Searching For Jenna novel Chapter 34

"I am," he motioned his head in Steven's direction and swung her around as they danced so she could see him. "I think he followed you and Megan here."

"That son-of-a-bitch," she growled.

"Yeah," Elliot agreed. "Were you two driving back to Morehead tonight?"

"No, Megan said we'd get a hotel," Cara said, looking over Elliot's shoulder.

"I don't think that's safe," Elliot said. "What about staying with her friends?"

"They all live with their parents," Cara said.

Elliot looked over at Megan who was giving them a questioning look. He turned to Cara. "I've already got a hotel not far from here. You guys could come stay with me."

"I don't know," Cara said, clearly nervous and not confident of his intentions.

Elliot put his hands on the back of her shoulders and pulled her close as the next slow song started. "You guys will be safe with me. It's got two beds. The two of you can sleep in one bed. I'll sleep in the other, but I'm afraid they will follow you if you go somewhere else."

Cara looked at Megan and said, "I'll talk to her after this dance." The song the band was playing was "What Might Have Been," by Little Texas and Cara leaned into Elliot, putting her head on his shoulder. They swayed together.

Elliot was thinking about the fact that he was so different now and wondered if they had a chance to make it. Would Cara be able to get past his changes and the deceit he's had to maintain these past months? He wondered what she was thinking. For him, it was thoughts of what might have been if he'd never seen that body in his father's freezer. Would he and Cara still be together? Would he have transitioned into a man, or stayed a woman to make Cara happy? What might have been didn't matter now.

"This is our last song of the night," the lead singer said. "I hope tonight has been as magical for you as it has been for us. Thank you for coming out."

They proceeded to play "The Keeper of the Stars" by Tracy Byrd, and Elliot had to wonder if God, or whoever ruled the Universe didn't have a hand in Cara and him finding each other again. They'd known each other all through school, but it was their sophomore year before they admitted their feelings for each other. Now, after so much time apart and so many changes, here they were dancing. How could they be having this chance for any other reason than the Fates wanting them together?

Steven didn't wave back and looked completely pissed off.

Whatever their plans had been, they were messed up now because Elliot was here. Good.

As promised, Beth followed them to the hotel. Elliot's room was inside, so they didn't have to wait for them to get in the room. Megan made Beth promise to call her as soon as she was home safe. Elliot watched the road and the parking lot for Steven or Chase's trucks but didn't see them. He would stay on alert tonight. He didn't trust Steven not to mess with them. He'd set the alarm on the truck before they went into the hotel and when they got to his room, Elliot would go to his alarm app and set the volume for extremely high. If someone tried anything with that truck, the alarm would wake up everyone in the hotel. He just had to pray some stray cat didn't jump on it.

Once they were all settled in the room, they turned on a movie to watch. Elliot was in the bed by the window. Normally, he would sleep in his boxers, but he didn't want to expose much skin, plus he had a scar on one knee that Cara might recognize. He'd had a pair of pajama pants that were still in the bag from an early spring camping trip so he put those on with a dark t-shirt that wouldn't reveal his chest binder.

Both girls were sleeping in shorts and t-shirts, and kept their bras on, he noted. The two of them had been drinking a little more than he thought. They were tipsy and giggly at first as everyone settle down to watch the movie. Thankfully, they both fell asleep quickly as their buzz started to wear off.

Elliot turned off the TV and rolled onto his back. It was going to be a long night. He sighed and got up to look out the window. He didn't see any vehicles he recognized in the parking lot. Hopefully, those two assholes decided to go home.