust of air as if he were relieved by the question. What else would I be asking about? He cracked a smile though and looked around him as if he didn’t want to be overheard. I couldn’t help but smile at his goofiness and he motioned me closer so he could whisper in my ear.

“Yes,” he said then he sat up and beamed at me. I laughed harder at him, but I felt my face burn red. “I take it that it’s a mutual feeling?” I nodded.

“So, what does this mean?” I asked him. I was suddenly afraid that Everett clearly liking me was something that could have caused Elias to get feelings too, which would explain the super flirty stuff. I didn’t feel like that for Elias and I didn’t want to mess up our friendship if I went out with his friend.

“It means you two can finally hook up and entertain each other!” Elias said. I narrowed my eyes at him when he said hook up. He knows how I feel about random s****l encounters. “Not like that kind of hook up Elle, don’t glare. I meant you two can finally go on a date or something. Talk to each other; hang out alone.”

“We talk,” I said defensively. “And I hung out with him a few times alone before you got home from work. He told me stories from your youth.”

“He did what now?” Elias blanched at this. “My youth or his?”

“Is it true you used to have a stuffed animal named stuffy till you were thirteen?”

“He lies,” Elias claimed, and his face burned red. “Why are you two talking about me instead of getting to know each other?”

“He’s told me some stuff about him. He likes to tell me about the dragon legends.”

“Dragon legends?” He asked hesitantly. “What do you mean?”

“He tells me about there used to be dragons in Ireland and stuff,” I smiled at the way his face lit up. “It was cute to see him so into it; like he kinda believes it’s true.”

“Who doesn’t like a fairy tale with dragons?” Elias asked. He looked a little tense as though someone was poking him in the back. “So, are you going to ask Everett out?”

Now I was the one tense and awkward as I looked at him. He confirmed that Everett was into me, which was great, but the thought of being the one to ask him out made me deflate quickly. I don’t know why it made me nervous, why he made me nervous, but it was a good nervous and oh god now I’m rambling in my head and I can’t stop. I heard Elias sigh heavily before he reached into his pocket for his phone. I didn’t hear it ring, but maybe it was on vibrate. He opened the phone and scrolled to a number and hit call.

“Hey,” Elias said into the phone quietly. “You got plans tonight? Yeah, I figured you didn’t. Look, you and Elle are going to have dinner at Ray’s tonight. I figured I’d call you now so you can take the next four hours to get ready. It’s just you two. You don’t need a third wheel anymore.”

I sat mortified in my chair as I watched my best friend set up a date with his other best friend for me. Elias looked at me while he discussed the plans and chuckled at my expression. His eyes suddenly switched from happy to irritation as Everett said something to him.

“Dude, it’s not a setup. It’s a date. Yes, she’s aware, she’s sitting right in front of me. She said she likes you too so I’m just being a good friend and setting this up since you’re both too shy to even ask each other out. Once again Elias to the rescue.”

“Elias,” I whispered angrily. “I’m going to kill you! Shut up and hang up that phone before you embarrass me anymore!”

“Okay, Ev, I gotta go,” Elias said as his face returned to its usual goofy grin. “She’s threatening to murder me; it’s kinda adorable. I’ll walk her to Rays at five after I’m off work and you can meet her there, yeah?”

He hung up the phone and winked at me. “There, that’s settled. You should go home and get changed too. Be back here by 4:45.”

I couldn’t move. What just happened? How did this just happen? I was content with just attempting to flirt and batting my eyes at Everett. Was I ready to go on a date with him? Elias sighed again and turned my chair around and gently nudged me until I was standing. As much as I wanted to punch him in the stomach for embarrassing me, I gave him a hug for being him and helping me out.

“Wait, I have class!” I realized.

“Would you rather miss one class or go on your date wearing what you got on?” Elias looked me over. “I mean, he’ll still think you’re super cute, but do you really want to go to Rays in jeans and a hoodie?”

“Crap!” I remark and looking down at myself. “Guess I won’t be speaking publicly tonight. Damn, super disappointed about that. I’ll see you soon!”

I grabbed my bag and rushed out of the computer lab and hurried away from campus. I lived in a small apartment just down the road, so I don’t need a car. As soon as my feet hit my bedroom floor, I drop all my stuff on my bed and strip out of my clothes. I rushed to my closet and began to scour my minimal wardrobe for something cute and fun yet sexy. I settled for a cute skirt and matching top set that I rarely wear after an hour and a half of searching and trying random combinations. I always hated dressing up, but this felt like a big deal to me. Everett was so sweet and handsome and okay, that accent makes my knees weak. I just had enough time to shower and get my hair and makeup completed. I don’t wear a lot of makeup, just some mascara to make my eyes pop a little more and some lip stuff. I wasn’t a girly girl so I had no idea how to even apply a legit full face of makeup, but I dabble when I can.

When the time was up, I was ready to make the quick walk back to campus. I knew where Ray’s was, but I felt Elias kinda wanted to make sure I made it there alright. Maybe he could give me a pep talk or clue what to say. Everett and I were kinda shy, but those brief moments we spent together were nice. We managed to hold some resemblance of conversation in between blushes and glances. But now we didn’t have Elias as our buffer. There was a giant butterfly in my stomach right now.

Elias came out of the lab to meet me as I got closer to the building. He smiled as he took in my outfit and I felt suddenly very self-conscious and began questioning my outfit choices. I opened my arms for a hug and Elias stepped in without hesitation. I really do like hugging him. I wrapped my arms around Elias, marveling at his warmth, but hard skin almost like stone. I had never felt anyone like that when I hugged them, but both Elias and Everett had the same kind of build and hard skin. Maybe it was an Irish thing?

“You look really pretty,” Elias said with a smile. I felt my face blush at his compliment. “You ready?”

“Yeah, is he?” I asked nervously. What if he doesn’t show up?

“Yeah, he’s already there. He didn’t want to keep you waiting.”

Elias and I started walking off campus again towards downtown. It wasn’t a long walk so I needed to pump Elias for as much information as possible.

“So, Eli,” I started. “What should I talk to him about? Is there anything I need to avoid?”

Elias thought about it for a moment but shrugged his shoulders. “Just talk. Ask about him and his family. He’s got a lot of great stories about his family. He’ll pretty much tell you whatever you want to know so be careful what you ask.”

“What about embarrassing stories about you?” I joked. “Does he have any of those?”

“Oh sorry, I am the one topic you can’t discuss. It’s not fair to me to not be there to rectify the lies that come out of his face.”

“Still mad about the Stuffy thing huh?”

“He’s a liar!” Elias yelled again. He glowered at the ground while we walked on in silence.

Ray’s wasn’t busy just yet so there weren’t a lot of people around. I saw Everett standing anxiously by the door. He looked around and checked his watch before he spotted us. He looked from Elias to me and his bright breathtaking smile burst across his face and the giant butterfly in my stomach exploded into millions of micro-butterflies. The closer we got to him, the more they grew until the micro butterflies were just as ginormous. I felt my lungs squeezing the air out of me.

“Hey!” Everett said to me. I felt the blush paint my face again and I stammered out a greeting. Elias laughed.

“Alright then, you two have fun,” Elias called as he walked away. I stared at him for a second and almost rushed over and invited him to stay with us. I wasn’t ready for my buffer to saunter away, but it was too late.

“Shall we go in?” Everett asked from behind me. I turned to face him, and my breath lodged in my throat. He was beautiful. Light brown hair and red highlights shining in the sun. His green emerald eyes were soft and humble. I placed my hand in his as he reached for it. He was warm. Very warm. I wondered if he had a fever, but he didn’t look sick. He looked…loving.

We walked into the little restaurant and Everett brought me over to a quiet table in the back. His jacket was already on the chair when we arrived; meaning he had been here first and got a table. He pulled out my chair and as soon as I was seated and tucked into the table, he hurried to his seat.

“Well,” he sighed. “Here we are.”

“Yup,” I said feeling every bit as awkward as him.

“I was surprised Elias called to set this up. I thought he was just codding me,” he chuckled. He saw my confused expression and explained. “Codding means like pulling your leg. I thought he was setting me up for a laugh.”

“Oh,” I said and smiled. “I had to ask him about why he was always flirting with me when you were around. We never had that flirty coy relationship, so it was weird that he’d start to get all touchy-feely. Turns out he just likes to make you mad and touching me seemed the best way to do it.”

“Elias is a good friend even if he’s a touch bit of a douchebag,” he said. “But let’s teach him a lesson and make this date about us instead of his pompous ass.”

We opened the menus and looked for our dinner. We ate some good Italian food and talked for the whole dinner. Now that we got over our nerves, we both realized how much we have in common and the conversation flowed like we knew each other our whole lives. After Everett paid the bill, he took my hand in his and led me outside. The sun was beginning to set, and the street lamps lit up the sidewalks.

“How bout we go for a walk,” Everett suggested with a smile. “It’s not too dark yet.”

“Sure,” I said though highly aware that I was wearing not-so-great walking shoes. I wore wedges with a slight heel since I wanted to look nice and apparently heels equate to beauty or something.

Everett kept his hand in mine and laced our fingers together. I enjoyed the way his hand felt and noticed how perfect our hands were together. We continued our conversation from dinner as we walked. He showed me pictures of his family and raved about his crazy baby sister. He was animated and alive. I could feel something pull me closer to him and not just because he was deliriously good-looking. But I wanted to know him and be close to him. Like I wanted to meet his whole family and see his beautiful Irish home that he gushes about. I wanted to be in his family pictures he shows people. Smiling and making crazy faces. The thoughts swirled in my head, but I was afraid to want them too much. How could I be falling in love on the first date?

“Where are we going?” Everett asked as we noticed that the sky was dark with nightfall. I looked around me for a few minutes to get my bearings. I knew this town like the back of my hand. I knew every street. And I knew we should have made a turn about two blocks ago to avoid this part of town.

“We should go back,” I said nervously. “This isn’t a very good area.”

Everett gripped my hand tighter and pulled me close to his body. He wrapped his arm around me protectively and we turned back to the way we had come. I inhaled his cologne and stifled the urge to sigh. He smelled so good. His body was warm against mine which was good because the night had chilled the air and I forgot to bring a jacket.

“Is this okay?” He asked cautiously in my ear. “I don’t want to make you uncomfortable, but I also want to keep you safe.”

I melted at his words and leaned in closer to his body. He was hard as stone but warm as if there was a fire burning inside him. I heard him breathe in deeply with his nose in my hair.

“I’m perfectly comfortable like this,” I said with a smile and I’m sure a blush.

“Okay,” he chuckled then he hesitated for a second before rushing out his next words. “Would it be too forward to kiss you?”

I stopped walking in my surprise, and I looked up at him. His green eyes staring at me hopefully and were kind. I felt that loving feeling again when he stares at me like that and I couldn’t have stopped myself even if I wanted to. I slowly leaned forward and pressed my lips against his.