16. Eli
sixteen
Eli
The buzz of the tattoo gun hums in the background as I stare at the message notification on my phone screen. Callie.
She’s never directly texted me before. The thought has a lethal combination of worry and excitement squeezing my ribs. My breath catches in my throat as I swipe my finger across the screen to read her message.
Callie: Are you coming to rehearsal today?
I exhale a breath, relieved to know she’s safe, and at rehearsal. I haven’t looked at the security footage today to check in on her like I usually do when I’m not at the hall.
Stalker much?
My guilty conscience has me looking over my shoulder at my dad and brothers. Cameron is lying down on a portable massage table while Stephen—a friend who’s a tattoo artist—inks Cam’s chest.
As required, I picked up Mason and Jace at my parents’ place before meeting my dad and Cam for a hike in the canyons and a verbal ass whipping. The idiot finally got his head out of his ass, and he decided he’s going to fight for his girl, Talia.
That’s where my idea with the tattoo came in. Talia’s brother, Nico, is covered in them. What’s a better way to show a guy like him that you’re serious about his sister? You get her name tattooed on your body.
Cam was nervous, but as I look at him now, the smile on his face proves this was the right call. My dad, Jace, and Mason are chatting with him about tomorrow’s game. The Evaders need to win this next series if they want to make it into the playoffs.
Not wanting to draw my family’s attention, I step out onto the patio and text her back.
Eli: I have to take care of a few things first. I’ll be there after lunch.
Her response comes back instantly, pulling a smile from me.
Callie: Sooo, you’re not trying to avoid me?
Eli: Why would I need to avoid you?
Callie: Because of last night.
My heart skips a beat, recalling the warmth of her breath on my face as she leaned forward and kissed my cheek. A half-inch away from my mouth. Fuck, how I wish she kissed me for real.
Eli: A lot happened last night.
Callie: True. So, you’re not mad at me?
Eli: I was never mad at you.
Callie: You looked mad.
Okay, I’ll admit it; I was mad but not at her.
I was more pissed at the line of men waiting to put their hands on her while she poured liquor into their waiting mouths. Pissed at myself for acting like a jealous boyfriend and insulting her with lies. I didn’t like any of it, and I sure as shit didn’t enjoy finding her cheek cut and swollen.
I’m supposed to be protecting her—a job I’m obviously incapable of doing correctly. The fall, her allergic reaction, Malibu, someone hurting her… Nothing is adding up. Worst yet, Callie won’t let me in and tell me what’s going on.
Eli: That’s just my face. It’s always grumpy looking.
Callie: …
Eli: What the hell does … mean?
I wait for another response, but nothing comes back.
Eli: Well?
Is she still there ? My mind plays a hundred different scenarios, making the impulse to bring up the camera feed and search for her stronger. I’m about to check when another text comes in, stopping me.
Callie: Ugh. You’re going to make me say it, aren’t you?
Eli: Yes. Now, spill.
Callie: Fine. But this is all your fault.
Callie: You don’t have a grumpy face. It’s more serious looking. You mostly use that face with me. But last night, when you spoke about your family, you smiled the entire time. That’s how I know your smiling face is your real face. I like it when you smile.
She likes when I smile.
Heat floods veins and my skin tingles with excitement. I’ve given her very little these past few weeks, and she can still see through my professional facade to the heart of who I am.
She sees me.
My thumbs fly across the screen and hit send before my brain can stop me.
Eli: I’ll be sure to smile more for you.
Fuck. That was bad. Really, really bad.
Callie: I’d like that. I have to go, but I’ll see you later.
“E, what the hell are you doing out here?” Jace slaps me on the shoulder.
I lock and shove my phone into my pants as fast as I can. “Sorry. Work thing.”
Jace doesn’t miss the reaction, but he lets it go. “Alright. Mase and I are ready to head out. Can you still drive us to the airport?”
“Oh, yeah, uh, I’m good. Dez, uh, has everything handled.” I could kick myself for stuttering when Jace’s eyebrow hits his hairline. I’m not a jumpy person. I’m the calm and collected cool brother. But Callie’s confession has me in my feels.
What the fuck am I doing encouraging her like that?
“Well, what are you waiting for? I can’t miss my flight. My very pregnant wife needs me.” Jace gets the far-off look in his eyes, and I know he’s thinking about Rylann.
I love seeing him happy. After everything he’s been through, he more than deserves to be happy.
“Sorry, man. Let’s get you home.”
I follow my oldest brother back inside to find Cam sitting on top of the massage table as Stephen covers the fresh ink in a thick ointment before covering it in plastic wrap and tape. I thank him for coming over at the last minute and promise to hook him up with some new clients soon.
“Thanks, E. If you or your brothers want any more work done, just reach out.”
Stephen is a great artist. I met him a while back through some friends of friends. He offered to do the piece on my back two years ago. His work speaks for itself, and since then, he’s been the one I refer clients to when they ask about getting ink.
“Thanks, man.” I shake his hand.
Stephen gives Cam some final care instructions before packing his equipment and heading out.
When he’s gone, I walk over and inspect the font scrawled across Cam’s left chest, right over his heart. It’s bold and delicate. Perfect.
“Looks good, Cam.”
“It does.” His face lights up as he stares down at the letters again. He’s the youngest, and he’s already found the woman he wants to spend the rest of his life with.
Jealousy gnaws on the edge of my stomach. I want what he has. What Jace and Mason have. A wife, kids. Everything.
Callie’s dark-brown eyes pop into my head.
“Alright, my boys.” Dad claps, pulling me from thoughts. “It’s time for me to get home to your mother. She’s got this new book, and I promised her we would try out chapter 27.” My dad wiggles his brows.
The four of us groan.
“Dad, seriously. Don’t talk about Mom like that.” Cam lays his hand on his stomach like he’s nauseous.
“What? She’s no saint. We have the four of you, for crying out loud. Grow up.”
“I think he’s worse than Cam,” Jace mumbles.
“Fuck you, J. If anyone is the worst, it’s you. You keep doing unspeakable things to my sister-in-law in bathrooms and knocking her up.”
Jace preens like a peacock.
Lucky fucker.
Mason chuckles, drawing Cam’s attention, who points at him next. “Don’t get me started on you. In the hallway at your niece’s birthday? How dare you?”
Mason’s face falls, his eyes shooting fire. “Shut the fuck up, Cam.”
“Wait, what happened at Sariah’s birthday party?” Jace puts his hands on his hips. He looks so much like our dad as he stares daggers at Mason.
“Nothing.”
“Nothing my ass,” Cam grunts. “He had his hand up Emery’s dress when I came in. Could have been a full sex show if I didn’t show up.”
“I’m going to kill you, kid,” Mason growls.
“Like to see you try.” Cam gets up from the table and flexes. He might be the youngest, but he’s a big guy. He’s got at least three inches on us all, works out like a beast, and treats his body like a temple.
Mason doesn’t stand down, cracking his knuckles. “Fine. You want to play, Cam? What about you and Talia, and Emery’s now destroyed dresser?”
“What about it?” Cam shrugs, a shit-eating grin plastered across his face. “Need a lesson in pleasing your woman?”
I can’t help barking a laugh at that, which was the wrong fucking thing to do as four sets of eyes—all eerily the same color—turn my way.
“What are you laughing at, E?” Jace asks.
I put my hands up in surrender. “Nothing.”
“Everyone has skeletons, Eli.” Mason crosses his arms.
Cam scratches his chin. “Did I ever tell you guys the story about Eli pretending to be a ballplayer so he could get his dick sucked?”
My jaw drops in shock. “What did I ever do to you, Cam?”
My dad glares at me. “You better have been respectful. I didn’t teach you to be a taker.”
Jace and Mason burst out laughing. As do the rest of us. We might give each other shit, but at the end of the day, we also love the hell out of each other.
“Alright. Don’t give Eli such a hard time. His day is coming soon.” Dad pats me on the back.
“Oh, I think it’s here. He was totally bullshitting us earlier with his ‘my work is my priority right now’ spiel,” Jace says with a smirk. “He thinks I didn’t see him smiling like a loon while he was texting. Who’s the girl?”
“What? There’s no girl. It was just Dez with work.” I make a face and brush him off.
“Dez, my ass,” Jace grumbles.
My cheeks heat, and my stomach flips, because of course there’s a girl. Not a girl, a woman. A woman I might be slightly obsessed with. One I can’t have.
All four of them stare at me, waiting for me to come clean.
Mason’s jaw twitches as he catches my eye.
Don’t, I plead silently.
He tosses me an almost imperceptible nod, promising to stay quiet.
Cam, determined to uncover the truth, puts me in a headlock. “You’re a horrible liar, E.”
“Enough. Let’s put a pin in this for another day. If there’s a girl, Eli will tell us about her when he’s ready.”
“Thanks, Pops.”
“Fine.” Cam lets me go with a shove and I trip over my feet, catching myself on the back of a dining room chair.
“You big oaf,” I grumble. “I miss the days when I was strong enough to kick your ass.”
“I bet you do.” Cam grins, and it’s good to see the light back in his eyes. He needed to get some things off his chest, and we needed to remind him we know he’s more than just our jokester baby brother. He’s a badass baseball player with an unrivaled work ethic, an amazing uncle, and a great brother. He deserves his happily-ever-after.
If only it were that easy for me.
I enter the airport and follow the line of cars to the departures gate. Even though it was a quick visit, it was great seeing Jace and Mason. Since they both moved to Oregon, the time we spend together is limited and while I miss those days, I like these more.
Both of my brothers are the happiest they have ever been. Jace has the gorgeous wife and big family he always dreamed of, and Mason is right behind him, following in his footsteps.
The hollow ache in my chest deepens. A part of me wants what they have, but I’m stuck. I’ve been avoiding relationships for the last couple of years, and I can’t remember the last time I took a woman home and spent the night with her.
Callie’s forbidden black-coffee brown eyes pop into my thoughts. Everything about the woman has me in a tight grip. I’m under her spell, and I’ve never laid a finger on her.
I’ve tried to get her out of my head by going on dates or flirting with other women I meet at events. But no matter who sits across from me, it’s her face I see. No matter whom I talk to, it’s her voice I hear. Without her knowledge, she crawled under my skin and burrowed into the cracks.
Before Hudson left, I could pretend she didn’t affect me the way she does. But now that we’ve started working together more closely, I can’t even go a minute without thinking about her.
I shake my head clear. Mason catches my eye in the rearview mirror. The perceptive bastard has been watching me. I give him a wink, and he frowns. I look over at Jace, who sits quietly in the passenger seat beside me, texting on his phone.
I glide into a spot along the curb in front of automatic doors that lead to the ticketing desks. “That will be a hundred bucks.”
Jace doesn’t bother looking up from his cell or laughing at my joke. “What?”
“We’re here.”
He smiles. “Fucking finally. It was good to see you, E. I hope you can come visit in a couple of weeks when the baby is born.”
“Wouldn’t miss it.”
Jace grins ear to ear before slapping me on the back. “See you soon,” he says, climbing out of the car.
I release the trunk for him to grab his bag.
Another glance in the mirror, and I find Mason still sitting in the back seat, staring off in the distance.
I twist around. “Mase, we’re here.”
He hums, scratching his chin, and turns his green gaze to mine. His stare penetrates me down the recesses of my being. Jace was too distracted by his heavily pregnant wife to pay any attention to me, but Mason hadn’t missed a thing.
“Do you remember what you told me when we were at the baseball game last Fourth of July?”
“Vaguely.” I recall a conversation about his feelings for Emery and encouraging him to go after her. “Why?”
“‘If you want her, make it happen.’ That’s what you said.”
“I am wise as fuck.”
Again, my joke doesn’t land as Mason glares at me. I’m not an idiot. I see where he’s going with this, and I appreciate what he’s saying, but it’s not the same. Callie and I work together, and she’s a hell of a lot younger than I am.
“Don’t let someone else’s actions dictate your life. You aren’t him, Eli. You’re a good man.” Mason’s words have the effect he was going for as a sharp pain stabs me in the sternum. He grips my shoulder before opening his door, but he leaves me with even wiser parting words. “Don’t miss out on something great because of what others might think. Your family will always stand by you. Don’t do what Jace and I did, and lose time. Life’s too precious.”
A lump forms in my throat, and all I can do is tip my chin as he slams the door shut. I wave at them one more time before driving away.
A rush of overwhelming emotions has me doing what Callie accused me of earlier. Avoiding her.
Instead of driving to the concert hall, I drive to my office. Callie’s not far from my thoughts as I prop my phone on my desk and watch her on the grainy black and white security cameras for the rest of the day. My attention never strays from her as her eyes flick to the entrance doors every few minutes, waiting for me to show up.
I never do, and it makes me sick to my stomach when I see the light dwindle in her eyes as the day goes on. Every cell in my body screams for me to go after her, but something that feels a lot like fear keeps me glued to my seat.
When the sun is long gone and Callie finally leaves rehearsals, I turn off the feed. I dig the heels of my palms into my eyes, taking a deep breath. The weight on my chest is unbearably heavy.
What the fuck did I do?
I’m a fucking coward for not showing up. She watched and waited for me all day, and all I did was disappoint her.
A text pings, pulling me from my spiral, and my heart leaps in my chest as I read the message.
Callie: Avoider.
My lips twitch at Callie calling me out for being a chickenshit. Another message pops up, and I can’t stop myself from full-on smiling as I read it.
Callie: I forgive you.
My fingers fly across the screen. Her words ease the ache in my chest. Even though I fucked up, Callie understands. Of course she does. She has this ability to understand me better than I do.
Eli: Thank you.
Callie: See you tomorrow, Elijiah.
Fuck, I love it when she full-names me. So does my cock as it stirs to life in my pants. My mind’s eye pictures Callie with her hip popped to the side, her defiant chin lifted high like my proud, flawlessly beautiful princess with a fire burning in her dark eyes.
For the first time in weeks, I don’t fight it. I rush to my private bathroom and lock the door. Leaning over the sink, I whip out my dick and stroke myself from root to tip. I recall the way her sparkly light-purple dress hugged her curves and slid up her thighs as I stepped between them. My fantasies evolve from the reality of what happened to what I wish would have happened instead as Callie sat on the bar top.
I possessively grip the back of her neck with one hand and crush my mouth to hers in a bruising kiss, showing the line of men in front of her exactly whom she belongs to. My other hand slides from her throat, through the valley of her breasts, over her taut stomach to the apex of her thighs. I bunch her skirt up to her waist, and expose her center.
Callie lifts her hips in search of my touch. I give her what she wants and dip my fingers under her dress and through her wet slit, teasing her. With just my fingertips, I glide through her silky pussy, pulling a melodic moan from her mouth that I greedily swallow.
“More, Elijiah. Give me more,” she begs.
I circle her clit before pushing two fingers inside her pussy. Her muscles clench around me as I press my thumb to her clit, giving her the pressure she needs.
She writhes beneath me as I fuck her with my fingers until she comes in a gush on my hand. When her walls finish quivering from her orgasm, I slide my fingers out of her tight pussy and bring them to my nose, inhaling her sweet scent before licking them clean.
The tip of my dick drips at the thought of tasting her, imagining that she tastes like honey. Biting back a grunt, pretending my precum is her slick honey dripping onto my fingers, I spread it around my cockhead and down my shaft, using it as lube to jack my cock faster. Harder.
In an embarrassingly short amount of time, like a horny fucking teenager, I come down the sink drain with Callie’s name on my lips.
I don’t have the faintest idea of what I should do when it comes to Callie, to us, but what I know for sure is I can’t fucking wait to see her tomorrow.