Elias hikes up an eyebrow. “Boyfriend?”
“How can you tell?”
He sets the plate down in the middle of the table and then offers a finger for Clo to hop onto. “You get the same pinched expression whenever you speak about him.”
I force my features to relax. He’s right, though.
“He doesn’t listen to me,” I grumble as I plop down in a kitchen chair. “Sorry. You don’t care.”
Elias blinks at me. “You putting words in my mouth?”
“So, youdocare?” I scoff at his words.
He pulls a chair out and then folds his massive frame into it. I fidget, waiting for him to answer my question. Without any sort of hurry, he sets to slapping mayonnaise and ketchup on his bun. I’m about to blow a gasket when he finally speaks again.
“We’re partners,” he says simply as he assembles his burger. “That means we need to know about each other.”
It’s not the “I care” I was secretly hoping for, but it does calm me. My rigid spine relaxes.
“So,” Elias says, lifting his burger. “Tell me about your boyfriend.”
For the next hour, I word vomit everything about Denver. The good stuff. How we met. What attracted me to him. The sweet things he’s done in the past. But, somewhere along theway, it evolves into the things that annoy me. Things that hurt my feelings.
“Grandma’s funeral changed things,” I admit, voice shaky. “I didn’t realize how much until I came to Budgie Bay and am not constantly in his presence.”
Elias doesn’t speak, and for once, I’m okay with his slow response. We clean up the kitchen in amicable silence. Once done, he leans against the countertop and pins me with a penetrating stare that makes me squirm.
“He sounds like a real winner,” he says with a shrug.
I roll my eyes. I waited fifteen minutes forthatresponse?
“Technically he is,” I rush out, flustered. “He’s worth millions. His family is worth billions.”
Elias, unimpressed, continues to stare at me. “So?”
“So, that makes him a winner.”
“Money doesn’t make people awesome. Your grandpa was a fisherman, and your grandma was so in love with him. Dad’s a construction guy and Mom thinks he’s wonderful. Just saying money isn’t everything.”
I think about my own mom and her boyfriend, Ron. She likes what he can give her, but deep down, she doesn’t love him. Not like her mother loved her father.
“I’m not judging,” Elias says, features softening slightly. “I’m just saying he doesn’t seem like such a great guy. Who encourages their girlfriend to miss her grandma’s funeral?”
I want to defend Denver, but I can’t, because I agree with Elias. In my moment of weakness, I wish Denver would have been strong for me. Instead, he was rather selfish and chose work over my mental wellbeing. I’ve been spiraling ever since. How does Denver not see that?
“Tomorrow’s a big day,” I say, not meeting his probing stare. “Utilities. More cleaning. I’m going to work on the book before bed. Thanks for listening to me vent.”
Elias takes a step toward me and my heart rate speeds up. For a second, I wonder if he’ll hug me. To be honest, I could use a hug about now. I stiffen and wait for him to envelop me in his strong arms.
The sloth of a man remains utterly still. His eyes burn with intensity, but he doesn’t move an inch. I fidget, huff, and fidget some more.
“Goodnight, Elias.”
Clo chirps and flies over to my shoulder. I’m not sure if Elias says anything back to me because I’m already halfway to the guest room. Once the door is closed behind me and I drop Clo off at his cage, I feel like I can breathe normally again.
I wanted him to hug me.
It’s not lost on me that I wanted my Budgie Bay nemesis to comfort me rather than my own boyfriend. This is just another reason why I need to bring closure to my grandma’s life and get back to my own.
