Chapter 6
Elijah
“You look nice, Mom. Where’re you off to?” I looked down at my sweats and wrinkled T-shirt.
“The Briars invited me over for dinner. I thought I told you about it? I’m gonna use your car, remember? You gonna go out tonigh—” She turned away from the mirror, putting the cap back on her lipstick. Narrowing her eyes, she took in my disheveled appearance. “Son, what’s going on? The past couple of days you’ve been… not yourself.”
Stuffing my hands into my pockets, I leaned against the bathroom doorjamb. Our cottage was better than the one I’d stayed in last year, even if the decor was heavy on biblical cross-stitch and doilies. It also had a distinct Pine-Sol scent.
I shrugged. “That hangover a couple of nights ago was rough, just getting my energy back.”
It was mostly true. I had walked to the beach and got very drunk after ensuring Hazel got home. Falling asleep on the blanket I’d laid out on the sand hadn’t been advised—waking up with a headache, a sore neck, and cold. Really cold. Late September nights did not hold their heat along Lake Michigan.
“Okay.” Mom zipped her makeup case. “You should go out tonight. Find your friends.”
“I think I’ll just stay in.” I backed up, giving her room to exit into the hallway. “You’ve been busy lately. Having a good time?”
“Honestly, it’s surprising how healing being here has been. Ginny even apologized for not coming to my defense all those years ago.”
“That’s great, Mom.”
“I’m really glad we came back.”
“Me, too.” If only for her to find this closure.
“All right, I’m heading out.”
“Have fun.”
“I will.” She put on her pink beaded sandals and opened the door. “Don’t wait up.”
She closed the door, leaving me surrounded by sky-blue-painted walls and white Jesus.
My phone buzzed on the coffee table. Striding into the living room, I found a text from Sterling, Heading to Benji’s, you wanna come?
I considered it for a moment, then typed out I’m gonna pass tonight.
Lame.
I snorted, shaking my head. Have fun, Princess.
He sent a GIF of Cinderella transforming from pink rags into a blue shimmering dress.
Outside of the sliding glass door, colorful leaves drifted to the grass on a gentle breeze. It looked like a great night. They’d probably be seated on the patio with outdoor fireplaces fighting back the chill.
I considered meeting up with my friends. Mom had my car, but I could take my bike or ask Sterling to pick me up.
Then I remembered that I’d have to change out of my sweats and into jeans, and decided it wasn’t worth the trouble. A Friday night alone at the cabin would be relaxing. There was a grill in the shed, so I could cook a steak and veggies that Mom had bought from the farmers market.
The rejection from Hazel had taken more out of me than I wanted to admit.
She said she wasn’t dating the ranger guy, and I believed her, but it was obvious there was something between them—everyone in town mentioned his name with hers. I’d seen him coming out of the clinic earlier this week. Clearly, she was more willing to make time for him, and all I could do was accept that.
Maybe they were just meant to be, and it had nothing to do with me. But I couldn’t help wondering if it was my tarnished past that kept her from wanting more than a good time from me.
Regardless of the changes happening in the community, one’s reputation carried a lot of swing still.
My shoulders dropped with my sigh.
One more night.
I’d let myself feel bad about it for one more night.
Again, my phone buzzed. Sebastian’s contact image filled the screen. I answered his video call.
“Hey, man,” I greeted.
“Holy shit, Eli, you okay?” His hazel eyes were wide under thick dark eyebrows.
“Yeah, why?”
“You look rough. Did you lose your razor on a wilderness hike or something?”
I chuckled. “Why would I have my razor on a hike?”
“I don’t know what you do out there. I don’t like to go to dirt-road places.” Red brick filled the background of his video, and the sounds of Greektown were static in my microphone.
“There’s a lot more beards here, and not in a styled, polished way, but in a ‘I don’t feel like shaving’ sort of way.”
“I would not call your look polished. Are you at your grandma’s?”
“No, this is the rental Mom and I are sharing.”
He shook his head. “You gotta get outta there. You’re becoming too uncool for me to do business with.”
I laughed, rolling my eyes. “Did you call just to be an asshole?”
“Kinda. I miss you.” Sebastian’s openness was one of the first things I connected to when I met him. He never took anything too seriously, and he was clear about his feelings. Which meant he rubbed people the wrong way sometimes, but for me, it was a relief. My dad was disingenuous, and Seb’s honesty was something I could trust.
“Come up, I’m sure Mom would be happy to see you.”
“Nah, one of us has to stay down here and run the business.”
“You could hang for a weekend; it’s not that far away.”
He cringed, his lips pulling to one side. “Dirt roads.”
Snorting, I nodded. “All right, fine.”
“You gonna… I don’t know, go feed the wildlife or somethin’?”
“Why would I feed the wildlife?”
“I don’t know what those countryfolk do for fun.”
“We don’t feed wildlife.”
“We…” He narrowed his eyes at the camera. “I don’t like this we.”
“Don’t worry. You’re still my number one.”
“Damn straight.”
“You getting drinks with your brother?”
Sebastian’s brother, Angelo, was always looking for a fun time, even more than Seb.
He nodded. “Yeah, I showed up twenty minutes late, and he’s still not here. What are you doing?”
“Gonna take it easy tonight. Stay in, grill a steak, watch TV.”
“What? Hit up your friends. Don’t get old on me.”
“I was invited to hang out, but I feel like chillin’.”
His eyebrows drew together in a sympathetic look. “So, your veterinarian chick still didn’t call or anything?”
I didn’t like the way my stomach sank as he pointed it out. He was right, but I didn’t like it. “Why would you assume that?”
“Because if she had, that mess on your face would be shaved and your hair wouldn’t be in such a sad state. You’d be lookin’ sharp and out the door.”
“Come on, I’m not that bad.”
“It’s been many a drunken night of, ‘Goddamn it, I can’t get her out of my head.’” Sebastian’s imitation of me was not flattering. I sounded like a dope.
I couldn’t help but smile. “All right, I’m not sticking around for this kind of abuse.”
“You should go out, have fun.”
“Got it, Seb.”
We said our goodbyes and hung up.
Silence echoed through the empty cabin—bouncing off the walls like an unwelcome house guest, leaving too much room for my own thoughts.
Striding into the kitchen, I pulled the steak out of the fridge to prepare for grilling. I’d use food and drink to distract myself. Take a little time to focus on a good meal, and not the jackass I’ve been, moping over a woman who didn’t have any interest in me.
Music, that was what I needed. I leaned my hip against the counter and took my phone out of my pocket. I clicked the app and was about to search for an Outkast playlist when I realized there was an unread text message. I must have not felt my phone buzz.
Are you coming out to Benji’s tonight?Hazel had sent it just a few minutes before.
I gazed down at the steak on the counter. It felt like she’d made it clear that she wasn’t as into me as I was into her. I’d tried to see her for lunch the other day, and she put up roadblock after roadblock. Then, with each day passing without contact, it grew more obvious that there wasn’t anything real between us. I’d fabricated the whole thing, and it was nothing more than a sad, one-sided infatuation.
If she was asking me out now, it was probably the equivalent of a booty call. Which I told myself I couldn’t do. But now that the option was in front of me, it seemed possible that I could.
Typing fast, I sent, Yeah, I was thinking of meeting Sterling there. You planning on going out?
If you’re gonna be there.
A stupid, ill-advised grin spread across my face. I’ll be there in a bit.
See you.
I put the meat back into the fridge, before jogging down the hallway to my room.
Mimicking Seb’s mocking voice, I said, “Goddamn it, I can’t get her outta my head.”
I was a dope.