Rough Hands and Kind Eyes

It had been a few hours since Jordan had told Ellie about Tess and they hadn't spoken yet. It wasn't the fact that Jordan had been sleeping with another woman before they met, she didn't care. It was the fact that he had used her as a way to get back at Tess.

"Hey," Came a somewhat familiar voice behind Ellie as she sat on the dock. She looked up and saw Marc standing there. "Mind if I join you?"

"Go ahead," Ellie nodded, bringing her knees to her chest.

"I hear Jordan opened the Tess files with you," Marc stated.

"Did he send you out to talk to me?" Ellie asked, looking over at him.

"No," Marc replied, shaking his head. "He told me what happened and since he said all he had to say I thought you needed an older brothers opinion."

"I'm not mad that he was with another girl before me, Marc. I don't care about that. What really hurts me is that he went for almost four months without even mentioning that maybe our first date was a sham," Ellie explained. "Yeah, he fell in love with me and I'm sure that's more than he bargained for with me. Why couldn't he just tell me?"

"Tell you what?" Marc asked. "Tell you that he had been chasing the same girl around for three years and she didn't want him? Tell you that all he's wanted was to fall in love with a girl he could really be himself with? What did you want him to tell you, Ellie?"

Ellie sat in silence. That was what she wanted Jordan to tell her. She knew how vain and selfish it was to have him put his heart on the line like that just for her, but that was what she wanted.

"He's not the person people think he is," Marc stated. "I know that I pick on him and am an asshole to him, but that's because he's my brother. That's what we do. All you need to know is that he loves you, whether he says it to you or not. Tess fucked him up good."

Ellie nodded. "I kind of guessed that."

"I'm not asking you to marry my brother, I don't see why you'd want to," Marc smirked. "But I just ask that you give him a chance and not get mad at him. Please, don't be angry with him for something he had no real control over. Yeah, okay, so he maybe had some cruel intentions for your date, but they didn't say that way. It's hard to get rid of a girl like Tess, and it's hard to walk from a girl like that, but he did. He walked away for you."

"You're pretty smart, you know that?" Ellie smiled.

"Yup," Marc grinned. "Now, please, go tell my brother that you're not mad at him and then do whatever it is that you kids do to make up when you fight."

Ellie laughed and walked back inside.

"Jordan?" She called. It wasn't a big house, so she couldn't have lost him. "Doll?"

She clued in and heard the shower running. She tested her luck and found the bathroom door open. Ellie let herself in and stood near the shower, ripping back the curtain. Jordan jumped and dropped the bottle of shampoo he was holding.

"Jesus fucking Christ, Ellie!" He yelled, gasping for air. "You gave me a heart attack!"

"Sorry," Ellie giggled, still clutching the shower curtain. "I didn't mean to scare you. Okay, I kind of did."

"You still mad at me?" Jordan asked, feeling awkward in the shower. It wasn't being naked in front of her, it was just weird. He felt vulnerable, one hundred percent vulnerable in front of her, and it had nothing to do with his body.

"No," She stated, shaking her head. "I'm not mad at all."

Ellie walked closer to the shower and got in with Jordan, fully clothed.

"Your dress," Jordan laughed.

"Come closer to my level," She smiled, holding onto his neck. Jordan leaned over a little and waited for her to speak.

"I'm not mad at you, Jordan." Ellie stated. "I know that what happened with you and Tess was hard for you. I know that there was no way you could have controlled what happened between you and I. There was no way you could've predicted you would've liked me the way you do. What matters to me is that you fight for me and that you walked away for me."

"Let's get this dress off of you," Jordan smiled softly, sliding the straps of her dress off of her. "It'll get heavy and you might get sick."

He tossed the dress towards the sink and closed the shower curtain once more. He put a hand in her wet hair and pulled her closer.

"It's just you," Jordan stated. "No one else. It's only you."

"I know," Ellie nodded. "It's only you for me, too."

Jordan kissed her hard on the mouth, holding her tiny body close to his. Jordan turned off the shower and carried her to his bedroom, both of them soaking wet. He laid her on the bed. He had thought about making a move and initiating sex, but then he realized how nice it was to just lay in bed with her. Instead he pulled the big duvet up over them and pulled her close. Leaving small, gentle kisses along the back of her neck until she fell asleep.