Twenty
“Nerd. One whose unbridled passion for something defines who they are as a person, without fear of other people’s judgment.”
~Zachary Levi
Elliot strolled into work an hour late and whistling. The guys looked up from the round table as he settled into an empty seat.
“Sorry I’m late.” Not really.
Asher and Jet frowned at him as Hunter asked, “Were you mugged?”
“No.”
Jet frowned. “Where’s your jacket and tie?”
He glanced at his chest and shrugged. “I didn’t feel like wearing a tie today. And it’s warm outside.”
“What’s going on?” Hunter asked, glancing at Asher who looked back to Elliot and raised a brow.
While he’d told the rest of the guys he’d banged up his face in a minor fender bender, Asher knew the truth.
Mostly because he knew he’d gone away with Nadia and wouldn’t let it rest until he told him where the black eyes had come from.
Who knew the guys would be more concerned over the whereabouts of his formal accessories than they were his battered face.
“Maybe you hit your head harder than you thought when you got in an accident,” Jet suggested.
Well, this was awkward. “Nothing’s going on. It just didn’t feel like a formal day. Sometimes casual is good.”
“Call someone, Ash,” Hunter mumbled. “He’s lost his mind.”
“I haven’t lost my mind.” Elliot rolled his chair closer to the table. “Catch me up. What did I miss?”
“Why were you late?” Jet asked, ignoring his request.
“I had company.”
“Is your mom visiting?”
Elliot scowled at the jab. “No.”
“Then who did you have over?”
This was exactly the sort of tedious dialogue he’d hoped to avoid. It shouldn’t be a big deal. People were late all the time. His justification shouldn’t matter.
“If you must know, I was with my girlfriend.”
“Whoa!” Jet threw his arms up and slid back from the table, his head shaking dramatically. “What?”
Elliot’s mouth twitched, Jet’s reaction a bit extreme. Was it so hard to believe a woman might like him?
“I don’t think it’s unfathomable I’m dating someone. And don’t make jokes about my maid. It’s not her. And no, you can’t meet her.”
“Why? What’s wrong with her?” Hunter immediately asked.
“Nothing’s wrong with her, you tit. I just don’t want everyone involved in my personal life.”
Jet laughed. “Do we know her? Who is she? Or … is it a he?”
“It’s a woman.” The guys just stared at him and he turned to Asher. “Tell them it’s a woman, Ash.”
Asher held his hands up. “I’m out of it.”
“Wait,” Hunter looked at Asher then back to Elliot. “Ash knows who she is? How?”
Asher shrugged. “He told me.”
“Forget it. I shouldn’t have said anything. Just assume I had a flat and that’s why I’m late. Let’s get to work.” He didn’t want to discuss his personal life anymore.
“How long has Asher known?”
Asher shrugged. “Before he went to Budapest.”
Hunter’s eyes widened. “Did she go with you?”
Elliot groaned. “Yes, she went with me. Now, can we please get to work? Our meeting’s in an hour.”
Jet passed him a folder. Asher quickly summarized everything Elliot had missed, but Hunter wasn’t as easily sidetracked.
“Wait a minute. You wanted to go to Budapest but had nothing planned. You were scrambling to schedule last minute meetings. That means you were going there for a reason. Are you involved in some mail order bride scam?”
“Screw you, and no. Drop it.”
“Maybe she’s from there,” Jet said, back on the investigation trail. “Are you perusing Hungarian dating sites?”
“Oh, shit.” Hunter’s lips parted as he leaned back in his seat. “No. Way.”
“What?” Jet asked, looking from Hunter to Asher to Elliot. “What did I miss?”
Hunter laughed and clapped his hands, rolling his chair back from the table and laughing. “It’s the dancer!”
Elliot’s face heated. “Did we get the metadata back from yesterday’s run?”
“Asher’s dancer?” Jet asked, expression one of disbelief. “I thought she was Guatemalan.”
“She’s not my dancer,” Asher amended. Then he snickered. “She’s Elliot’s.”
“Wait,” Jet interrupted, shaking his head. “You’re hooking up with the hot Guatemalan dance instructor?”
“She’s not Guatemalan, you moron! She’s Hungarian. Did you ever take geography? They’re on two different continents.”
“My lack of geographical knowledge is what’s shocking you here? We are talking about the same woman, right?”
“This is exactly why I didn’t want you to know.”
Asher stood and patted Jet’s shoulder. “Yes, it’s the same woman. Her name’s Nadia and she’s Hungarian. Get yourself a globe. And Elliot, I don’t know why you’re being so secretive about this. I have to make a call before the meeting.”
Hunter and Jet gaped at him as Asher left the room.
“What?”
Hunter scoffed and closed the folder in front of him, following Asher out of the office.
Elliot looked at Jet. “What’s his problem?”
“You could have told us.” He closed his folder as well. “Did you honestly think we’d make fun of you for dating her? Hell, who cares who she is, we’d only be happy for you, Elliot.”
“That wasn’t why I didn’t want to tell you.”
“Then why? You told Ash. Clearly, you kept this news from us for a reason.”
Elliot ground his teeth and inwardly groaned. “Since the beginning of our friendship, I’ve … disapproved of how ridiculous you guys got around women. I didn’t want to get my balls broken.”
Being that he was basically obsessed with Nadia and could hardly think of anything else, he was currently a wide-open target.
But he didn’t want his relationship viewed with the same callous indifference he’d shown Jet so many times in the past when he had a new flavor of the week.
Nadia was a serious person in his life. She was off limits.
“Elliot, we’re your friends. If we break your balls, it’s out of love, man.”
“That’s what I mean. I don’t want to hear it. I’m already nervous enough. She’s … incredible.”
Jet grinned, a bit of awe in his eyes. “I’m happy for you.”
Feeling like he might have overreacted, he figured he’d come clean. “There’s more.” Eventually, they’d all find out anyway. “She’s living with me—temporarily. She was in a bind and I helped her out.”
The sincerity of Jet’s smile faded. “Were you hooking up with her before or after she moved in?”
“After, but it’s not like that.” At first, he thought her attention might have been some form of gratitude, but now he was certain she honestly cared about him. She said she loved him… “She means a lot to me.”
Admitting how deeply he loved her felt dangerous, like inviting a permanent vulnerability into his life he wasn’t sure he could handle.
But the truth was becoming impossible to ignore.
He loved her the first day he laid eyes on her, loved her still the night he rescued her from that asshole at the restaurant.
And if it were possible, he loved her a little more with each passing moment.
His affection for her behaved like a formulaic equation that infinitely increased and the sheer unwieldiness of his ever-growing emotions overwhelmed him.
“Well … she’s just the first girl. I’m sure there will be many more. Enjoy it.”
Elliot’s guard went up. “Why do you say it like that?”
Jet stood, his gaze skittering to the door. “I’m just saying have fun. Get laid. It’s all good.”
Elliot frowned as Jet left the office. What the hell was that? It was as if Jet knew something about Nadia Elliot somehow missed.
Jet knew lots of things about lots of women, but this seemed personal. He stood and went after him. “Jet, wait. Did you and Nadia go out or something?”
His friend laughed and shook his head. “No.”
“Then why are you acting weird?”
“You guys act weird all the time. Suddenly it’s a cause for concern?”
But they were weird. Jet was supposed to be the normal one. “Do you know something about her I don’t?”
“No.”
Well, then why the hell did he say that? It not only insulted him, it insulted Nadia. “I’m not just getting laid, Jet. I’m in love with her.” The truth flung out, his anger and fear postponing his regret for sharing such an intimate secret.
Jet’s eyes closed as if this were unfortunate news. “Just … be careful, Elliot. I don’t want you to get hurt.”
“Nadia wouldn’t hurt me.” Not on purpose.
His friend looked at him, all humor replaced with assumed wisdom. “Are you sure?”
No one could ever be one hundred percent sure about such things, but he trusted her and she said no games. “She loves me.”
“Look, it’s not my place to tell you how to live your life, but this all seems a little fast. How long has she been staying at your place?”
“Two weeks.” A slight exaggeration, but if estimations worked in math why not apply them in calculations of love?
Jet leveled him with a stare, his concern clear.
“Women can be con artists, Elliot. I’m not saying she’s that sort of woman but look at all you’re doing for her.
I know you. You’re a good guy, but you don’t usually put yourself in vulnerable positions.
Vulnerability’s your kryptonite.” He frowned.
“And I saw your car this morning. How is it the car looks fine and your face looks like that? Did someone beat you up?”
Deja vu from adolescence came rushing back. Whenever they had a run in with a bully, Jet insisted on squaring things up and rushing to their defense. But he wasn’t a kid anymore. “No one beat me up. I got in a fight.”
“Did Nadia have something to do with it?”
“Yes, but it’s not like she started it. I did. Me.”
“Just … be careful.”
Elliot absolutely hated vulnerable situations, but with Nadia it was different. Others wouldn’t understand. “She’s not that kind of woman.”
Jet sighed. “I hope you’re right.”