Lost to You (Take This Regret 0.5)(10)
Author: A.L. Jackson

Stepping from the shower, I toweled myself off, slipped into a pair of boxers, and fell back against my bed. I lay, staring at the ceiling, not knowing what the hell I was supposed to do. I was completely mixed up, but in some strange way, I felt okay with it.

Shaking my head at myself, I grabbed my phone. It was just before one in the morning, earlier than I normally would come crawling back to my apartment, but late enough that Elizabeth would probably think I was complete freak if I gave in and called her just to check that she’d had a good night.

Instead I tapped out a message and pushed send.

I was shocked when my phone buzzed a few seconds later. I couldn’t help but smile when I read the words. Sleep well, Christian.

~

Elizabeth

A tiny sigh escaped my lips as I clutched my phone to my chest. Darkness crawled along my ceiling, all except for a thin strip of light that slanted off to one side as it snuck through the top edge of the blind.

It turned out I was right about Christian.

There was no doubt the first impressions were true, too, the ones about the girls and how quickly he flew through them. I knew if I wasn’t careful, I could so easily end up one of them.

But beyond that, he was kind.

And he needed a friend.

I reread the text I received a few minutes earlier.

Wanted to tell you how much tonight meant to me. TY Elizabeth.

It was late, though the city was still alive, horns and sirens echoing outside my door, magnifying how intensely quiet it was within the walls of my apartment.

And I felt warm. Good. Thankful.

Thankful Christian had become a part of my life.

Chapter Four

Christian

The next Friday, Elizabeth and I were back at the café where we first met. Even though we’d just met here yesterday, we decided to meet again tonight so we could cram in a few extra hours of studying for our first American Government quiz next week.

Elizabeth downed the last of her coffee. “So I think I’ve finally got it,” she said, though her tone hinted that she was only trying to convince herself, her head nodding as if she were mentally calculating another problem.

Of course, I’d spent most of the time trying to help her with her calculus homework, trying to ingrain these concepts that continued to try to slip right over the top of her head. Finally, it seemed to have snapped into place, this light flicking on and warming the honey of her eyes. I’d just sat there, staring as she came to understanding, wondering why I felt like some inflated hero when she looked at me like that.

Now she chatted ceaselessly, as if I’d managed to toss the weight from her shoulders. “I really didn’t think I would. I mean, I studied it again and again and it just wouldn’t sink in.” She climbed to her feet and grabbed her backpack from the floor. She flopped it on the table and began stuffing her things inside. There was nothing ditsy in her words, just this thankfulness that oozed from her mouth. “Thank God I met you, Christian.”

She glanced up at me with a gentle smile.

I was so right on about her. She was the nicest girl, innocent and sweet. And sexy as all hell. That was the only problem with this whole friendship thing. How could I reconcile the respect I had for her and want to peel the clothes from her body every single time I saw her?

I was pretty sure something in that equation didn’t add up.

I smirked at her just because I liked the way she blushed every time I did. “Now you owe me.”

She blushed deeper at the insinuation and dropped her head, and I couldn’t help but wonder just how innocent she was. I knew I had to watch myself, to keep everything that wanted to push its way out in check if I was going to successfully walk this fine line.

I gathered my things. “You ready?”

She looked up as the redness from her face slowly seeped away. “Yeah, let’s get out of here.”

We turned and headed in the direction of her apartment.

She glanced at me, smiling. “So, are you walking me home?”

“It’s on my way.”

She laughed because we both knew it really wasn’t, though it wasn’t completely out of the way, either. Just in the wrong direction by two short blocks.

No big deal.

We wandered casually through the evening crowd, neither of us in a hurry, just satisfied to be in the other’s company. I liked that it could be so easy with her.

Elizabeth continued to talk as we approached her building, while my attention darted to the guy leaning against her wall as we passed. Elizabeth didn’t seem to even notice him, her consideration fully on me as she ambled toward her door. But there was just something that didn’t sit right. He tilted his chin up, enough for his eyes to take her in. This instinctual protectiveness rose up from somewhere inside me, an urge to wrap my arm around her waist and pull her to my side.

Of course, Elizabeth had to live in the shittiest building she possibly could, and on top of it, lived by herself. I hated it.

She paused at her door, rocked back on her heels as she hooked her thumbs in her backpack straps. “So maybe I’ll see you around this weekend?”

My eyes went back to the guy against the wall. There were plenty of freaks in New York City, but most seemed harmless and didn’t garner a second thought. Not this guy. There was just something about him that nagged at my consciousness.

I looked back at Elizabeth. Not a chance in hell would I leave her here by herself.

I shrugged nonchalantly. “I don’t have any plans tonight. Why don’t we order in and watch a movie, or something?”

Her eyes narrowed in speculation, as if she was thrown off by my sudden suggestion.

I looked back at the guy who was obviously watching us. I guess I was thrown, too.

“Two Fridays in a row?” She peeked back at me with her brow raised high, then pulled the door opened and held it wide for me as she passed, already expecting me to follow. “Are you sure you’re not trying to get into my panties?”

I choked out a laugh as I followed her in. Did she have any idea how that sounded coming from her mouth? I shook my head and jogged up the stairs behind her. Apparently, Elizabeth was missing an important distinction. I wasn’t trying to get into her panties. I was trying desperately not to.

She let us into her apartment. It was messier than last week, a week’s worth of clothes strewn around on the floor.

“Sorry. Let me pick up really quick. I wasn’t expecting company.”

She dashed around the small room, plucking up shirts and underwear and random mismatched socks. She balled them up in a pile her arms before she heaved out a satisfied breath as she tossed them into the hamper against the wall. “All done.”