Elly & Kent - The Complete Story: Includes Books 1-3 by Marie Cole
Authors: Marie Cole
Tags: Contemporary Romance, Historical Romance, new adult romance, friends to lovers, College romance, second chance romance
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was going to pop right along with my fists. I'd just defended her and somehow that made me the bad guy? She was so ridiculous! She made absolutely no sense! I about faced and stomped back to my car. My party mood was gone. For now I just wanted to drive. Maybe girl-logic would come to me while I was drowning out my own thoughts with some Slipknot.
Chapter Thirteen
KENT
Elly was still mad about the party thing when I saw her the next day. She tried to duck into her house before I saw her in the backyard but she wasn't fast enough.
"Elly! Come on! Talk to me."
She hesitated and for a minute I thought she was going to blow me off completely but, lucky for me, she decided to walk over towards me. She didn't ask me to come inside, she just held onto the chain link fence between our bodies.
"Kent. You've been a shitty friend ever since Jen came into the picture. We don't hang out unless she's not here. And that's pretty fucked up. If you can't hang out with me then we don't have a friendship anymore. You need to figure some shit out and talk to your girlfriend because I'm done trying to act cool about it."
I stared at her, dumbfounded, and she must have taken that as a response because she retreated inside. On the walk home I thought about what she said and for three weeks I tried it her way. I invited her out with me and Jen. We went to the movies together, out to eat, but nothing had brought us closer, in fact it had only seemed to push us further apart. She was so distant, so cold, and where as I should've been enjoying the little time I had left in high school I was stuck between a rock, Elly, and a hard place, Jen.
"Kent, I've been very patient with this Elly thing," Jen said as we walked through the halls together between classes.
I clenched my jaw. Elly wasn't a thing, she was my friend. Used to be, anyway. The squeeze in my chest reminded me that the thought was depressing.
"I know. I'm sorry, I'm just out of ideas. Since you don't want me hanging out with her alone I'm out of options."
Jen sighed as we entered class and sat down with me in the back. She took ahold of my hand and stared at them. After a moment she met my eyes. "Kent, look. I can't go on any more dates with you and her. You need to pick. Me or her. I can't do this anymore."
"What?" I felt my heart racing in my chest.
"You need to decide if you want to hang out with her or if you want to hang out with me."
"Why can't I do both?"
She shook her head and dropped her gaze to our hands. "You know how I feel about her. She has feelings for you, Kent, unfriendly feelings. Too friendly feelings. She's going to try to take you from me and I can't let that happen. I..."
My heart beat faster as I held my breath. Was she going to tell me that she loved me? I waited but the words didn't come.
"Jen, come on. That's not true. And not fair. She's just a friend."
She shrugged, "Maybe not. But that's the way it has to be. We don't get much time together as it is because of school and studying. You either go on dates with me, alone. Or we break up and you can see Elly whenever you want. It's just that simple."
Class started and she turned around after giving my hands another squeeze. I stared at the back of her blonde head as I thought about the ultimatum that she'd just given me. I loved Jen, I was pretty sure of it, but Elly was my best friend.
I tried to envision my life without Jen in it. I thought of her moving on, dating an asshole like Doug Baker. I didn't like that at all. It would crush me to see her with another guy, kissing him, laughing at his jokes, touching him.
And then I thought about my life without Elly. It was what it had been prior to the past three weeks. And it was livable. By the end of class I knew what I had to do.
After class I parted ways with Jen and intentionally bumped into Elly on the way to last period.
"Elly, hey."
She glanced at me and then really looked at me. She knew something was wrong. Shit, I hadn't done a
Chapter Thirteen
KENT
Elly was still mad about the party thing when I saw her the next day. She tried to duck into her house before I saw her in the backyard but she wasn't fast enough.
"Elly! Come on! Talk to me."
She hesitated and for a minute I thought she was going to blow me off completely but, lucky for me, she decided to walk over towards me. She didn't ask me to come inside, she just held onto the chain link fence between our bodies.
"Kent. You've been a shitty friend ever since Jen came into the picture. We don't hang out unless she's not here. And that's pretty fucked up. If you can't hang out with me then we don't have a friendship anymore. You need to figure some shit out and talk to your girlfriend because I'm done trying to act cool about it."
I stared at her, dumbfounded, and she must have taken that as a response because she retreated inside. On the walk home I thought about what she said and for three weeks I tried it her way. I invited her out with me and Jen. We went to the movies together, out to eat, but nothing had brought us closer, in fact it had only seemed to push us further apart. She was so distant, so cold, and where as I should've been enjoying the little time I had left in high school I was stuck between a rock, Elly, and a hard place, Jen.
"Kent, I've been very patient with this Elly thing," Jen said as we walked through the halls together between classes.
I clenched my jaw. Elly wasn't a thing, she was my friend. Used to be, anyway. The squeeze in my chest reminded me that the thought was depressing.
"I know. I'm sorry, I'm just out of ideas. Since you don't want me hanging out with her alone I'm out of options."
Jen sighed as we entered class and sat down with me in the back. She took ahold of my hand and stared at them. After a moment she met my eyes. "Kent, look. I can't go on any more dates with you and her. You need to pick. Me or her. I can't do this anymore."
"What?" I felt my heart racing in my chest.
"You need to decide if you want to hang out with her or if you want to hang out with me."
"Why can't I do both?"
She shook her head and dropped her gaze to our hands. "You know how I feel about her. She has feelings for you, Kent, unfriendly feelings. Too friendly feelings. She's going to try to take you from me and I can't let that happen. I..."
My heart beat faster as I held my breath. Was she going to tell me that she loved me? I waited but the words didn't come.
"Jen, come on. That's not true. And not fair. She's just a friend."
She shrugged, "Maybe not. But that's the way it has to be. We don't get much time together as it is because of school and studying. You either go on dates with me, alone. Or we break up and you can see Elly whenever you want. It's just that simple."
Class started and she turned around after giving my hands another squeeze. I stared at the back of her blonde head as I thought about the ultimatum that she'd just given me. I loved Jen, I was pretty sure of it, but Elly was my best friend.
I tried to envision my life without Jen in it. I thought of her moving on, dating an asshole like Doug Baker. I didn't like that at all. It would crush me to see her with another guy, kissing him, laughing at his jokes, touching him.
And then I thought about my life without Elly. It was what it had been prior to the past three weeks. And it was livable. By the end of class I knew what I had to do.
After class I parted ways with Jen and intentionally bumped into Elly on the way to last period.
"Elly, hey."
She glanced at me and then really looked at me. She knew something was wrong. Shit, I hadn't done a
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