Out of My Element Read Online Free PDF

had such little faith in me. Deep down I understood where he
was coming from. My track record spoke for itself.
    “So, I’ll see
you all tonight.” I hung up and dove back into my work, still thinking about
Chelsea and how much I was enjoying our new friendship.
    ***
    I was the
last to show up at the restaurant. My boss had come in right before five and
sat down to chat about deadlines. My mind had been so fixated on getting out of
there that he had finally taken pity on me and told me that we could finish up
in the morning.
    “Hey, sorry
I’m late.” I couldn’t help my grin when I noticed that Chelsea had come.
    “What do you
want to drink?” Tom asked as the waiter approached.
    “I’m just going
to drink water and behave tonight.” I laughed at all of their shocked faces.
“I'm sorry; I just wanted to see what it felt like to say that.” I ordered my beer and took a quick look at the menu, so they
didn’t have to wait any longer on me.
    Chelsea
leaned toward me. “How do you feel? Are you sore from this morning?” She looked
so cute as she bit her bottom lip. Part of me wanted to grab her and bite that
lip myself.
    I heard Ava
gasp. When I looked up she was openly glaring at me. “What?” I asked
innocently.
    “What the
hell did you do, Nick? Why would you be sore from this morning?” She folded her
arms across her chest and looked at Trevor with her eyebrows raised. I looked
at Chelsea and winked before turning back to Ava.
    “Well, not
that it’s any of your business, but our girl Chelsea here gave me one hell of a
cardio workout this morning.” I waggled my eyebrows at them.
    “What the
hell Nick? I thought you told Trevor you weren’t going to pull that shit with
her.” I looked over at Chelsea and noticed her trying to cover her smile, obviously
aware that I was just giving them a hard time.
    “Shit, Ava,
chill out. I didn’t do anything to hurt Chelsea. We went running together this
morning, and she just about killed me , just so you know. That’s why she
was asking if I was sore.” I chuckled when Ava’s mouth dropped.
    “I’m sorry,
Nick. I shouldn’t have assumed the worst,” Ava apologized.
    “It’s okay.”
I winked at her.
    “Talia,
you’re awfully quiet tonight. It’s actually quite refreshing.” I raised my
drink to her.
    Talia leaned
forward and smiled at me. “I keep telling myself that there has to be a reason
why our lives have crossed paths, Nick. You know what? I think I’ve finally
figured it out. I’m pretty sure you were brought into my life to help me learn
about tolerance.” She smirked at me before nestling back into Tom’s arm.
    “Oh, come on, Talia, I'm pretty
much destined for greatness. To be honest, I'm actually pacing myself so I
don't freak you out.”
    “That’s right, Nick, believe in
yourself,” Tom mused.
    “Yeah, because the rest of us think
you’re an idiot,” Trevor chimed in.
    “I’m not an idiot … just socially
unique.” I grinned as I took a big draw from my beer.
    “What is that ?” I asked as
the waiter set Chelsea’s food in front of her.
    “A double cheeseburger and onion
rings, why?” She looked at me like I was crazy. Who was this girl? She was
athletic, she drank beer, and she ate like a linebacker. I was pretty sure I
might be in love with her.
    “Hmm.” I looked begrudgingly down
at my bowl of pasta. What the hell was I thinking when I ordered this? I looked
back up as Chelsea set half of her cheeseburger on my plate and smiled. I
grinned and picked it up, taking an enormous bite. “Oh. My. God. This is
amazing!” I groaned.
    “You better have your ass down at
the river at five tomorrow,” she mumbled as she stuck her fork into one of the
pieces of shrimp in my pasta, shoving it in her mouth and winking at me.
    I picked up my beer to take a drink
and caught Trevor’s eye. He was staring at me with his eyebrows pulled
together. I raised mine in question, and he just shook his head and went back
to