Page 56 of Unforgettable Player

“Did you learn anything?”

“I remember hello, goodbye, thank you and my name is….”

He’s looking at me like he’s waiting for me to say it.

“I bet you know all that.”

“Why? I don’t speak Mandarin.”

“Eli?” I probe.

“Okay, fine,” he huffs. “I know hello, goodbye and thank you.”

I laugh. I knew he’d be adorably nerdy enough to know basic greetings in a major language like Mandarin.

“I don’t know how to say my name is….”

I say it—probably in an awful accent—before I can get in my head about it.

“Wǒ jiao,” he repeats in a much better accent than mine.

“Yeah, there you go. Perfect first try.”

He shrugs. “A Chinese native speaker would pick up on a Japanese accent right away.”

He’s such a perfectionist. “Good thing you’re not being tested.”

He lowers his eyes to his hands, blushing.

We’re at the library way too soon. It’s scary how reluctant I am for him to get out of the car.

“Want me to pick you up later?” I ask.

He chews his lip. It kills me when he does that. “I don’t think it’s a good idea.”

“Thought we were keeping things casual?”

“Exactly.”

“A ride home isn’t casual?”

He doesn’t answer.

“When can I see you?”

One shoulder comes up in a half shrug. Fuck, I know a brush off when I see one.

“We can hang out when Scout goes to sleep.”

“So sneak around downstairs and hope we don’t get caught?” I don’t mean for my voice to come out so tense, but from Elliot’s downcast eyes, it did.

“I’m sorry,” I say, reaching out to touch him. I settle my hand on his shoulder and force a smile. “I just wanna see you, do more of what we did last night … casually.”

He looks up at me through his eyelashes and my stomach clenches so tight I wince. Hold it in. He only wants casual, don’t let him see how much you want this or he’ll run for the hills. He’s better than you, you don’t deserve more than this with him. He’ll actually graduate from Harvard and make something of himself. He doesn’t need you.

“Me, too,” he says before pressing his lips together to unsuccessfully hold in a smile. It’s crumbs, but I’ll take it.

“Okay, so we’ll figure something out. Maybe we could grab something to eat? No big fancy date or anything, just burgers or pizza.”