“You gonna invite me in Ruin or just look at me with moon eyes?” Anders smirks, sending me a joking wink. So much for those manners I guess. Instead of replying, I move out of his way so he can waltz past me.

Ellis appears in the kitchen doorway, smiling at Anders.

“You must be Ellis! I’m sure you could have made a better bouquet than this, but I tried.” He says with a Texan drawl that could win over the coldest of hearts.

Ellis’s smile widens at him. “Don’t be silly,” she teases. “I appreciate them, thank you.” She takes the flowers from him, allowing him to lean in for a peck on her cheek.

I want to listen in on the rest of their exchange, make sure there is no awkwardness between them, but the doorbell ringing again pulls me away. On the other side I can hear both Rook and Edge bickering.

“Just don’t be a dick, Ellis needs to like us,” I hear Edge muttering aggressively.

“Says the world’s biggest asshole, don’t scare the kid,” Rook snaps back.

“I’m just an asshole to you,” Edge spits back.

“Love you too buddy— Hey, Ruin, nice place.” Rook snaps to attention when I swing the door open and I gesture towards the inside of the home. But with none of the social etiquette of Anders, he shoves past me to get inside.

I don’t bother stopping him; it will be less painful to just let him introduce himself. I warned Ellis beforehand about all the boys’ personalities. She refused to meet them unless she was fully prepared, not that I blame her. She was worried they were going to be the stereotypical meat-head sports people that you see in teens films. I have to trust these guys every time I hit the ice and I know that they will have our back. Ellis just needs to see it for herself.

Honestly, I’m surprised she didn’t start taking notes with how much information she wanted. I have known Edge for four years, Anders for two and Rook for a year; yet I still didn’t have answers for everything she asked. I didn’t know what any of them studied at school or how many sisters Anders has. Despite knowing Edge for the longest, it shocks me when he walks up to Ellis and smiles. Really genuinely smiles. He even has dimples, where the hell did they come from?

“Hi, I’m Jay,” he introduces himself warmly, but it takes my brain a moment to adjust to what I just heard. There’s no way he asked her to call him Jay.

“Nice to meet you, Jay.” Ellis blushes. My Ellis blushed for Edge. Before anything else happens, Rook nudges him out of the way.

“I assume I don’t need a reintroduction?” Rook says full of confidence.