[ last chapter without a certain babygirl with the big, brown, sweet, but overall vacant eyes of a baby cow ]

☁︎

DANCE WITH ME, SCOTT?

ELIANNA was dragging her feet as she took herself out of her completely trashed house — she didn't have to worry about the cleanup after the party that went on for hours after she fell asleep. They had housekeepers that would have it in pristine condition by the end of the day.

Her head was pounding from how much alcohol she'd consumed, and the sunglasses did nothing to hide the painful sun. So, she was miserable as she went to the StormPAR truck parked just past the front gate. Javi and Scott were leaning against the car, watching her with amused smiles on their faces.

"Morning, Party Girl!" Scott said loudly, making her groan. "Let's get a move on."

To her credit, Eli looked put together, Scott thought. She'd woken up enough to wash her hair and face. She even had her StormPAR shirt all the way buttoned up, but he'd put all his money on her shedding it by the time their work day was over 

"I hate you," Eli whined, heading to the back seat.

Scott rolled his eyes playfully while opening up the door for her. "There's an iced latte back there for you."

"Hmm, hate you a little less," she said while pinching her fingers together. But once she was in the car, Scott loudly slammed the door shut, making her cry out and hold her head. "Nevermind. It's just seething hatred."

"Come on," Javi said, chuckling as he and Scott got in the car. "At least you had a good time last night. Got lots of presents."

Eli just shrugged and leaned her forehead tiredly against the window. "Didn't feel like going through them this morning. But there was this pretty necklace on my nightstand I got from someone."

In the front seat, Scott tensed up, realizing that Eli didn't even remembered their time together last night. But rather than inform her that he'd given her the gift and try to jog her memory, he kept his mouth shut tight, not admitting to anything.

And all the while, Eli stared holes into the back of his head because she did remember. But she hated how vulnerable and open she'd been with Scott. So she figured by pretending it never happened, he would do the same.

And he did. Eli wasn't sure if she was relived or disappointed by that fact.

"Ugh," she whined as the radio was turned on once they pulled out onto the road. "Cut it off. I'm dying."

Scott grinned meanly at her over his shoulder. "But you love Taylor Swift," he said before turning the song up even more.

"Oh, fuck you, Scott," she whined. "I would never attack you in your time of need."

"I don't believe that for a second," Javi chimed in before reaching over and turning the volume down, making Eli sigh in relief. "You're lucky we're got an hour drive. Need the headache cleared up so you can help us find a good spot of the second PAR we're trying today."

Elianna reoriented herself in her seat a bit, purposefully kicking the back of Scott's as she did so. "Don't see why we still can't just jump to three, but fine. Wake me up when we're there."

☁︎

From his spot against the truck, Scott was not-so-subtly eyeing Eli, whose hangover had faded after lunch. She was now standing a couple yards out, chewing on a SweetTart Rope as she watched the clouds with interest. Already, they'd had two storms in this area, and a third was developing. There'd been an unusual amount of storms in this area the last few days, so they'd probably be staying a while.

Every now and then between pieces of candy, he noted that she'd grab hold of the necklace he'd gifted her and frown down at the charm, seemingly thinking hard on it. Scott assumed she was trying to remember who gave it to her.

But Eli was just thinking about Scott. About how sweet and gentle he'd been the night before. And he didn't once throw that drunken vulnerability in her face, much to her appreciation. Elianna wanted to thank him again for helping her — maybe her thanks would seem more sincere when she wasn't wasted — but that would mean admitting that she remembered what he'd done.

And that meant being vulnerable when she was stone cold sober, something she actively avoided.

After finishing off her bag of candy, she kept watching the inflow of the clouds, figuring that the storm would be ready for them within the hour. So, she glanced to the truck, seeking out Javi, who wasn't there. Only to see Scott, who had his eyes glued to her, his thick eyebrows furrowed as he thought deeply on something. But he relaxed upon catching her gaze.

"What?" Eli asked, crossing her arms as she raised an eyebrow.

"Nothing," he muttered as she came closer.

"No, you were staring," she said flatly, knowing he couldn't deny it. "Have I got something on my face?"

No, Scott thought, she just had a beautiful face.

"I don't like your makeup. The shiny eyeshadow is distracting. Too sparkly," he said quickly while looking at the tablet in his hands, doing his best to ignore her.

"Ouch, Clark Kent. I don't go around saying rude shit about your appearance," she grumbled while rolling her eyes. All she ever did was compliment his appearance, as a matter of fact. "Look, just get ready to go. This next one is probably gonna be a big one."

☁︎

Javi was exhausted as he sank into the chair in the bar across from their new motel. There were four tornados in one day, and even though they got a lot of data, it also destroyed a lot of property, meaning he had to get all that information for Riggs so that he could make offers.

He was the first of the StormPAR crew to arrive, but he soon knew the rest of the guys would crawl in, probably just stopping to say hi to him before doing their own thing. But he knew Scott and Eli were coming, as they'd all talked about it in the car.

And of them, it was Eli who slid into the seat across from him first, a frown on her face and a beer in hand. She'd changed into a short white sundress with embroidered blue flowers on it, always eager to get out of her StormPAR clothes.

"Bars are kinda lame when you use your real ID to get into them," she muttered to him, making Javi grin. But then she leaned forward toward him, a serious expression on her face. "Nevertheless, I'd like to file a formal workplace complaint."

Javi raised an eyebrow. "All right. Against who?"

Though given that Eli only knew his and Scott's names and never interacted with any of their other crew members, he had a good idea of who she was talking to.

"Scott," she said, scoffing a bit.

"...What'd he do?" Javi asked curiously. Scott and Eli had exchanged countless insults and gone through argument after argument without issues arising.

Elianna rolled her eyes and mindlessly twirled a strand of dark hair around her finger. "I caught him staring and asked why, and he said my eyeshadow was too sparkly. as if that's possible."

"And did you stop to think that maybe he said that so you wouldn't realize he was just staring at you in general?" he asked, smirking at her.

She looked at him like he was crazy. "No, Scott was very blunt about it. He doesn't like my makeup, and as a man, he has the right to shut the fuck up about it in my opinion."

"Fair point, but let me make another," he said before leaning in as well like she was. "You're not wearing makeup today."

Eli blinked a few times before rubbing her eye with her finger, seeing that none of her usual shiny eyeshadow came off when she did so. "Well, then why was he staring?"

"Because—"

Javi cut himself off as Scott joined them, pulling out the chair beside Javi. "Hey, guys," he said, nodding to them.

Maybe Eli would've snarkily called him out on the whole staring thing, but now she was the one staring.

Because for the second night in a row, she was seeing him outside of the dorky StormPAR attire. Tonight, he was in a tight, dark red t-shirt, and as he leaned back and crossed his arms over his chest, the fabric pulled at his exposed arms.

How was it fair for one man to look so effortlessly goddamn good in causal attire?

And Scott caught her staring, internally quite thrilled. Usually, he wouldn't take the time to change, but he'd had her on his mind as he pulled out the tight shirt and as he fixed his hair, leaving his ball cap behind in his motel room. He'd never say it out loud though that he cared what she thought of his appearance.

"So, what's the move?" Elianna asked as she did every time they came to the bar together.

"The same as always," Javi said, grinning. "We sit here and talk until some guy asks you to dance or we bore you into dancing first."

"It's not that you bore me," she tried, which just earned doubtful looks from the two men. So, she smiled sheepishly. "I don't mind talking about weather and work while we're at work. It's really interesting. But at the bar? You're supposed to be loosening up."

"We are loosening up," Javi argued, holding up his beer.

"Yeah, okay," she said, rolling her eyes playfully. Then the song changed as she perked up. "Best way to loosen up? Dance. Come on. Dance with me."

"Ah, nah," Javi said, shaking his head. "I have to be drunk to dance."

"Boo," she said before looking at Scott with pleading eyes. "Dance with me, Scott?"

Scott rolled his jaw, actually quite tempted to do so — to feel her body pressed up close to his as they moved their hips in sync. But he quickly reeled in that intrusive desire and shook his head.

"Not happening, Elianna," he said, hating how her smile dimmed.

After seeing her the night before, so crushed and sad, he wanted to keep a smile on her face all the time. A real one. Not the one she'd been flashing to all those strangers at her party.

And so Scott was very tempted to change his mind and ask her to dance, but informally, some other guy beat him to it.

"Hi there, Sugar," some man that was closer to Eli's age said, looking down at her and ignoring Scott and Javi. Eli gave him all her attention, taking in his curly mullet and the shiny belt buckle that she'd probably make fun of later.

"Howdy," Eli said to humor him.

"How's about you and I hit the dance floor? Leave these two here to their lonesome?" he offered.

"Hmm, you drive a hard bargain," she said. Then she pretended to think on it before grinning brightly at the man. "Sounds like fun."

So, Scott had to watch as Elianna took the stranger's hand and let him drag her to the dance floor. And he had to watch as they got closer and closer, the dancing growing more intimate as the songs passed by. His hand tightened around his beer bottle in frustration as Eli turned in the man's arms and ended up grinding her ass against him as he held her waist.

"God, you're gettin' pathetic, my man," Javi said, shaking his head.

"I am not," he said tensely, not even looking away from the sight. It was wrong, he thought, for them to dance like that in public.

As if ten other couples weren't in the same position.

"Dude," Javi sighed. "You're torturing yourself watching. Just go back to the motel if you can't stop."

So, when Eli looked back at the table the next time, she saw that Scott was missing and frowned deeply. They hadn't even been at the bar for an hour, so she was surprised to see that he'd left.

She halfheartedly danced for a few more times before realizing her heart wasn't really in it. She didn't want to be dancing with some stranger even if she couldn't dance with who she wanted. Then, she stopped by the table and let Javi know she was calling it a night.

"Damn, last night must've really worn you out if you're heading in this early," he had said, making her just chuckle.

Elianna was still humming the Thomas Rhett song from the bar when she reached the motel across the road. Only to stop when she spotted Scott loitering outside by the pool. He was standing by it and staring deeply into the water, seemingly deep in thought, looking like he didn't want to be bothered.

And so Eli bothered him, naturally.

With a grin on her face, she snuck up behind Scott. Then she sucked in a deep breath.

"Hey there!"

"Jesu — fuck!" Scott had flinched, clearly surprised as she wanted. But then as he'd quickly turned around to face her, his ankles got caught up in each other and he toppled back into the pool.

"Oh, shit!"

Eli's hands were over her mouth in shock, watching as Scott splashed around for a moment before finding his footing. And then once he popped up, spitting water out of his mouth, she couldn't help but laugh.

"Oh, my god," she cackled while coming to the edge of the pool. "I am so sorry."

Scott huffed and pushed his wet hair back while glaring up at her, missing one strand that curled on his forehead. "You don't sound sorry."

"It was an accident," she giggled. Then she offered him her hand. "Like, I'm really, really sorry about that."

After rolling his eyes, still not believing her, he reached for her hand.

Only to pull hard and yank her into the pool.

Eli floundered for a bit, too short for her feet to touch the bottom of the pool. But then an arm slid around her waist to help her float, and she could focus enough to glare at Scott's smirking face.

"Asshole," she muttered while pushing off him to swim toward the ladder.

"Just making things even," he chuckled while following after her.

Only to freeze when she climbed up, seeing how the fabric of her white dress was nearly translucent when out of the water. Scott blinked repeatedly, only to feel like his brain was short circuiting from the breathtaking view as she turned to face him fully.

Elianna, cluelessly, stared down at him with a pissed off expression as he finally began climbing out. Only for it to slip away when she saw his shirt sticking to him, a clear outline of his abs visible through the sopping, darkened fabric.

God, she knew he was strong from him carrying her up the stairs, but abs? How the fuck did he had abs?

So, the two were just blatantly and pathetically staring at each other's bodies, Scott towering over Eli, his chest heaving as she shivered in the cool night air.

"So, you won't dance but you'll swim?" Eli managed to joke half-heartedly — Scott's clothes weren't quite as revealing as hers were in that moment, so it didn't take as long for her to recover.

Then as she crossed her arms over her chest, covering it, Scott could finally think as he looked at her eyes for the first time since getting out of the pool. And his brain was flooded with those memories of how she'd been pressed up against the stranger, ruining whatever gleeful mood pulling her into the pool had caused.

"Well, not the way you do it," he muttered.

"What's that supposed to mean?" she asked with a small laugh.

"Nothing," Scott said, shaking his head as he stepped closer. "Just you like putting on quite a show with all those men you dance with."

Eli scoffed at that, trying to reign in her annoyance at Scott for once. "What? You don't like how I dance?"

"Maybe I can't stand it," he admitted, coming even closer. She moved back, only to bump into the fence around the pool area.

"And what's so bad about it?"

"I hate how close you are to them — a different one every night. Sometimes more. The way you move against them. I hate it," he muttered, moving even closer until she could feel the heat coming off of him. "Goddamn it, and I hate that I hate it."

Elianna almost couldn't believe what she was hearing. His gentleness the night before — going as far as to even call her beautiful — was one thing, but this? This that had to be jealousy? It was overwhelming giving how emotionless Scott typically was.

"You know," she said weakly, "maybe if you didn't say no every time, you'd be the one I was dancing with like that."

"Honey, if I let you touch me like that, I'm never gonna let you stop," he told her, eyes scanning her form once more.

"Like what?" Eli asked before getting bold. She placed her hand flat on his chest. "Like this?" Then she slid her hand lower, feeling his torso contract as he sucked in a sharp breath when she reached below his bellybutton. "Or like this?"

Scott's eyes darkened as she hooked her fingers around the waistband of his jeans and pulled him closer until his hips were against her body. So, he wrapped his hand around her wrist and pulled her hands off him.

"Do you have any idea how annoying you are?" he asked her.

"Yeah," she smirked. "You tell me twice a day."

Then Eli pushed past him with plans to leave him alone at the pool, soaked to the bone and wanting more. Only for him to grab her hand and pull her right back into him. She barely had time to brace herself against his chest before he was kissing her hard and fast.

And god, it was perfect the way his lips felt against hers, the kiss rough and hungry as he grabbed her, crushing her against him. Scott bit at her bottom lip, making her whine before letting him slide his tongue messily into her mouth.

Scott backed her up against the fence as he deepened the kiss, sliding his hands down her waist as she moved hers around his back, tangling her hands in his wet hair. His hands were so big and warm against her soaked body, sliding down her sides until he was pulling up the drenched fabric of her dress to feel her thighs.

Finally, they pulled apart, gasping for air as Scott pressed their foreheads together, staring intently into her eyes. Neither said anything for a moment — neither knew what to say.

And god, Scott was panicking. He couldn't believe he'd done something so impulsive like kissing Eli. Sure, he'd thought about it from time to time. A lot of the time, actually, but more-so as a means of shutting her up.

Because she could see the confusion and conflict in Scott's eyes, Elianna opted to push that damned curl off his forehead, smiling tightly.

"Let's see if you say 'no' next time I ask you to dance," she whispered before leaning up to kiss him slowly.

And just as Scott recovered enough to kiss her back, Eli pulled away from him entirely, walking to her room without looking back at him. And Scott just pathetically watched her go, his chest aching with an unfamiliar longing feeling that he'd do anything to be rid of.