Parting Chances (Fighting Chance #1) (18 page)

Two minutes later, I curled up in my bed, unshed tears building in my eyes. I buried my face in my pillow and tried to wipe the last half hour from my mind. It wasn’t easy, especially since Kathryn’s high-pitched giggle continued to echo throughout my head. I wasn’t sure how long my face was in the pillow, but I had managed to cry all the tears out and get a raging headache.

Awesome, just awesome.

And there was incessant pounding coming from somewhere in the apartment, which wasn’t helping any. Was Kyler home? I could have sworn she was at class. The pounding wouldn’t stop. Oh, please don’t tell me some rodent got in and is in the pantry or something. With the need to investigate, since seriously, it was annoying, I threw the covers off myself and padded down the hallway, my eyes scanning the floor just in case something ran out at me. When I got to the living room, I realized the knocking was coming from the door.

Duh, Haley, what else would it be?

Still keeping my eyes trained on the floor, because now my brain was certain there was a rodent running around, I made my way to the door. Without looking through the peephole, I flung the door open, doing anything to get the pounding to stop. My bloodshot eyes met Eli’s crystal blue ones. Before I could open my mouth to say anything to him or slam the door in his face, he rushed at me and pulled me into a hug.

My arms instinctively wrapped around him, my head rested against his chest. He tightened his hold while he kicked the door shut with his foot. He placed soft kisses in my hair but never said a word. And I would have started crying all over again if I had tears left. I’d pretty much cried enough for a lifetime in the last few months.

“Are you okay? What’s wrong? What happened?” Eli spoke so fast, I was barely able to hear the questions he was asking.

What’s wrong? What happened? Is he serious?

“Is it your mom? Did something happen?” He kept going. “Please, Haley, tell me what’s wrong.” He thought these bloodshot eyes were from my mom? Because I was the only one who had just seen him all snuggled up with Kathryn?

I broke out of his hold and backed up until I was almost in the kitchen. “What’s wrong? Are you being serious right now, Eli?” He started walking towards me, confusion etched on his face, when he reached a hand out for me. I held mine up. “Just stop. Stop. Why don’t you just go back to Kathryn?” My voice betrayed me at the end by cracking. He stopped, and the confusion etched deeper.

“What are you talking about?” He sounded slightly pissed. Why was he mad? “Hales, I saw you in the union, and you looked on the verge of tears. You didn’t stop when I ran out after you.”

My mouth dropped open, and I felt like he had just been slapped with a stupid stick. “Are you serious right now? Was Kathryn’s hands all over you just a figment of my imagination?” I screamed it at him, my voice echoing off the walls.

The room was silent as Eli took in what I said, and then the laughing started. Eli doubled over, clutching his stomach and letting out the loudest laugh I’ve ever heard.

Yeah, so glad he found this all funny.

I stormed past him and into my bedroom, slamming the door behind me. My bed still messed up from earlier was calling to me, so I scrambled under the covers and pulled the pillow over my head to silence Eli’s laughs. If I had been paying attention, I would have remembered to lock my bedroom door so he couldn’t get in, but I was in such a daze from his reaction I forgot. Now as he opened my door and stepped slowly inside, I groaned. But instead of yelling again or crying, I grabbed the pillow next to me and whipped it at his head. His reflexes were quick, and he caught it easily, but the surprised look on his face made me grin slightly.

“Just go home, Eli. We have nothing to talk about.” I maneuvered the pillow back over my head and hoped to hear the door close. It did, but two seconds later my bed dipped, and Eli slid under the sheets with me. “What the hell?” I shrieked.

“Um, I think we have two different stories of what happened today.” He put the pillow I threw at him under his head and turned to face me, his face now inches from mine. I wanted to move away, but his hand slipped around my waist holding me still. “So, I’m going to tell you my side. I honestly don’t even want to know what story you came up with in that pretty little head of yours.” He tapped my head lightly and chuckled. “Noah, Kathryn, and I all have class together on Monday mornings. I always go to the union when I’m done to wait for you. I did the same thing today I’ve done all semester, except Kathryn followed me, which I hadn’t realized until I had secured our spot.”

Our spot. I kind of love that.
Wait. Focus, Haley.

“She sat down next to me and started rambling on and on about her Thanksgiving break. I tried to tell her that I was meeting you there, but she wouldn’t listen. In fact, after I mentioned your name, she got all touchy with me. I kept hoping you would get there soon, and when I looked up, there you were, standing near the doors with tears in your eyes. When you ran out, I immediately followed. I’m pretty sure Kathryn called me an asshat as I ran away from her without saying anything, but you were more important.”

“But why did you let her keep touching you? Why didn’t you brush her off?” Even as I asked, I can remember how tensed up he had gotten when she had touched him. Maybe he really hadn’t enjoyed it.

“She touched my leg for all of five seconds before I saw you and left her. Honestly, at that point, I was more worried about you. But had you not been there, I would have told her I wasn’t interested in her like that and she needed to stop.” He tugged me close, and this time, I let him without putting up a fight.

“Why does my imagination get the best of me?” I murmured into his chest. It rumbled under my head with his laugh, and I closed my eyes, reveling in the feeling.

“Why would you even come to that conclusion in the first place? Did you forget our conversation before Thanksgiving break?”

“Well, we haven’t talked in ten days. I thought maybe you changed your mind. That I was too much drama or something. I figured if you liked me we would have at least texted at some point. Even just to say Happy Thanksgiving or something.” It was still the only thing I couldn’t figure out. Sure, I could have sent him a text, but let’s be serious here, I was a girl, and I was going to wait for him to say something first. Especially after that phone call where I laid it all out for him.

“I thought you knew.” He looked down at me, and I just gave him a shake of my head. I had no idea what he was talking about. “Every Thanksgiving, my family goes out to my grandparent’s cottage up north. There is absolutely no cell service up there and no wifi. Believe me, I would have texted you all week if I could have.”

My heart thundered in my chest at his words. This was really happening. This crazy thing between me and Eli was finally happening. My brain was finally on the same page with my heart, and this amazing guy was going to be mine. The only thing left was who was going to make the first move? I’m pretty sure I had made a fool out of myself enough times now. There was no way I was going to jump on Eli and attack his lips with mine. Although it was taking every muscle in my body to keep me where I was and not do that exact thing.

“So is that the only reason you were upset? Your mom is still doing okay?” His words brought me out of my happy bubble. With a sigh, I snuggled into his chest and told him all about my Thanksgiving weekend and what I had learned and just how
not well
my mom was doing.

When I was done, tears had started to soak Eli’s shirt, but he just held me closer and kissed the top of my head. After all the crying I had done in the short time today, my eyes burned and begged to be closed and rest for a while.

Just as I was beginning to drift off, I thought I heard Eli whisper, “Don’t worry. I’m not going anywhere.” A smile formed on my face, and I fell off into the most restful sleep I’d had in weeks.

Late Friday afternoon, I loaded my car with the goodies Kyler and I baked for the trivia event. I tossed my overnight bag into the trunk and headed over to the boys’ house. Kyler had been there since that morning, making sure the workstations were set up and we had everything we needed for the weekend.

She was one for schedules and maximizing the most of our time. I was one for getting in as much sleep as I could before starting this weekend.

After a short drive, I pulled up in front of the house and unloaded the car. The front door slammed, and I glanced up to see Eli strolling towards me.

“Hey,” I said as he approached, a grin breaking across my face. We had our classes together and our typical study date, but that week was all about the awkward. He still hadn’t made a move, though there was much more flirting from both our ends. Why the hell hadn’t he kissed me yet? I didn’t know how much longer I could take the tension that had continuously built between us since freaking August. I’m all in. I told him that.

Come on, Eli. Kiss me!

“Kyler said you probably needed help.” He took a look at my trunk and whistled. “Damn, she wasn’t kidding when she said we wouldn’t have to leave this weekend.” He reached for the bags, brushing his arm against mine, bumping his hip into mine. Every spot he touched was like fire. Once he had an armful of bags, he smirked at me and carried them into the house.

A sigh escaped my lips. So that’s how the weekend was going to be. We had the night shift too, and I wasn’t sure I was going to be able to keep my hands off him for much longer. Seriously, did this boy know what he did to me?

I shouldered my overnight bag and lifted the tray of brownies Kyler insisted on making off my seat and carried it into the house. As I neared the door Eli came bursting back out, brushing against me as he went to gather the rest of the stuff. Fire erupted in my belly.

Damn it! I am never going to survive the weekend.

I dropped my overnight bag in the corner of the living room and found Kyler in the kitchen unloading the groceries. I placed the brownie pan on the counter and lifted the lid to get my chocolate fix.

“Hi, Hales!” Kyler grinned when she saw me, only to frown at the brownie in my hand. She covered the tin and placed it on the other side of the kitchen. “You can’t eat all of those before anyone else gets some.”

I was too busy taking in the chaos that was the kitchen to respond. There wasn’t bare counter space available. We really would never have to leave the house, which I’m sure was her plan. Kyler was having an issue getting stuff into the fridge, so I knew that was stocked too.

“I feel like we’re getting ready for the apocalypse.” I laughed as Kyler slammed the fridge door shut and stood back against it.

“I may have gone slightly overboard. But now the guys won’t have to go shopping for a while.”

Eli came in, dropping the rest of the bags on the floor. As he headed out of the kitchen, his hand skimmed mine, and our fingers locked for all of two seconds. Then he was gone. I tried hard not to stare after him, but Kyler had no issue doing just that.

“What did you do to him?” She arched an eyebrow at me. “He was completely…
normal
before you got here.”

I groaned and leaned against the counter. My voice was low when I continued. “I have no idea what’s going on. Before Thanksgiving, I told him
everything
, and he said he’d talk to me when we got back to school. About us.” I used air quotes around the last word. “Because apparently there is an us.”

Kyler barked out a laugh and shook her head. “Well,
we
all knew that.”

My eyebrows creased and I pointed an annoyed glare at her, which only caused her to laugh harder.

“Anyway,” I continued, “we are back, and we
have
talked… but we never talk about
that
! So every time we hang out it’s incredibly awkward and amazing at the same time. I mean, we flirt so much now—”

“So much more now…” Kyler interrupted. My glare at her intensified and she just waved at me to continue.

“So we’ve had class every day this week. We had our study date. We flirt. We talk to each other every night on the phone. But he still hasn’t made a damn move.” I had to remind myself to keep my voice low, when all I wanted to do was scream it at the top of my lungs. That’s how frustrated I was.

Kyler knew me better than I probably knew myself and was at my side in an instant, wrapping her arms around me. Though, she did so with a laugh. “Oh, Hales. I’m sorry. I shouldn’t laugh. But come on. Why don’t
you
make that first move? This guy has been pining after you since freshman year. When you finally tell him you’re in, I’m sure he’s probably just a little iffy still. So of course he’s not going to make the move first. He’s going to make sure you’re completely ready.”