Parting Chances (Fighting Chance #1) (7 page)

“With everything going on with my mom, I’m just not in the right place to start anything…with anyone. And believe me when I say, I wish I was in a good place right now. I wish I could trust myself to date someone because you’d definitely be that person. But my focus should be on my mom right now. Not on whatever my stupid heart wants. Drew made me forget what's really important, and I can't let that happen again.” A blush crept up my neck as I said more than I meant to.

Eli sighed and pushed off the door. “Damn… I can’t even be upset because last year I was in the same place. I understand, Haley.” His hand once again grasped the doorknob, this time pulling it open. He took a step out, paused, and turned back to me. “Thanks for lunch.”

I nodded, expecting that to be the end of it, but when he didn’t turn to leave, I started getting anxious.

“For the record,” he said, “I’m pretty sure I’ll still be waiting whenever you do come around.” And with that, he walked out, shutting the door behind him.

“Robb, I’m heading out.” I tossed a dishrag into the sink as I called to my boss. A grunt of a reply came from the back, verifying that he heard me. After hanging my apron up, I grabbed my purse and headed to my car. I pulled my phone out of my pocket and typed out a quick message to Eli.

Me: Just left work. Be there in a few.

Opening my car door, I tossed my purse in, and my phone buzzed with an incoming text.

Eli: Great. See you soon.

Me: Yeah, can’t wait to study up on the periodic table. Psht.

Eli: It won’t be so bad. You had basic chem in high school, right?

Me: Yes…and I hated every moment of it. I retained nothing.

Eli: Oh…maybe I should do a coffee run before you get here?

Me: Probably a good idea.

I couldn’t erase the smile from my face even if I wanted too. It had been three weeks since that way too informative lunch date. But I should have known I had nothing to worry about. Eli didn’t make it awkward, and we fell into a normal friendship. And that friendship included study dates for the horrible general ed class we had together. Why college forced you to take Chemistry was beyond me. And being the oh-so-smart person I am, I pushed it back until my senior year. Although, that had become quite the gift, since Eli was amazing at the class and had the patience to tutor me every week.

I placed my phone in the cup holder in my car and headed out of the parking lot. Eli’s place was about fifteen minutes away, so if he was telling the truth about the coffee run, he’d still make it back before I got there. And now that I think about it, I could very well have brought the coffee myself, since I worked at a freaking
coffee shop.

My phone rang, and I laughed to myself, figuring it was Eli coming to the same realization I had.

“Hello?” I answered it.

“Hales! Please tell me you’re done with work.” Kyler’s voice came yelling through the phone.

“Er, yeah I am. I was just…”

She cut me off. “I need you here at the apartment. Now!” She sounded out of breath and angry.

“Ky, I have a study session with Eli.” She knew how much I sucked at Chemistry. She knew I needed to study, especially with an upcoming exam.

“It won’t be that long. I hope. I just really need you here. Please, Hales!” She knew she was going to get me with the pleading.

“Okay, I’ll be there in a few.” Thankfully, I was pretty close to the apartment, and I hoped whatever she needed me for wouldn’t take very long.

I pulled into the parking lot five minutes later, ran up the stairs to the apartment, and threw the door open. The door banged against the wall, and I stood rooted in place, taking in the scene that once was my living room.

“Ky?” I asked into the mess of boxes and bubble wrap.

“In here!” her muffled voice came from the middle of the chaos. Her blonde head popped up, and she gave me a small smile. “So, I need your help.”

I had been trying my hardest to contain the laughter, but seeing her in the middle of debris with bubble wrap on her head, undid me. “What happened?” I managed to get out in-between hysterics.

“I’m so glad you’re finding this funny. Can you help me?” She stuck an arm up, which I grabbed and helped drag her out of the box.

“What exactly are you trying to do here?” I asked, still unable to see through the mess of bubble wrap to see what was actually in the boxes.

“I’m trying to put this stupid chair together. Except I’m horrible at instructions. There are too many pieces, and I just want to throw it out the window. Please put it together for me?” Kyler begged while staring at the directions with pure hatred. Another laugh erupted from me, and I was able to dodge Kyler’s arm as she attempted to hit my shoulder.

“Okay, okay. I’ll help. Hang on.” I snuck my phone from my pocket and pulled up Eli’s name.

Me: I’m going to be late. A chair attacked Ky.

Chuckling, I slid the phone back and held my hand out for the instructions. She slammed them in my palm and fell gracefully onto the floor, bringing her arms around her knees.

“It doesn’t look that hard. But I can’t find half of the damn parts!”

This time I held the chuckle in and went about sorting all the bubble wrap, making sure nothing was taped to them. After five minutes, I was finally able to see the chair parts. We made quick work of assembling the chair, and just as Kyler and I placed it in front of her desk, my back pocket buzzed.

Eli: A chair attacked her? That may need to be explained.

Me: Ha! I will. I’m heading over now.

“Thanks so much, Hales. You’re a lifesaver. Noah works the night shift tonight. Otherwise, I would have called him.”

“It’s fine. Just tell Noah he owes me.” I gave her a wink as she swiped at her phone, probably to call Noah. She waved as she headed back into her room.

“Have fun
studying,”
she whispered while closing her door. My eyes rolled at her comment. No matter how many times I’d told her, she still thinks I’m doing extra-curriculars with Eli on our study nights. It also doesn’t help that our study sessions always fall on the nights Noah works the night shift.

I pulled my car up in front of Eli’s house a little while later and took my backpack from the passenger seat, before running up the walkway. Eli met me at the door with a grin.

“Tell me. Tell me now about the chair attacking!” He sounded way too excited. I laughed and brushed past him, toeing my shoes off by the door before walking into the living room and plopping down on the couch. I opened my backpack and pulled out my chemistry book and notebook, spreading them out on the coffee table next to Eli’s books and two steaming cups of coffee.

“You are a doll!” I reached out and clutched the cup with my name on it, savoring the delicious liquid.

“Tell me!” Eli jumped on the couch, his eyes begging me to explain the story.

“Really, it’s not that big of a story.” I laughed, but proceeded to tell him what I had walked into after Kyler had called.

“And you didn’t take a picture?” Eli asked, a chuckle escaping from his lips. My eyes popped wide open.

“I didn’t even think of that! Damn it!”

“She would have killed you,” Eli said, still laughing at the mental image of it.

“Would have been worth it.” I took another sip of my coffee and directed my eyes to the table. With a groan, I slid my books on my lap and relaxed back into the couch. “I suppose we should start this beast. Nothing like an exam in the morning to kill the mood.” The words came out of my mouth before I could stop them. Eli whipped his head in my direction, giving me a lopsided grin and arching his eyebrow slightly.

“Killing the mood? I didn’t realize it was that kind of study date,” he joked. And even though I knew he was just playing around, my cheeks turned red. My overactive imagination went wild and a fluttering erupted in my stomach. It’s not like it was the first time that ever happened when Eli and I were together. Ever since our conversation about me not dating and he said he’d more than likely be waiting, I had been more observant of every conversation or touch we had. He never made me feel uncomfortable, but he still made it clear he was interested. Now, if only I could get over my issues. I knew it wasn’t going to happen anytime soon, but my brain always liked the fantasies.

A nudge to my shoulder startled me out of my daydream. Eli sat next to me grinning, causing me to turn an even deeper shade of red.

“Um…okay…so, periodic table.” I opened my book, flipping back and forth, trying to find the chapter we were on. My hands were shaking so badly it was nearly impossible to be smooth about anything.

“Chapter ten,” Eli said as he took the book from my hands and flipped to the correct page. He handed the book back to me, our hands brushing as he did. Heat jolted through my fingers, which made my hands tremble even harder.

Seriously, I didn’t know if this was a good idea anymore. Us studying together when there was clear sexual tension.

Returning my focus to the book, I started our normal routine: reading through the chapter, before quizzing each other with the practice test the professor handed out.

By the end of the night, my brain hurt. I stifled out a yawn and glanced at the clock. It wasn’t even ten o’clock yet, and my brain was completely shut down for the night.

“I can’t do anymore,” I complained, leaning my head back against the couch and letting out another, louder yawn. “My brain is beat.”

“You think you understand this?”

I shrugged. “Guess we’ll find out when I take the exam tomorrow.”

“You’ll do fine. You only need a C to pass. And his exams are ridiculously easy.” Eli reminded me. That was right. This professor was notorious for giving out the easiest exams while just giving you the basic knowledge of Chemistry. I suppose that was why his classes always booked up so quickly and why I even took him in the first place. And since my last exams had come back with solid Bs, I wasn’t going to worry anymore about this stupid periodic table.

“Okay. I need to head home now. My brain hurts too much to do anything more than sleeping.” I shoved my books back in my bag and headed to the entryway to slip on my shoes.

“Well, text me when you get there.” This was what Eli said every time I left his place at night. I nodded and gave him a quick hug. I couldn’t let it linger, not after all the crazy daydreams I had while I was here tonight.

“See you tomorrow,” I called over my shoulder as I headed out to my car.

The drive home was shorter than normal. I wasn’t sure if it was because of the lack of traffic or if I was driving faster than I usually do, but I was grateful I was home. After locking the front door, I dragged myself into my bedroom, shutting the door behind me and face-planting on the bed. The idea of changing my clothes crossed my mind, and I shed off what I was wearing and slipped into an overlarge t-shirt before crawling into bed.

I tapped Eli the mandatory text, though I had to admit, those texts were always my favorite.

Me: Made it home. Am crashing…now. Night!

Eli: Night. Sweet dreams.

My phone vibrated as I was locking up the Chapman Buzz. With a sigh, I swiped my finger against the screen to see a new text from Kyler.

Ky: You better still be coming over!