Ellis: A Best Friend's Little Sister Shifter Romance (The Johnson Clan Book 3)

by Terra Wolf

  I didn’t have to turn around to recognize who it was. Ellis rushed up to me all out of breath. “There you are. I’ve been looking all over for you.”

  I whirled around to face him. I hated him right then. I could slap him for hurting me like that. “Well, you found me.”

  He cast a glance down at my coat. “Where are you going?”

  “I’m going home, Ellis. That’s where I’m going. Brayden and Julia are gone. There’s no reason to stay.”

  “Wait a minute, and I’ll drive you. We’ll take my car.”

  “I’m never going anywhere with you in your car again,” I shot back.

  “What do you mean?”

  “You run too hot and cold for me. You don’t want anything serious with me. I was a fool ever to think we could be a real couple. You want to come and go as you please. You want to tell me what I want to hear and then turn your back on me. I understand that now, so don’t pretend it’s anything other than what it is.”

  He gasped. “What are you talking about? When did I ever turn my back on you?”

  “Just now,” I shot back. “You avoided me when you were talking to Brayden, and you gave me the cold shoulder when I came up to you at the buffet. You made some stupid comment about the antipasto and went off to give Helena the eye. Don’t deny it. I’m not putting up with your crap anymore. You broke my heart once, Ellis Johnson, and I won’t let you do it again.”

  “I can explain everything if you just give me a chance. Brayden….”

  “I don’t want you to explain anything,” I interrupted, “and don’t start talking about Brayden. You gave me your big sob story about your sister’s problems to explain why you did it before. I don’t think you can come out with anything as grandiose as that this time, can you?”

  His face hardened. “At least let me explain to you why I did it. If you still want to cut me off after that, I won’t try to stop you.”

  “You won’t try to stop me this time, either,” I snarled. “What are you going to do? Are you going to tie me up so I can’t leave?”

  “Of course not, Mckenna,” he snapped. “I don’t know why you’re….”

  “I’ve had it with waiting for you to decide you’re ready to have anything to do with me. You kicked me in the teeth one too many times. I’m done with you.”

  19

  ELLIS

  I stabbed my finger at my phone for the fiftieth time today. My bear’s rage was so strong I’d already Shifted twice. I couldn’t get through to Mckenna no matter what I did. She wouldn’t answer her phone. Every time I called, it switched straight to her voicemail.

  What was she doing? Why did she get so mad at the wedding? She never let me explain about Brayden. She just walked out on what could be the greatest relationship in both our lives.

  I paced around my office. I was useless ever since I met her. I had to find a way to make it up to her. I had to explain and show her I really do care. I had to do it, if for no other reason than to get on with my normal life. Two weeks without her, and I started to go crazy.

  The longer this situation went on, the more I had to admit the terrible truth. I couldn’t live without this woman. I didn’t want to before. Now I understood I couldn’t. I needed her. I needed her and this baby in my life. They were the only thing keeping me going anymore, and now she wouldn’t even talk to me.

  I gazed out the windows at the far skyline. Where could she be? Where was she hiding from me? What horrible thoughts did she think about me?

  Every time I got frustrated, that awful moment would flash before my eyes. I saw the look on her face when I asked her if she tried the antipasto. I knew then what I was doing to her. It killed me to do it, but I had to. I had to keep up appearances until Brayden left.

  If only she let me explain. If only she understood about Brayden threatening me, I could make it all right again.

  I had to explain it. Even if she decided to cut me off, I had to find a way to let her know I didn’t turn my back on her. That’s all there was to it. She had to understand it wasn’t her.

  I got the ring out of my office safe. I cracked open the box and studied the stone. Was it good enough? Was it big enough? Would anything ever been enough to show her how I felt about her?

  I stuffed the box into my pocket and tried to get back to work. Half a dozen contractors rang my phone off the hook, but I couldn’t concentrate. I almost delegated the whole construction project to my team manager, but that wouldn’t work, either.

  I got the ring out again. Was I really going to give it to her, or was I going to stand here staring at it for the next twenty years of my life? I couldn’t do that. I shoved the ring in my pocket and stormed out of the office.

  I cast back and forth on the sidewalk outside. All roads led to her. I had to see her again. I had to find a way to make her listen to me, just once. Even if she turned me down, I had to try.

  I didn’t take the car. I had to do this on my own legs. I barreled down the street to a florist shop I knew. I bought two dozen long-stemmed roses. If that and the ring didn’t convince her, I didn’t know what would.

  The clerk gave me a knowing smile. “On your way to see someone special?”

  I blushed into my shoes. “On my way to becoming the happiest man in the world—I hope.”

  She wrapped up the roses in tissue paper and handed them across the counter to me. “Good luck, but it looks like you’ve got this one all stitched up.”

  I turned away. “I sure hope you’re right. I really hope you’re right.”

  If only I could be as certain as she was. That was the problem. I couldn’t be sure. If only I knew what Mckenna was thinking, I would know how to gauge my approach. I could only throw myself off the deep end and hope I landed in the pool.

  I headed down the street. It was a long walk to her house, and I needed to calm down. The walk didn’t do what I wanted it to. It only racked my nerves more than ever. I had to see her, and fast. I had to get her answer, so I knew where I stood. I couldn’t stand this anymore.

  I didn’t get anywhere near her house until long after dark. When I did, I slowed down instead of hurrying to get there sooner. I stood out on the sidewalk over an hour and stared up at the lighted windows. What was she doing in there? Was she shopping for baby clothes online? Was she soaking in a tub of sudsy water?

  I hesitated outside. For some reason, I got scared at the last minute. What if she said no? What would I do with myself then? I would be lost. I couldn’t run the risk. I paced up and down. I fingered the ring box in my pocket. I shifted the roses back and forth from one hand to the other. I did everything except what I came here to do,

  When did I become such a dithering fool? Is this how I got to the top of the heap in seven years? Hell, no, and I wouldn’t win her second-guessing myself now. I took a deep breath. Get a grip, Johnson, and seize the day.

  I squared my shoulders at the house. She wasn’t in there laughing at me. She didn’t even know I was there, and she wouldn’t know until I made my move.

  I wiped my sweating palms on my pants and strode up the walk. I couldn’t breathe. My whole life hinged on this moment. I raised my hand and let it fall before I summoned the courage to knock.

  How long does it take a person to answer the door? Didn’t she know what agony I was in standing there?

  She opened the door, and we stared at each other in astonishment. Could this be real? Was I really gonna do this? I gulped down the lump in my throat. She reduced me to a blithering wreck. My bear practically laughed at me.

  “Hey, Mckenna.”

  “What are you doing here?”

  I started babbling like an idiot. “I…uh…. I just came by to see how you’re doing. I mean…. how are you doing? I haven’t seen you since the wedding. I was just wondering…I mean…” I forgot all about the roses until she glanced down at them. I shoved them at her, I was such a graceless chump. “These are for you.”

  She took them off my hands. “Thanks. They’re beaut
iful.”

  I snapped out of my trance. “Listen, Mckenna. I really just want to talk to you for a second. I won’t try to convince you to get back with me. I just want to explain why I did what I did at the wedding. Do you think you can just listen for a minute so I can get this off my chest?”

  She pursed her lips. “All right. You better come in.”

  She strode inside, and I followed her with my nerves in tatters.

  She put the roses in a vase in the kitchen and came back to stand in front of me. “Okay. You’re here. Spill it.”

  I couldn’t take my eyes off her. She stood in front of me in her sweatpants and an old floppy T-shirt. She wore no make-up, and she tied her hair behind her head in a casual ponytail, but she couldn’t have been more beautiful to me. Her whole being glowed from the inside. Pregnancy suited her.

  I put my hand in my pocket. Here goes.

  20

  MCKENNA

  I never thought seeing Ellis again would confuse me so much. I never wanted to see him again, but now that he was standing in my living room, I understood why I fell for him in the first place. I didn’t know if I could stay mad at hm.

  He took another deep breath and blew it out. His shoulders stiffened. “Okay. Here’s the deal. Do you remember that time we snuck out to the garden at the rehearsal dinner?”

  “Of course, I do, Ellis,” I told him. “Do you think I’ve forgotten any of our time together? You know you were the most important person in the world to me. That’s what makes you turning away from me so cruel.”

  He closed his eyes and held up his hand. “Just listen to me for a minute, okay? Brayden saw us in the garden. He saw us through the window.”

  My eyes flew open. “He what?”

  Ellis nodded. “You went inside first. When I came through the door, he ambushed me. He told me to stay away from you. He said I wasn’t his friend anymore, and he said if I ever came near you again, he would tell the clan. Now I don’t know about you, but if the Johnsons, the Bradfords, and your family got into a fight before the wedding, well I don’t think it would have been pretty.”

  “He didn’t. He actually threatened to involve the clan?”

  “Now do you see why I couldn’t talk to you at the wedding? I had to wait until he left with Julia. I wanted him to cool down before I talked to him about it again. Then I tried to find you and explain, but you were too mad. I never wanted to hurt you. I swear it killed me to do it, but I had to keep away from you.”

  I shook my head. “This is impossible.”

  He rushed forward. He grabbed my hand. “I never stopped loving you, Mckenna. I never wanted anything but to be with you, but I couldn’t blow the lid off Brayden’s wedding.”

  He stuck his hand in his pocket for the tenth time, and this time, he pulled out a grey velvet box. He pried open the lid and held it out to me. “I picked this out after we came back from Vegas. I wanted to give it to you at the rehearsal, but I never got a chance before Brayden threatened me. I only regret I didn’t show you this a long time ago. Now I’ve blown my chance with you forever, and that’s just something I’ll have to live with for the rest of my life. I just want you to have this. I’ll leave you alone now. I just want you to keep this. Even if you never wear it or even look at it, just keep it. I don’t want anybody else to have this. It’s yours.”

  I stared down at the shining stone in the box. He didn’t buy this. He didn’t spend the money on this heavenly diamond thinking about me. That was impossible. I couldn’t believe it.

  He didn’t leave, though. He didn’t move or let go of my hand. I blinked. Everything in the world disappeared but that ring. He didn’t show up on my doorstep with that ring and a bunch of roses. He couldn’t. That made no sense. I couldn’t hold that side by side with the hateful names I called him over the last two weeks.

  He watched me for a moment. I didn’t see his face. I didn’t see anything but that ring before my eyes blurred with tears.

  All at once, he dropped to his knee. He crushed my hand between his two palms. “Marry me, Mckenna. I don’t want to live without you and the baby. We were made for each other. It’s just a bunch of stupid misunderstandings keeping us apart. I can’t be happy without you, and unless I’m wrong, you can’t be happy without me, either. This cub needs us, and it needs us together. Come on. What do you say? Will you marry me? Will you be my mate?”

  My eyes drifted to his face. This wasn’t happening. All these weeks of heartbreak, all these missed chances and near misses—it couldn’t end like this. I craved this moment so long, but I never dared dream it could actually happen.

  He tugged me forward. He kissed my knuckles and pressed my hand to his heart. His voice cracked. “Please, Mckenna. Please marry me. You’re the only woman in the world for me. I wanted to ask you so many times. I’m an ass for waiting so long. Marry me, Mckenna. No one else in the world should wear this ring.”

  I couldn’t see through my tears. His head prismed into a thousand pieces, and I couldn’t keep my lips still. He fumbled the ring out of the box and slipped it on my finger. I saw him and the ring in my mind’s eye, but I couldn’t speak above a whisper before I burst into tears. “Yes! Yes!”

  He struggled to his feet, and his mouth attacked me in smoldering passion. Salty tears dampened his face, and neither of us could get our lips to function the way they should. Before I knew what was happening, he scooped me off the floor.

  Already that ring worked its magic in my hand. I was married. I was his wife. We were together, and we were having a baby. The next thing I knew, he carried me to my room and laid me on the bed. He curled around me, and all the pain and despair of the last two weeks vanished out of my life.

  He started laughing. The longer he laughed, the louder he laughed until I couldn’t contain it. I had to laugh, too, from sheer happiness. Everything made sense. This whole crazy situation only made sense when we were together—together at last!

  We laughed until we both cried. Then Ellis wiped the smirk off his face. “Listen to me. Tomorrow morning, we’ll wake up bright and early. We’ll go visit your parents and explain the whole thing. Once they understand, we’ll get in touch with Brayden. Once he finds out we’re getting married, it will be okay. Okay?”

  I couldn’t stop smiling at him. I had to surround his precious face with both hands. “Okay. Sounds good.”

  He descended on my mouth to kiss me, and all my buried desire for him flared to life. I never had to hide from it again. I could let it go. I could feel the overwhelming love welling out of me to encompass him. I could surrender to the future.

  Starting right now, we would never be apart. We would love each other, and everyone would know we had a right to want each other, to touch each other and crave each other and come home together.

  His tongue lapped at my lips, and the delicious wetness sizzled through my flesh to draw him into myself. Our skins touched in cosmic unity. Our bears happy to be together again. Our clothes disappeared, and his rock-solid body covered me and protected me from everything else.

  I wrapped my legs around him and pulled him between my thighs. My passion turned to ecstatic love. I couldn’t tell the difference between my body wanting him and my heart yearning for him.

  He broke away from my mouth to prop his muscled arms on either side of my head. His chiseled frame rippled all the way down to the triangle of sinew where his hips bumped mine.

  His movements carried him down to kiss me before he rose on his broad shoulders to hover over me. His eyes enthralled me beyond belief. I could stare into those eyes for the rest of my life and never stop loving him.

  His cock touched me deep inside. He touched me all the way to my heart, so my love overpowered me. It shone out of my eyes to meet his gaze high above my face.

  I cradled his face in my hands. He swayed back and forth with his stroking rhythm. “Mckenna?”

  “Yes, darling.”

  “I love you. I love you more than anything.”

  I
kissed him hard on the lips. I kissed him all over. “I love you, too.”

  Epilogue

  ELLIS

  Two Weeks Later

  I put my feet up on my desk and relaxed back in my chair. It was the first time that I got to relax all morning. I had been dealing with idiots like Hudson since I walked in.

  My phone rang again, and I let out a long sigh. Fuck, Hudson, give it a rest.

  “What the hell do you want now?” I spat.

  “Hey man, it’s Brayden, no need to be a dick.”

  Shit. I glanced down at my calendar and saw that yesterday Brayden and Julia got back from their honeymoon. Mckenna and I had already spoken to her parents earlier that week. Her mom was ecstatic that her only daughter would be getting married and her dad had given us his blessing. They both knew about the cub on the way, and honestly, I think her mom was more excited about that than the prospect of another wedding.

  Now I just had Brayden to convince.

  “Look, Brayden,” I started, but he quickly cut me off.

  “I already know about you and Mckenna.”

  “Ok, I just wanted to explain.”

  “There is nothing for you to explain. I never realized that you and Mckenna were actually something serious. I thought you were just being your douchebag self and screwing her because you could.”

  I let out a slight laugh. Yeah, that does sound like me. But Mckenna was different. She was the only woman that ever made me feel something.

  “Things with Mckenna are different,” I started, but Brayden cut me off again.

  “You don’t need to explain. She’s your mate, man. I get it. I was just calling to say I am sorry for being an ass. I just – I just saw you with my sister, and I lost it. Ever since we were cubs, I have been protective of her. And I knew how you were. I just didn’t want her to get hurt.”