Page 29 of Unforgettable Player

“He’s always wearing band tees. He had a Talking Heads tour shirt on once.”

“He sounds like a pretentious douche.” I glance up, as shocked by the words that just came out of my mouth as everyone staring at me.

Elliot quickly glances down at his plate and resumes eating.

“You don’t even know him,” Scout scoffs. “Are you seriously jealous that we’re talking about someone else? Attention whore.”

I shrug. “Why would I be jealous? I just meant …” Fuck, what did you mean? “I know guys like that from college. They tend to be pretentious.”

Scout rolls her eyes. “Just because someone likes music without a pumping bass and reads actual books, does not make them pretentious.”

I swallow. “You’re right. I apologize.”

“Whatever.”

Mom’s an expert at changing the subject and steering conversation out of awkward sinkholes. We spend the rest of dinner talking about the most inoffensive topics Mom can think of.

When Scout finishes eating, she pushes her chair back with a loud scrape and stands up.

“Where are you going?” Mom asks.

“Upstairs.”

“I thought we could all do something nice together tonight.”

Scout glares at me. “Like what? I’m not playing Monopoly with him.” She deepens the glare. “He cheats.”

I instinctively flash her an obnoxious grin.

“Not Monopoly,” Mom cuts in quickly. “Maybe we could go to the movies? It’s been ages since we all saw a movie together.”

Scout looks like she’s about to refuse when Dad cuts in.

“That vampire one you wanted to see is out.”

At his voice, Scout softens. She’s always been a secret daddy’s girl.

“Eli?” Mom probes.

His eyebrows shoot up. Am I the only one who sees how uncomfortable he is?

“Sure. I mean, whatever Scout wants to do.”

“You get a choice, too,” Mom says.

“Fine,” Scout cuts in before Elliot can melt into the floor from embarrassment. “We’ll go, but there’d better be popcorn.”

“I’ll see what we can do.” Dad chuckles.

I hop into Dad’s car with Mom while Scout and Eli take the VW. They’ve been bickering for the past ten minutes about how safe Scout’s hunk of crap is and whether they should try and convince her to start driving an SUV. I zone out of the conversation until they mention Eli.

“What do you think this bookstore guy’s like?” Mom asks.

“I don’t know. He sounds harmless enough, though.” He frowns.

Is Dad as protective over Elliot as he is Scout?

Mom hums. “Elliot’s a handsome boy.”