Parting Chances (Fighting Chance #1) (15 page)

“So, Eli was a nice guy, got your ex-boyfriend off your back—after you made out with said ex—and you’re freaking out because…” Kyler’s forehead creased as though she was the confused one.

“Eli called himself my boyfriend,” I said, and Kyler shrugged. “Ky, what if he’s meaning that as something more? What if he’s tired of the friend zone? I mean, he said he was okay with it. He said he would wait for me to come around. But what if this is his little push? What if he’s trying to subliminal message me?”

Kyler busted out laughing when I finished rambling.

“I’m glad you find my love life entertaining.”

“Hales. You don’t
have
a love life!” I turned my glare on Kyler, who held up her hands. “Just listen to yourself. You are freaking out about nothing. If this is such a big deal then talk to Eli about it. Bringing it up again won’t kill you.”

“It’ll embarrass me.”

“Hales, you are worked up over him simply calling himself your boyfriend, to your ex, I might add. Are you
sure
you aren’t ready for this?”

She asked the question I have been asking myself since September. I wanted to be ready for it. I wanted nothing more than to give Eli my heart. But I knew it was fragile, and I knew it was likely to get broken soon, and he didn’t deserve to have to take care of that.

“He might
want
to take care of you. Ever thought of that?”

“I don’t like when you become all creepy mind-reader on me.” I smiled at her nudging her with my shoulder.

“Just think about it. You aren’t broken. You deserve to be happy. Your mom—”

I cut her off with a wave of my hand. Mentioning my mom was playing it dirty, and Kyler knew that. My mom would want nothing more than to see me in a happy relationship with someone who I loved and loved me. The issue was all on me. I was the one who didn’t want to be distracted from what was important. Mom would be pissed if she found out what I was doing.

“I just need time.” This is what I’ve been telling myself from the beginning.

Kyler sighed and leaned her head back against the swing. “You’ve had time. Your mom prepared you for what is happening to her. You know what is coming. Why not face that with someone you love by your side?”

“I’ll have you by my side.” I pointed out as I wiped the tears from my eyes.

“You know what I mean.”

Before I could answer her, the door flew open as Noah and Eli made their way onto the porch.

“The rest of the group should be over soon so we can talk trivia,” Noah said as he leaned against the railing in front of us.

“Hales and I are on the same shift,” Kyler informed us.

“Whatever. You know you’ll always want to be up when Noah is. This happens every year.” I rolled my eyes in Kyler’s direction. Every year, she says we are going to have the same shift. But without fail, by the time hour two is done, she changes her mind and goes to Noah’s shift. “So, instead of scrambling to find someone to cover your shift, how about we just agree you’re with Noah?”

Noah barked out a laugh, resulting in Kyler giving him the stink eye.

“What? It’s the truth!” He jumped off the porch as her foot flew out to kick him.

“Oh no, you don’t!” Kyler yelled and took off after him.

Eli and I laughed as Kyler chased Noah around the front yard. When they took off behind the house, I felt the subtle shift inside me of knowing Eli and I were alone.

He came up behind the swing and pushed it lightly. “So, you want to take the shift with me?” His voice floated past as he continued to push the swing. My shoulders must have tensed because he quickly continued. “I’m just saying, with your mad Googling skills and my just overall super genius power, we’d kick ass.”

“A little full of ourselves aren’t we?” I laughed and leaned back to look at him. He gave me his knee weakening lopsided grin.

“We make a good team.” He shrugged and kept pushing me.

It was true. With all the study nights, quizzes, and class projects, we did know how to work together well.

“Okay. I’m in. As long as you make the coffee runs before our shifts start.”

Eli let out a laugh. “Deal.” I hadn’t broken my gaze during our conversation and now found myself lost in those crystal blue eyes. He had stopped pushing the swing and rested against the back of it, leaning
over
me. His face inched closer and closer to mine, and I was pretty positive I wasn’t going to stop whatever was coming. My heart picked up tempo, beating so loudly, I was sure the neighbors could hear it. His face was now just centimeters from mine and my eyelids closed on their own. Apparently my body was completely ready for this, even if my mind wasn’t yet. I felt his breath float across my lips and smelled the mint from the ice cream Kyler had served after dinner. I arched my neck slightly, unable to take it anymore and needing his lips on mine.

A car door slammed in front of the house, and I jerked upright, slamming my forehead into Eli’s mouth.

“Ow. Shit!” Eli stumbled away from the swing with a hand over his lips. I started rubbing my head, thankful that his mouth had been closed and I didn’t have teeth marks in the middle of my forehead.

“Hey guys,” a voice said from the sidewalk in front of the house. As I looked up, I saw the rest of the team had arrived. And at some point, Kyler and Noah had reemerged from the back of the house. Judging from the look on their faces, everyone had seen everything that had happened…or well, didn’t happen.

The group made their way onto the porch, and for the next fifteen minutes, we discussed teams. We decided on three shifts, with three person teams. Eli and I were on a team with Owen, one of Eli’s friends I didn’t know, but he assured me he played trivia every year and knew his way around the Internet. I wasn’t worried. The year before we’d played with only four people, so things were already looking up, just by the fact that we’d actually be getting sleep at some point.

We finalized when the shifts would start and the time everyone should be over at the house on the first day. I watched as three of the guys piled back into one of the cars and took off with a wave. Owen still stood on the steps waiting on his friend, who was talking quietly with Eli. He glanced over at me a few times and nodded in my direction once. Eli just shrugged, shook his head and backed away from the guy, his posture stiff.

“Hey, do you want to go out sometime?” The guy whose name I didn’t know asked. I looked around to see who he was asking and saw him staring straight at me.

My eyes nearly bugged out of my head. Why on Earth would he ask me out? I didn’t even know his name!

“Um. Sorry. No thank you.” It came out as politely as possible, yet still sounded silly. But seriously, how do you turn down someone you’ve never met?

“Are you two dating or something?” He nodded between Eli and me. Eli hadn’t moved from his spot by the door, so without being completely obvious, I wasn’t able to see his reaction. But he hadn’t answered his friend.

Not that I was expecting him to. I mean, we all knew the answer. So I answered it for him. “No.”

“But you have a thing for him, right? That’s why you won’t go out with me?” Seriously, who the hell was this guy?

After a few more awkward moments of silence, I finally turned my head just enough to see Eli. He had his arms crossed over his chest and was staring at me, as if he was waiting for my answer.

What the hell?

Noah and Kyler were also staring at me waiting for a response. Instead of saying anything, I kept quiet, refusing to acknowledge him.

Mr. Question Asker just nodded, held up his hands in defeat, and walked to his car with Owen following. But the reaction from Eli was what I wasn’t expecting. He let out a long breath and stomped his way to the door, throwing it open with a bang and storming into the house, letting the screen slam shut behind him.

I looked at Kyler and Noah for help, trying to figure out what had just happened. Noah shook his head and followed after Eli.

“Ky, what…”

Kyler sank down on the swing next to me. “Well, I think it probably had something to do with you two almost kissing before everyone got here.”

Shit, shit, shit! Why the hell couldn’t I just answer that guy’s question?

“Ky, what did I do?” I was afraid to even ask, but I knew she wasn’t going to sugarcoat whatever she had to say.

“I don’t know. But by not answering if you even
liked
him, you probably just broke his heart.” She was right. I hadn’t even thought about what my non-response would mean to Eli.

“I should talk to him.” I started to stand, but Kyler placed her hand on my leg and held me there.

“You should let him cool down for a while. Call him later and talk it through. Talking to him right now will only make things worse.” She stood then, pulling me up with her and into a hug. “Go home, do something to get your mind off this for a while.” With that, she basically pushed me off the porch and returned back into the house I was probably no longer welcome to.

I could feel the tears form in my eyes before I even reached my car. Going home to an empty apartment did not sound appealing at all. All I wanted to do was talk to Eli, but I may have just pushed him too far away.

There was only one person who could make this all better, and I was going to call her as soon as I got home.

My head hit my pillow, and I held my phone up in front of me and tapped in the familiar number. It rang four times, and just as I was about to hang up and dial the house phone, the line picked up.

“Hello?” her voice was soft and rough.

“Hi, Mom. Did I wake you?”

She coughed to clear her throat. “Oh, no. Not at all.”

“Mom, are you sure I didn’t wake you?”

“No, sweetie, I’m awake. How are you?” She coughed again, but the tone in her voice made me not question it.

“Um…okay.”

“Haley. What’s wrong?” She had an uncanny ability to sense when anything was off with me.

“Well, there’s this boy…” I started.

“Eli. Honey, we talked about him when you were home last.” Mom interrupted me.

“I know.” I sighed. And with that, everything spewed out like a faucet. Even my drunken mistake at the party.

“But tonight, after we almost kissed, one of his friends asked me out. I said no, so the friend asked if Eli and I were dating. I again answered no, so he asked if I had a thing for Eli. And Mom, I couldn’t freaking answer it. Why couldn’t I answer that? So of course, Eli got mad and walked away. I wanted to apologize, but Kyler said I should just let him be for a little while. But I don’t know what to do, Mom. I like him.
Really
like him. And now I’m afraid I’ve pushed him too far, and he’s really done with me.” I sucked in a deep breath, forgetting to breathe as I rambled on to Mom.

There was silence on her end for a few moments while she took all that I told her in. “Honey, are you not willing to put yourself out there because you are afraid your heart can’t take anymore breaking?”

I didn’t answer. I didn’t need to.

“Haley, I know you’re sad I’m dying. I know your heart is breaking. But it’s a different kind of love. You need someone to be by your side through all of this. You can’t go at it alone. And from what I hear, this boy is deeply in love with you to have stuck around for so long. I don’t think you’ve lost him yet. But I don’t think you can continue to do what you’re doing. Not only is it not fair to him, but it’s not fair to you either. And I don’t want what is going on with me to be the thing that deters you from having a love life. I told you that you need to be happy. So do it. Be happy. I’m not going to be around much longer, and I want to see you happy.” Her words started fading towards the end as if she was falling asleep.

Tears were rolling down my face, and I had to choke back a sob. “Okay, Mom. I’ll try.” It came out as a whisper.

“Good. Maybe you’ll bring him home for me to meet sometime.”

I could tell she had exuded all her energy with this phone call. “Yeah, maybe I’ll do that. I love you, Mom. Get some rest.”

“Okay, dear. Love you too.” She hung up and I let out the sob I had been holding onto.