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Eli’s shoulders visibly relax, extending his arm out for me to take. I hook mine around his without hesitation.
“So how is Hailey doing?” he asks, tucking his chin down so we don’t miss our step. “Still hating on the male population or did my face just get lucky that one time?” Tone breezy, casual.
“Both,” I acknowledge, agreeing.
Eli’s head falls back on a relaxed chuckle, and I can’t help the similar one that falls from my own mouth. It feels good, likereallygood.
In a weird way, this is what we needed too. Eli and I spending time together, randomly, like we used to. That ease there, before everything turned complicated, like old times.
“You know I still have the scar on my eyebrow as proof, right?”
“Point it out to Finn and I’m sure he’d be willing to give you a matching one on the other side.”
“I’ll take your word for it,” he says, and we both laugh again.
fourteen
Cole
“Blackorgray?”
“Does it matter? They’re sweats and you sound like a chick,” Eli says, scrunching his nose.
“I do not.”
“Yousodo.”
As I lay on the bed staring up at nothing, I decide to sit up and actuallythinkabout participating in the conversation. For the first time in a while, it doesn’t seem as strained. An ease that’s been missing coming back at Finn’s idiocy.
Who would’ve thought a pair of sweatpants could do that? Not me.
“Well, some of us like variety. We don’t want to wear the same two things all the time.”
“It’s called a uniform,” Eli defends. Determination rolling off his shoulders. “Besides, the only thing you seemed to wear other than clothes lately is that sour look,friend.”
“I’ve got a lot of stuff going on right now, alright?”
“Know how you fix that?” He waves a finger between them and then him and us. “You do what we’re doing right now. You talk,” Eli says leisurely enough to make us seem like we’re idiots.
Finn’s face tightens. Shoving one leg through the gray pair with dramatic force, never breaking eye contact with him. He’s mad and now so am I.
I zero my focus in on him. If I didn’t have so much self-control over my facial expressions, I’m sure my mouth would be hanging out, gaping. Much like Finn’s currently is.
Eli scoffs, unamused and unaffected by us both. His willfulness pissing me off that much more.
I glance over at Finn, and he has the same locked-jaw expression. We’d talk when we’re ready.
We aren’t.
A knock hits rattling something inside my bones. My ribs expand, knowing neither of us has agreed yet to set up a time to meet with Silas. As Eli had said, that would mean we’d have to be open with what this is first.
Accept what’s happened for what it is. It isn’t our fault, but we’d been the ones left to deal with the fallout. Typical Silas move.
What’d Rory say she does when she’s stressed? Count to five?
It sounds ridiculous but she claims it helps her, and what do I have to lose, so I try it. I count the numbers in my head and then spit the words out.
I’m not doing this for me, I’m doing this for Rory.
