“Hey guys, whatcha doing here so early?” I say, keeping my gaze on our friends. At this, Eli whips around in his chair. He does it so fast that I think he might have given himself whiplash, but he stands up too.
No one says anything for a long moment and I want nothing more than to figure out what Eli is thinking and how he’s feeling about us basically getting caught necking by our closest friends.
Olivia smiles and runs up to me, giving me a tight hug. “Sorry about the surprise, we tried calling and when we didn’t get an answer we figured you two would be at training.”
“No, that’s not until later this afternoon.”
She bites her bottom lip to keep her smile from spreading as she pulls back from the hug and her hands squeeze my biceps. I widen my eyes and give her a subtle shake of the head.Please don’t say anything.
She recovers and steps away from me. “Eli, can I give you a hug?” His gaze is fixed on Robbie and the two of them seem to be in some kind of silent brooding stand off for some reason. “Eli?” Olivia asks again, glancing between the two of them.
Finally he breaks the stare and turns to her, a small smile on his face. “Of course, how are you?” She steps in and he wraps his arms around her in one of his signature bear hugs.
“I’m good. We’ve been really busy with the Blue Line Brigade and I’ve been skating out more. I found a women’s league in Grand Marquee and I’ve been skating out over the summer.”
“That’s amazing,” he says, letting her go.
I notice that Robbie still hasn’t moved from his spot a few feet away. His arms are crossed and he’s still glaring at Eli.
What the fuck is his deal? I know they haven’t spoken in a bit, but still. This seems extreme. Especially for Robbie, who is the nicest person ever.
“My turn!” Alice yells and runs up to Eli. Her arms go up and she makes grabby hands at him and it’s so fucking cute that I can’t help but chuckle. The girl is almost a whole foot shorter than us, and Eli indulges her and picks her up. She squeezes him tight and kisses his cheek. “I missed you, you big bear.”
“I missed you too,lapsi.” She scowls at him as he sets her down but she rolls her eyes and tackles me in a hug next.
“Hey,” Eli says, taking a step towards Robbie. I know he’s nervous because of the way he fidgets with his fingers, hands clasped in front of him.
“Are we back on speaking terms now?” Robbie says and I can tell he’s hurt that Eli iced him out this summer. Olivia gives him a pleading look that probably saysbe nice, let bygones be bygones.
“I’m sorry. I should have reached out sooner.”
“Yeah, you should have,” Robbie says, but I can see the fight drain out of him. His arms drop to his sides and he takes a step forward. We all watch in anticipation, eyes bouncing from Eli to Robbie.
To my surprise, it’s Eli that steps forward and initiates the hug. Robbie gives in immediately and there’s some back andforth whispering between them that I can’t make out. Then Robbie claps his shoulder, gives him a nod and pulls back.
That’s it. No comments are made about the fact that we were making out when they walked in, but I’m sure they’re all dying to ask.
“So, if you don’t have training until later, what are your plans for the day?” Alice asks, eyes glinting with mischief.
Eli looks at me and smiles and I don’t expect it. He knocks the breath out of me with that smile. Walking up next to me, he grabs my hand and links our fingers together. I am too stunned to speak, and I’m sure I just look like a fish out of water.
“We were going to take the kayaks out on the lake,” he says, squeezing my fingers.
“Oh yes, let’s all do that! You lovely couples can take the tandem kayaks and I’ll grab a solo.” Alice zips past us to the shed and starts dragging the kayaks out.
Couples.Is that what we are now? A couple? I look at Eli and realize he’s still looking and smiling at me. Okay then, he’s taking this better than I expected. I thought he might run for the hills and shut me out again.
But no.
He promised me he wouldn’t do that again.
We’re in this together. And I did want us to be ourselves amongst our friends.
When Alice walks out, handing us all vests, Eli clears his throat. “So, I don’t want the team or anyone else to know that we’re together yet. Just us.”
“But youareofficially together?” Olivia asks, clicking the vest into place.
Are we?
