XVI
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**Layla's POV**

Once Ashton, Kevin, and Jake left the car to head into the store, I awkwardly turned to Eli and smiled. He caught my gaze and returned it.

"So how's your day been," I asked, and he chuckled.

"You've been with me all day," he reminded me, and I gave him a smug smile.

"Must have been amazing, then," I mused, and he laughed, but then my gaze moved down to were I saw what looked like the top part of a bruise peaking out from under his sleeve on his arm. "How'd you get that?" I asked, and reached to lift up the sleeve a little. His skin was warm and soft in the quick moment that my fingers brushed against them as I moved it up.

"Football," he explained, and I nodded, "you should stay away from football guys, they all suck."

"Does that include you?" I grinned, dropping his sleeve again and looking back up at his kind, brown eyes.

"Yeah, actually," he admitted, and I rolled my eyes at him with a chuckle.

"Oh please, you don't suck," I sat back in my seat again. "You're right- they suck, but not you."

"Agree to disagree," he chuckled again, "you didn't really see me in high school."

"I saw you when you were 14, and you were nice," I countered.

"Yeah, well, a lot changed since then," he looked back over at me, and I nodded.

"A lot has changed about both of us, I'd say," I agreed, and I could have sworn I saw his eyes dance around my features for a moment as he agreed.

The car was silent for a little while before I decided to pick up my phone to scroll through it. However, in true Layla fashion, I somehow managed to fucked it up.

My phone slipped out of my hand right after I picked it up, falling backwards and defying the laws of physics to land behind Eli's seat. Without thinking about it, I unbuckled my seatbelt and climbed on top of the center console to reach down for it.

It took me much too long to realize that I was practically shoving my ass in Eli's face.

I jumped when I realized this and lost my balance, falling down on top of him in a very uncomfortable position. My stomach was on his lap, my head stuck under the steering wheel and my legs, well, let's just say that they were in a very compromising position on his.. ehem.. shoulders.

He was laughing under me as I tried to scramble off of him, hitting my head on the steering wheel. And although this was a terrible, unfortunate turn of a events, hang in there kids- cuz it got worse from there.

Trying to find a place on the seat to push down on to lift myself up, I accidentally put my hand on his.. you know.. private area. And it was, well... lets just say that his little buddy had been a little excited.

He knew I felt it. I knew I felt it. And he immediately stopped laughing. I usually would have laughed in this situation, but instead I removed my hand awkwardly and finally got myself back into my seat.

We both cleared our throats at the same time, starting to say something but not knowing what to say.

It was awkward, and painful, don't get me wrong... but like.. I made him feel that way?? Something in me fluttered a bit at the thought.

I finally let myself laugh after another few moments. And boy did I laugh. I don't know if I'd ever laughed harder. Or if I'd ever made anything harder, I should say.

"Shut up," he awkwardly said, embarrassed as hell. His face was bright red.

"You-" I couldn't finish my thought, laughing again.

"Can we like.. not say this happened to a single other soul, ever," he asked, his face still red. I bit back my grin.

"Of course. What happens in our car stays in our car," I replied, and he eyed me.

"It's my car, you're just the parasite living off of it for a few months while I'm in college," he countered.

"Whatever, my dumdum brother wouldn't let me use his so," I replied, remembering that my phone was on the ground still, but knowing that there was no way in hell I was going to try and pick it up again.

"Speaking of your brother, if you ever say anything to him about.. what just occurred.. I'll make sure to kill you before he kills me. Alright?" He said, half-kidding.

"What just occurred, exactly?" I teased, making him lean back and put his hands over his face, still red. I chuckled.

"I'm gonna bring it up as soon as he gets back in the car," I threatened, obviously joking. I don't think he knew I was joking, though.

"Layla- I- no, you can't," he looked so scared, I couldn't help but burst out laughing again.

However, as soon as Ashton got back to the car and opened the door, I immediately seized up and became stiff. Eli obviously did the same. We exchanged a quick glance, as if for the first time in this whole debacle we remembered just how off-limits we were considered to be to each other.

Ashton and Kevin commented on the weird vibe in the car, but Eli and I just shrugged it off, trying to change the subject. A few moments later, I turned the radio on and flicked until I found a good song.

"Do you like this song?" I asked Eli. He shrugged and nodded as he drove.

"I agree. I think it's hard on," I bit back a laugh at my subtle tease. I saw him roll his eyes and hold back a sigh.

"The guitar part sounds so hard to play, though. It really gets the blood pumping though once you have it down solid," I continued to mess around with him, seeing his face gradually become red again.

"Lay?" Ashton prompted from behind me.

"Yes brother?" I responded.

"Can you change the song," he answered, clearly annoyed by my rambling.

"Sure thing, this ones a little long, anyway," I responded, reaching to change the station.

"Now that part is true," Eli chimed in and I couldn't help but let out a chuckle at that one.

"Who's phone is this?" Kevin asked, picking up my phone from behind Eli's seat.

"Mine," I replied, and he handed it to me. This damn phone..

When we finally got back to the house, we all made our way back inside, and I fell down on the couch.

Well shit. It's official.

I have a crush on my brothers best friend.

Figures.

"Damn, do you think one of you guys could go get ice, we forgot to buy some," Ashton called over to me and Eli from the kitchen.

"I'm not letting her drive my car," Eli said back.

"And I'm not letting him drive my car, either," I came back at him.

"Cool, I don't care, you two can go be weird together then and get ice for us," Ashton replied, and we shrugged.

"Eager for a repeat, are you?" I joked when we were outside and heading back to the car.

"You know that like, that didn't mean anything.. right?" He said, as if he had been dying to get it off his chest.

"Then why are you still thinking about it?" I grinned once we were back in the car. I had beat him to the drivers seat, so I adjusted my seat as he got in the passenger's side.

"I'm not," he tried to counter, but I just chuckled. He sighed. "Can we just not talk about it anymore, please."

"Sure, but that might be a bit hard for me," I joked again, making him cringe. "Okay, okay, that was the last one. For now."

I almost crashed like 3 times on the way to the store, but it was almost worth it just to see his startled expression.

"Alrighty, lets go get this ice," I announced after I finished parking like a mad man.

"You are something else," he commented, jogging to catch up to me from behind.

"Thank you, I try," I replied.

We were in the store for a few minutes, trying to find the ice but somehow just walking in circles. And that's when I saw him.

Justin was with what looked like a few of his friends. That bitchass. He was picking up some slim-jims.. you know, like the skinny-meat he was.

"You good?" Eli asked, noticing how I had stopped walking.

"See that ugly dipshit in the SnapBack?" I nodded over to Justin.

"Is that that Justin kid?" Eli asked, and I nodded. "What- Did he hurt you?"

"He cheated on me, but no. I could give a shit if that prepubescent Junior Varsity benchwarmer felt the need to be loyal to me," I looked back up at Eli, "or at least that's what I tell myself.. I can't really tell the difference anymore."

"I can beat him up if you'd like," he offered so casually and honestly that it made me laugh.

"No, it's fine, let's just go the other way-"

"Layla!" Justin called over to me, and I cursed under my breath with a sigh as he jogged over to me. "I've been trying to call you but you haven't gotten back to me."

"Was I supposed to?? I'm confused I though you cheated on me.. was that a different Justin?" I replied, folding my arms. He didn't really know how to respond, but he looked over at Eli.

"Do you mind?" He said to him, asking for some private space for us two to talk.

"Oh no not at all," Eli responded sarcastically, staying in his place and giving him a fake smile.

"Do I know you?" Justin asked Eli, trying to look all big. I bit back a chuckle at Eli's expression. I had never seen anyone judge someone so successfully with one look.

"You don't want to," Eli responded, and Justin looked a little thrown off as he looked back at me.

"Can you just text me later, I messed up but you need me," he said, and I let out a laugh at his nonsense.

"You should probably focus on studying your times tables later," Eli chimed in. "They come in handy when you get to middle school."

"I'm a junior."

"That's cute."

I watched as Eli took to my defenses, and I felt myself grin as I looked up at him.

"Justin. Get over yourself.. I've already moved on to other people, and you should do the same," I said without thinking, and he seemed a little taken aback, not thinking I had it in me to move on from him.

"You're making that up," he said to me, and I felt myself grow a little stiff, not sure how to continue with my lie.

Just then, I felt Eli bringing me into his side, his hand gripping my waist and making me feel all bubbly inside. As if it was a natural instinct to me, I brought my hand up and rested it against his stomach. Something about it just felt so right. The look on Justin's face was priceless, too.

"Oh," Justin said.

"Isn't it past your bed time?" Eli asked him, trying to shoo him away.

"N-no," he stuttered out. He had been made to look like the fool that he was. And it was so satisfying.

"You should probably go get some beauty-sleep.. you really need it. Oh and have fun being sad and alone for your life, by the way. I'd join you, but I don't really like to be around pieces of shit.. they smell bad," I fake smiled at him, and he was still thrown-off. He kept adjusting his SnapBack and clearing his throat. "Bye now!" I finished and turned to walk away.

"Good one, babe," Eli joked as we walked away, and I chuckled. I had felt his abs while my hand was on his shirt, and I hoped I wasn't blushing because of it.

"Thanks for that. That was so fun," I said when we finally found the ice.

"Of course, that kid's a prick," he shrugged it off, but I stayed smiling up at him. It took me a second to realize that he hadn't taken his hand off of my waist, and the butterflies started back up again.

When we got to the freezer, he paused, and I looked at him expectedly, asking with my eyes why he stopped. A small grin spread on his lips, which combined with his hand still in my waist, made my face heat up. It only heated up more when he leaned down a little to say something quietly.

"Can I kiss you on the cheek?" He asked, and I almost flinched, my eyebrows raising.

"Huh?"

"He's watching us like a weirdo. Can I kiss you on the cheek," he repeated himself, and I swallowed, but forced a smile.

"Yup, mhm. Get in there big fella," I didn't even have room in my mind to mentally cringe at myself as he leaned down and pressed his soft lips to my cheekbone, a slight grin still playing on his lips as he brought me a little closer into him, his other hand also lifting up to rest on my waist.

He must have thought I was a really good actor or something, because when he finally pulled away, my blushed smile and tiny giggle were anything but fake. And if I hadn't known any better, then I would have thought the way he kissed my cheek felt pretty real, too.

"Did he see that?" I asked, my eyes flickering around his amused face as he kept his hand around me, which only further stimulated the butterflies already buzzing all over me.

"I think so," he responded, and I chuckled. He adjusted the hand around my waist naturally, moving it slight up, and my breath caught slightly, but he thankfully didn't notice as he turned to face the freezer..

He only took his hand back when I opened the freezer door and he lifted up a bag of ice.

"I know you needed a cold shower, but are you sure you need this many ice cubes?" I poked fun at him again, and he laughed.

"I thought we were over this," he whined as we walked towards the check out.

"Oh, it is going to be a WHILE before we're over this," I chuckled back.

Once we had bought the ice and began heading back to the car, we spotted Justin again, and Eli slung his arm around my shoulders, making me forget about Justin even being there as I let out a genuine burst of laughter. He chuckled at my reaction as he hooked his arm around my neck and brought me into his side, making me almost fall over as my hair fell onto my face.

We laughed about nonsense the entire way back to the house, our humor collectively not making sense, but us finding everything we said hysterical anyways.

I get that Eli is off limits for me.. but a girl can dream, right?

• • •

Hey y'all :)

Hope u guys enjoyed this chapter!

QOTD: do you have any tattoos? If you don't but want one, what tattoo would you want to get?

>>> I have one small tattoo behind my right ear and I'm excited to get another. I love tattoos when they're very meaningful and sentimental to someone.

Be safe and wash yo hands!!

Stay beautiful,
Briella<3