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“Thought you went home,” Eli said.
“I was just about to.” Nolan joined Eli and the teen at the island. There were plates with snacks—sandwiches, vegetable sticks, fruit, and freshly baked cookies—but there wasn’t much left. “What are you guys up to?”
“We’re waiting for Jaden’s mom,” Eli explained. “The rest of the kids got bussed back to school, but Jaden here has an appointment soon, so we’re waiting for his mom to pick him up. Jaden, this is Nolan. He’s auditing our team culture.”
“Wait, for real?” Jaden’s eyes went big. “But the Trailblazers have a reputation for having, like, the best team culture in the league. What do you need to audit it for?”
“True.” Eli nodded. “We do have a pretty great culture. But Nolan’s here to figure out what’s working and what isn’t so we can make it even better. Right, Nolan?”
“In a nutshell, yeah,” Nolan said. “Do you play hockey, Jaden?”
“Yeah, but only for fun. I want to go into psychology.” The teen bounced on his toes. “I got to spend half an hour picking the brain of the team’s mental health consultant today, and that was beyond cool. Hey, can I have that last sandwich?”
Eli slid the plate toward him. “Go for it. Nolan, want anything? I think there are more sandwiches in the fridge.”
“I ate already, thanks.” Nolan leaned against the island and plucked a grape off the vine. “So what’s the ISEF?”
“The Regeneron International Science and Engineering Fair,” Eli said. “It’s just an annual science fair.”
“Just?” Jaden pressed a hand to his chest. “You wound me. It’s not just anything.” To Nolan he said, “It’s regarded as the most prestigious pre-university scientific and engineering research competition in the world.”
Holy shit. And Eli had won third place?
“No,” Nolan said quietly, catching Eli’s blue-eyed gaze. “That’s definitely not just anything.”
Eli shrugged casually, but he looked pleased as fuck. “It was a long time ago. Jaden’s team won third place in their category last year.”
“Congratulations,” Nolan said. “What was your project?”
“We analyzed the correlation between academic burnout and emotional intelligence, using statistical tests to prove that students with higher emotional intelligence are less likely to experience academic burnout.”
“Isn’t that cool?” It was Eli’s turn to bounce on his toes. “It means that emotional intelligence training for high school students could be used as an intervention to reduce burnout.”
Jaden’s phone pinged. “That’s my mom. She’s here finally. Can you walk me out? I have no idea how to get out of this place.”
Nolan laughed. “Tell me about it. I’ve been here a week, and I can only go a handful of places without getting lost.”
“Follow me,” Eli said. “It’s really not that complicated.”
Nolan went with them for no other reason than he wanted to spend more time with Eli, even if Eli spent the two-minute walk to the exit chatting with Jaden about the classes the teen was taking. At the exit, Eli waved goodbye to Jaden as the teen jogged to his mom’s car, and Nolan leaned one shoulder against the wall next to the door. Once Jaden was gone, Eli let the door slam closed and leaned against the wall on its other side, facing Nolan.
“Hi,” Eli said softly.
“Hi,” Nolan replied back, his stomach somersaulting.
He wanted to ask about Eli’s constant need to be “on,” and more than that, he wanted to know why Eli didn’t feel the need to be “on” around him. He wanted to pull Eli close and just look at him for a minute, and have Eli look at him exactly like he was right now, with that gleam in his gaze that said he knew something Nolan didn’t.
Eli’s eyes were blue, same as Nolan’s, but brighter, a clear blue, unlike Nolan’s washed-out blue-jeans blue. Right now, they held a hint of mischief mixed with heat that had Nolan’s brain going a tad haywire.
“I had an idea,” Eli said, straightening off the wall and sauntering toward him.
“An idea about what?” Nolan asked.
Was he about to be invited to try out Eli’s couch?
Christ, Nolan still couldn’t believe he’d written that into the letter and then given Eli the letter. Had Eli understood that he didn’t want to try out his couch to sleep on it?
Yes. A thousand percent yes, judging by the smirk on Eli’s lips when he paused less than an inch away from Nolan.
