Page 38 of When Forever Falls Apart

“Hey, if you want to have sex with me, just ask, okay?” Elliot teases.

Laughter barrels through me, and it’s exactly what I need to calm myself down.

Billie enters the kitchen, balancing an empty tray in her hands. She places it in the sink before shifting her focus to me again.

“Billie, are you in?” I ask, finally standing tall again, regaining my composure.

“Sex at the drive-in?” she questions with a raised brow, only to break out into a smile. “Sorry, I’m not an outdoorsy type of person.”

“Margarita night,” I tell her.

Billie pouts, her brows knitting together in disappointment. “I’d love to, but my aunt is in town, and I promised to take her to dinner and a movie. But you two go ahead and have fun without me. I’ll be here listening to tales of all the men my auntie ‘swiped right’ on Tinder, all of whom are trying to scam her out of money.”

“Is this your Aunt Yvonne?” I ask, trying to hold back my laughter. “She really needs to learn how to say no.”

“You’re telling me! I won’t be surprised if she insists she’s marrying some prince and has already wired him money because his email claimed he was about to inherit a billion dollars.”

Elliot suppresses a grin, but I can’t help but chuckle at her misfortune. “And he just needs a bank account to transfer the money into?”

“Bingo,” Billie replies, shaking her head in disappointment.

We share a laugh, and I can’t help but feel a pang of sympathy for her aunt. She is so vulnerable in her pursuit of love, and Billie will surely need her own margaritas to cope with her aunt’s escapades.

Turning to Elliot, I meet his gaze with newfound warmth. “Looks like it’s just you and me, nipple lover.”

Elliot rolls his eyes dramatically, tossing a dishrag over his shoulder. “Fantastic.”

“We’re two margaritas deep,” I declare, pointing my finger squarely at Elliot like an archer taking aim. “It’s time you opened up.”

He leans back in his chair with a smug expression, fingers tracing the rim of his glass. “This night is about you, Madelina.”

“You can call me Maddy,” I tell him.

His eyes narrow slightly. “I’m not your best friend.”

“Sure, but it feels so formal. My dad and brother call me Madelina,” I counter, letting the name roll off my tongue.

“Yes, so it seems all the men around you prefer the name you were born with.”

I roll my eyes, bored by his stubbornness. “You’re impossibly annoying.”

Elliot raises the glass to his lips and drains his drink quickly. “What’s so exciting about my life that you need to squirrel it away in your mind?”

My gaze is steady and unwavering. Then, I say with confidence, “Nicole.”

At the sound of her name, Elliot’s jaw clenches. He toys distractedly with the empty glass in front of him. “Off-limits. Ask something else,” he snaps.

“Wow, with that reaction, it’s like dangling a carrot in front of a rabbit,” I tease, leaning forward with curiosity.

“Well, think of something else, Bugs Bunny.”

As silence drapes over our table, I watch Elliot, who seems lost in a trance as he stares into his empty glass. Eva had shared little about Nicole, just enough to reveal that Elliot was in a relationship and that it surprised her, considering Elliot’s reputation. He enjoys sleeping around, like every typical single guy out there.

The fact that they’d been together for months and were supposedly living together made Eva even more curious about her brother’s change of heart.

But since then, the subject of Nicole has vanished from Elliot’s lips, and now, with him thousands of miles away from her, I can’t shake the feeling that something must have gone very wrong. Whatever it was, it isn’t up for discussion.

“Fine, let’s try something else,” I insist with a forced smile, desperate to break this unwarranted tension. “So… it’s been quite hot lately.”