Page 107 of Return Policy
“Yeah…” Elijah frowns. “I think my brother has a bit of a drinking problem. Mark actually suspended him from the force after that incident…”
My head snaps toward him. “So you knew about it already?”
“No, of course not,” he reassures me, reaching out and placing a hand on my bouncing thigh. “I mean, I didn’t know what the incident was, but I knew he was suspended the week I met you… so the timeline adds up. The night before I left, I overheard Mark telling Cole he’d send him to rehab unless he got his shit together.”
“Oh… Did he go?”
“No, but he agreed to AA meetings, which I think has been helping him. This’ll be my first time back, so I don’t know if he’s sober or not. He was at the game though.”
“Okay.”
Elijah clears his throat. “That was the same week Cole found out about me.”
“What?” I ask, confused at his partial change of subject.
“I mean, trust me, I’m not justifying him, but Cole didn’t know I existed before I came. We didn’t really give Mark a lot of notice before I showed up… I could tell Cole was shaken up by the whole thing even though he tried to hide it.”
“Okay?” His hand still grips my thigh, and I rub a thumb over his knuckles. “I mean… I know it’s weird, but why wasn’t he happy to have a sibling?”
He exhales heavily. “When my mom got pregnant with me, Mark was still with Cole’s mom.”
“Oh my God, that’s awful.” I place my free hand over my open mouth.
“Yeah… so to Cole, I was the illegitimate brother who probably caused his parents’ marriage to crumble right before his mom died.”
I suck in a breath. “Elijah… I’m sure he doesn’t see you that way.”
“I know he doesn’t now… but maybe that week… maybe that’s why he was drinking on the job.” He shrugs, frowning. “I’m not excusing it at all. Just, I don’t know.”
“I’m sorry.” I squeeze his hand tighter before placing it back on my lap.
“But what does any of this have to do with us?” he asks, resuming his grip on my thigh.
I sigh loudly before answering. “It’s just, my dad and brother both made it pretty clear they aren’t fond of the Danvers—”
“I’m not even a Danvers,” he scoffs, interrupting me.
“I know…” I shift uncomfortably in my seat, regretting bringing up the topic. “But by blood and all that.”
“By blood and all that? What is this? Medieval times?”
I tilt my head at him. “Elijah.”
“I’ve fallen for one girl in my life, and I’m already on her dad’s shit list.”
“I never said you’re on his shit list.” He gives me an unamused look. “Fine, you have your work cut out for you.”
“Challenge accepted,” Elijah says smugly. “I’ll gladly put in the time for you, sweetheart. I’m gonna make your family fall in love with me so hard, they’ll make you keep me forever.”
I laugh, shaking my head. “Shouldn’t you focus on makingmefall in love with you first?” I immediately bite my lip, wishing I could take back the words.
“Don’t worry.” He squeezes my thigh. “Operation Make Sophia Fall In Love With Me is already a go.”
I let out a bubbling laugh. “Oh God, you need to work on your code names.”
“Operation Seducing Sophia.” He winks, and I grin out the window like a lovesick puppy.
* * *
