Chapter 13 #2
“No!” Elio shook his head and held up a hand, willing Matteo to relax. “We both got a little carried away last night—accidentally. I didn’t mean for it to happen and Milo deserves much better. I explained all of that to him and we should be fine now. Right?”
“Fine?” Matteo made a sympathetic sound. “Poor Milo.”
Elio looked towards 8B. “Poor Milo? I just stopped him from wasting his first kiss on a selfish shite.”
“That’s not how he’s going to see it,” Matteo predicted and clicked his teeth again. “Maybe you both nerded a little too close to the sun and got drunk on physics fumes, but that’s no excuse, Eli. You’re older and you have to know how naive Milo is.”
“I do!” Elio shot back, but his conscience twinged because while he had taken care not to overstimulate or overwhelm, he hadn’t asked if Milo had ever been kissed.
“It’s not like you to get carried away. Not with sex,” Matteo said carefully. “You’re too smart and too busy for that, remember?”
“That’s the problem,” Elio confessed, turning back to Matteo and throwing his hands up in defeat.
“I am too smart and I’m too busy until I think of Milo and I think of him too much as it is.
I worry about if he’s happy and if he’s being treated the way he deserves, and when he’s in the room, his eyes and his thoughts distract me. I can’t have that!”
“Mein Gott! You Dummkopf!” Matteo clapped a hand over his mouth, holding back a watery laugh. “Eli’s finally fallen in love! I can’t wait to tell Theo.”
“No! Nein!” Elio pointed at his brother, shaking his head. “You tell him nothing! And you’re wrong, I am not in love. Milo is exactly the man I would love, if I could, but I can’t. I’m too busy and I don’t know how to love.”
Matteo pulled a face. “It’s not something you can really learn, is it? You can’t make yourself fall in love and you can’t predict who you’ll connect with. It just happens and you have to go with it. Unless you’re already in love with someone else. Don’t be a philanderer.”
“Don’t be ridiculous.” Elio crossed his arms over his chest. “I can’t imagine making one man happy. Why bring others into the equation? And why do I have to ‘go with it’?”
Matteo hummed in agreement. “In my experience, it’s more uncomfortable if you fight it and it’s a waste of time when you could be doing much more enjoyable things.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Elio said while he imagined giving Milo unlimited head.
“Oh, you do!” Matteo whispered and rubbed his hands together. “You’re going down!”
I already did and that’s my problem.
“Ruhe!” Elio ordered, clutching his forehead. “I don’t need Milo for that, I need his brain. We have important work to do.”
This time, Matteo didn’t hold back his temper.
“You really are a fool, then. He’s a hell of a lot more than his brain!
If you can’t see Milo as a complete person, you’re just using him.
If that’s the case, take your arse back to Cambridge and forget about Milo and whatever this is.
” Matteo tossed his hand at the board, shaking his head in disappointment.
“I know!” Elio said but his soul recoiled at the thought of leaving. Not because of P versus NP or his parents, though. He worried about how safe Milo would be at Starlight if he went back to England and how much Elio would miss him. “What about my work?”
“Say that again but listen to yourself this time,” Matteo said tightly. “And remember who we’re talking about.”
Elio fell back, leaning against the wall, his mind racing and struggling to calculate what mattered most and what couldn’t be sacrificed.
“What if I can’t be a competent scientist and a decent…
boyfriend or whatever? I’d blow up everything—the project, our friendship, our families’ relationships, possibly our careers… ”
“You didn’t think about that before you got involved with Milo?”
“I never imagined we’d be anything more than professional partners. Why would I expect there to be more?” Elio asked and Matteo’s mouth opened and snapped shut and his eyelids fluttered.
“You really do live in your own world. How did you miss that you’re both young and hot and you speak the same nerd language? Why wouldn’t you be attracted to each other? It’s basic biology, Eli.”
Elio let out a suffering moan as he fidgeted with the barbell in the bridge of his nose. “Bloody biology and hormones, I hate them!”
“Sorry, you’re just a human like the rest of us,” Matteo said with a satisfied grin. “I’m relieved and Theo and Leo will be too. We’ve been throwing around ideas in the group chat and we were beginning to suspect that you might be an alien.”
“You have a group chat?”
Matteo shrugged. “Group chat/support group, call it what you like. It’s a time saver and we keep each other up to date on your bullshit, but it helps to know I’m not the only one who’s thought of killing you.”
“You’re the only one who has a chance of getting away with it,” Elio said and clapped his brother on the shoulder proudly. “Everyone always underestimates you.”
“Na, klar!” Matteo laughed. “That’s by design, but think of all you have to lose if you blow this with Milo.
You will never run out of problems to solve.
The universe is full of them. How many people exist who truly understand you, accept you, and like you?
” He held up three fingers. “And that’s counting me.
You can figure out how statistically rare that is but Milo makes four out of 8.
2 billion people, Eli. That’s bloody special. ”
“It is,” Elio conceded. “The odds of ever finding that sort of connection again are about as minuscule as solving time. The only difference is Milo’s already here.”
“Solving time?” Matteo snorted. “You physicists find the weirdest things to worry about.”
He had no idea. Or just how much Elio worried about time and why. His brothers would have him committed if they knew he was trying to bring their parents back. But Milo had understood and had agreed to help, despite the incredible odds and the risks to their reputations.
“It might be too late with Milo and I don’t know what I want,” Elio admitted.
“That’s fine. Milo might come to his senses and realize he made a mistake,” Matteo countered and Elio nodded.
“That is also a possibility…and could be the best scenario.”
“Stop!” Matteo gave Elio’s ear a flick, making him swear. “Nothing happens until you work things out with Milo, one way or another. Be friends or ask him out, but don’t break his heart or leave him hanging.”
“Oida!” Elio dodged and swatted. “I will talk to him when I see him tomorrow.”
“You could talk to him now! Milo’s just two floors away,” Matteo suggested as he grabbed Elio’s sleeve and guided him to the door. “Do you want him to have a terrible night because of this?”
Elio recalled Milo’s shattered expression as the elevator doors closed and hung his head in shame. “No, I do not.”
“Schei?e! It’s a good thing I was here,” Matteo said under his breath as he opened the door and pushed Elio into the hallway. “Go fix things with Milo. And get tested tomorrow!”
The door slammed shut, making Elio jump. “Don’t call Theo.”
“Too late,” Matteo answered and the lock clicked.
“Go to New York and stay with Teo and Truman!” Elio whispered angrily as he stalked to the elevator and gave the call button a hard poke. “This is what I get for listening to them.”
He used the time in the elevator to center himself, aware that he was disrupting the Ashbys’ evening and that his appearance was intimidating enough. Scowling and swearing would just make things worse and it wasn’t the Ashbys’ fault his brother was a meddling twat.
“Be nice,” he whispered and tapped politely on their door.
It opened a few moments later and Elio let out a strangled “Fuck!” He would never admit it, but Matteo was right: Elio had been too distracted by matters at Starlight and blindly focused on solving time.
Making small talk or being charming was beneath Elio and he had missed what was right in front of his face.
Giles Ashby was stunningly handsome and Elio was desperately attracted to his son.
He was beginning to notice a pattern…
“My apologies.” Elio bowed his head. “And I’m sorry to interrupt your evening. May I speak to Milo, please?” he asked and smiled as nicely as he could.
“Elio? What a wonderful surprise,” Giles said loudly, his lips twitching as he waved for Elio to come in. “We weren’t expecting you.”
“Ha! I was!” Riley high-fived Luna before she bolted into the kitchen behind them. “Giles owes me $20,” Riley declared and held out his hand to Giles. “I said something was up with you two but Giles believed Milo when he said he ate something weird.”
“It could happen.” Giles had his wallet out and was flipping through the bills.
“Like I don’t know what my son is capable of eating!” Riley made an indignant sound. “He’s got Giles’s looks and his mom’s brain but he’s got my stomach and hollow legs! And I built him to withstand anything!” he boasted, planting his fists on his hips.
There was a soft chuckle from Giles. “Milo’s in his room. Go through the kitchen and past the pantry. It’s at the end of the small hallway.”
Elio offered them another bow. He could see why his brothers liked and respected the Ashbys so much and where Milo had gotten his kindness and sense of humor. “Thank you,” he said and smiled at Riley as he passed and headed for the kitchen.
It was clean and warmly lit, a cake resting on the marble island and a glass of wine was waiting by the stove. In the hallway, Elio almost crashed into Luna and laughed as she crossed her arms and squared up to him.
“You don’t look like a physicist or a prince,” she said, eyeing him up and down.
Elio leaned back, frowning. “Don’t I? What do I look like?” he asked and prepared for an amusing or cheeky response but her face pinched as if he was covered in slime.
“You look like trouble, Eli-oh.”
He shook his head seriously. “I promise, I will be on my best behavior.”
“You better be,” Luna said archly. “Milo’s already upset and I don’t like when he’s upset.” She kicked his shin, making Elio jump and yelp.
“I’m sorry! I won’t do it again!” he whispered as he hopped around her.
She narrowed her eyes and pointed at him. “I’m watching you, Eli-oh.”
“Noted,” Elio said and crossed himself.
The little tyrant left Elio with one last warning glare and he was sufficiently chastised.
Between his own conscience, his brother’s meddling, and Luna’s threats, Elio vowed to be more careful and to do his best to never hurt Milo again.
If he did, he’d leave the country before Luna could kick his other shin. Those little Converse hurt.