Stolen First Times

42. My First Time Running a Marathon

"As you all know, our wedding is tomorrow. I'd love it if you two would come," Elijah's mother said, looking between Zachariah and her son, "But I understand if you don't want to. All I ask is that you take care of Allison and Quinn while Joshua and I are on our honeymoon."

Zachariah's eyes narrowed and he opened his mouth, but Elijah was faster.

"What do you mean take care of them?" He asked, uncertainly.

Allison winked at him and I felt a spark of jealousy in the pit of my stomach at their exchange when he smirked back. No matter what Elijah said, there was definitely something going on between the two of them, and I was going to find out.

"Zachariah, would you mind if they stayed with you for a week?" His ex wife asked, hopefully.

He leaned forward so his elbows were resting on his knees and he raised his eyebrows as he clarified, "You want me to watch the children of the man who is marrying my ex wife?"

Elijah's mother cringed at his statement, knowing it sounded awkward even to her own ears.

"We'll do it," Elijah decided, agreeing with her. Her green eyes widened and disbelief crossed her face.

At that moment, I knew exactly what she was thinking because I was thinking the same thing; Elijah had been so against the marriage of his mother and Joshua, yet here he was agreeing to allow Allison and Quinn to stay over his house while they were on their honeymoon.

It made zero sense.

Unless, of course, you added in the fact that Elijah and Allison seemed to have some sort of chemistry.

With that, Zachariah gave his son a weird look, but the deed was done and the situation was settled. The Reeds would be babysitting the Clydes for a week after the wedding.

Noticing that I really didn't have any business being here, I spun around and dashed out the front door, skidding to a halt once I reached the porch of my house next door.

Breathing heavily, I placed my hands on my knees and bent over to catch my breath after practically running a marathon. Damn, I was out of shape. I literally lived twenty feet away and couldn't even sprint that distance without feeling like I was about to die.

I should've taken the mile run more seriously in gym class, huh?

I couldn't hear much over my labored breathing, so I wasn't aware of the person who approached me from behind until I was thrown over a very broad shoulder. I smacked my hands against his black t-shirt as all of the blood rushed to my face.

"Put me down!" I yelled, banging my hands repeatedly against his back.

"No."

"Eli! I said-"

"Yeah, yeah. I know what you said," Elijah said seconds before dropping me. A scream lodged in my throat when I fell a hundred feet to my death.

At least that's what it felt like when Elijah unceremoniously plopped me down on the seat swing in front of my house. It swayed back and forth, creaking with my impact as I impatiently shoved the blonde hair out of my face.

"What was that for!"

Elijah took a seat beside me and I scrambled as far away from him as I could get so we weren't touching. He noticed the space I had made between us and lowered his eyebrows.

"We need to talk," he said.

"So talk," I prompted, gesturing a hand at him to continue.

"You're probably pissed about Allison having to live with me for a week."

"Am not," I lied, crossing my arms over my chest. Elijah rolled his eyes and said, "Whatever. You're probably also thinking that there's something going on with me and that girl, right?"

"Oh, I don't know. That wink she gave you and that neck nuzzle at the college fair isn't exactly saying otherwise," I said, raising my eyebrows.

He sighed, running a hand through his thick, midnight locks.

"She doesn't want the marriage to happen just as much as I don't. Allison doesn't like the fact that her father is marrying another woman after her mother died."

"Theres nothing you guys can do about it," I said, harshly. I was angry at him for going behind my back with her and I was angry at myself for falling into his trap again. Plus, she most likely didn't want the wedding to happen so that she could date Elijah without actually being his step-sister.

"We thought by working together, we could somehow sabotage their marriage. Allison and I met up a few times this summer to discuss what could be done," he continued.

"Let me guess; you guys always got sidetracked and ended up having a make out session instead of a planning session?"

"Do you always have to be this difficult?" His voice rumbled deep in his throat, but it was too late for me to back down now.

"What am I supposed to think, Eli? We don't speak a word to each other for a month and then all of this shit goes down. I'm so confused and you aren't giving me any straight answers. Of course I'm going to think the worst!"

"I thought we went over this and made up," he replied.

"Why? Because of that whole stupid M&M thing? Well think again."

"You know what?" He said, standing up. "I was going to ask you for help, but I think Allison and I can do it ourselves."

Then he walked away and met Allison at his front door. She gave me an evil grin and shut the door.

Nothing was going on between the two of them, my ass.