AllFreeNovel
Share Us
She smiled. “Of course not. What can I get you?”
“The strongest thing you’ve got.”
She hopped excitedly and motioned toward the back. “I know just what you need.” She headed toward the back storage and left them sitting together at the bar.
“I’ll make a pact with you,” Nik said, breaking the silence.
“A pact?” Eli questioned. What kind of deal could he possibly want to make with Eli?
“Yes.” Nik nodded. “I’ll make sure Ali knows she’s not under any pressure and you have to let her make her own decisions and stop holding them against her.”
Eli turned to face him, expecting the usual frivolous expression, but he looked quite serious.
“Why are you doing this? Why not just let me walk away so you can have Ali to yourself? I wouldn’t be in the way anymore.”
Nik inhaled sharply. He opened his mouth several times to speak but closed it, holding something back. Eli thought he understood. He chuckled and shook his head. Ali wouldn’t be happy without Eli in her life. No matter how rocky their friendship was right now, he was the only family she had left. Nik didn’t want to be the nail in the coffin of their friendship.
Eli’s stomach sank a little. This wasn’t surface level infatuation.
This son of a bitch actually cares for her.
Marlena came back with a clear bottle in her hand and poured the liquid into three small glasses. She grabbed one for herself and they took the other two in hand.
“Cheers to a new year,” she said merrily.
“To a gentleman’s agreement,” Eli responded.
Nik nodded in understanding and clinked his glass against Eli’s. Marlena was already throwing hers back.
Eli brought it to his lips and drank it in one sip. It burned more than anything he’d ever tasted. He felt like his lungs were shriveling. He coughed and coughed as Marlena and Nik chuckled.
“What was that?” he choked out.
Nik raised his glass and drank it swiftly, wincing as he swallowed.
“Moonshine.”
***
Chapter Twenty-Five
Eli did his best to keep his side of the arrangement. After the initial aversion to Nik’s deal wore off, he realized this would ultimately be beneficial to him as well. He didn’t want to be the immature and juvenile person Nik had painted. He’d always thought more highly of himself than that and he wanted to prove it to himself more than anyone else. And he did really love Ali. It bothered him that his actions of late hadn’t reflected that.
His conversations with Ali were strained and uncomfortable at first. She kept looking at him like he was going to snap and perhaps she had every reason to believe that. After all, he had caused quite a scene at the banquet a couple weeks ago. Not one of his finest moments.
“I can’t believe today is your last day working in the greenhouse,” Ali said between bites of her lunch, sitting on an overturned bucket. She rocked back and forth like a child. Eli expected the bucket to give out any second. “What am I going to do without you?”
Eli had taken up Jameson’s offer to guard the gate after Ali nearly forced him into it. This would be good for them, to have some space apart. And now that he’d calmed down a bit, it made sense to join the guard. The position would give him more access and knowledge than he would ever get in the greenhouse. They could finally make a proper plan to escape. Ali said she would go with him, but he couldn’t help but question how serious she was with Nik lingering in the background.
“I think you’ll find someone to keep you company.” He looked past her to the corner where Nik and Sam were sitting, eating their lunch.
Ali followed his gaze and turned back, face flushed.
“Right.” She picked at the bread on her sandwich and stared at the ground, no longer rocking back and forth. He shook his head. Once again, he’d made things awkward. They would never repair their friendship if he didn’t learn to keep his comments to himself.
“It’s fine, Ali. How many times do I have to tell you?” He tried to reassure her, but he also understood her hesitation. She didn’t understand Eli’s sudden change of heart, and he wasn’t keen to fill her in on the details of his conversation with Nik. Sure, it would help her understand where he was coming from, but it would also improve Nik’s image, and Eli was still petty enough to keep from doing something like that. He was still hoping she’d get bored of him and would realize what a mistake she’d made in sleeping with him.
“Are you sure? Because Nik—”
