Page 62 of Close Quarters

Dom chuckled. “I’ll bet you he went back. Otherwise, he would have said something when we got a little handsy. But I’ll bet he’s been slacking his ass off waiting for us to get back.”

“I’m not taking that bet,” I told him as we walked back.

“Because I’d win?”

“Yeah.”

We chuckled and almost laughed when we reached the clearing and found Leon glaring at Elliot. The latter sitting at one of the picnic tables, sipping lemonade and looking for all the world entirely at ease. He, of course, gave himself away when he glanced over and saw the two of us walking toward them.

“Hey, Leon,” I grunted when we approached as Elliot scrambled to his feet, not subtly as he looked the two of us over. “Elliot, quit.”

“I’m not doing anything,” Elliot said sullenly, even as he continued examining us.

“Oh please,” Dom said, waving him off. “Hey, Leon.”

“Do I want to know why you two came wandering back?” Leon asked and then glanced at Elliot. “And why this one refused to tell me why you two apparently ‘needed to talk’ back there?”

“Sorry,” Elliot muttered, swirling his glass. “I kinda…blurted it out.”

Considering Leon was here alone and only looking vaguely annoyed, I had to assume it was exactly what Leon had said. Otherwise we would have been in a lot more trouble than being on the receiving end of a glare.

“What?” I asked in irritation. “Are we not allowed to talk to people now?”

“I mean,” Elliot interrupted, ignoring me when I glanced at him. “It’s been weeks, Leon. I think we can manage to be away from each other for, like, a few minutes.”

That was a good point, and I tried not to look too surprised. I had to remember that despite how chaotic and messy Elliot could be, he did actually have a functioning brain between his ears.

“Seriously,” I added before the silence drew out to an awkward level. “I know you and Mona wanted us to stick together, but fuck’s sake, we should have proven we can manage without living up each other’s asses.”

Elliot snorted, covering it up by taking a drink of lemonade. Of course, being Elliot, all he managed to do was try to drink while snickering, and the result was a heaving cough and lemonade splattering all over the picnic table. The three of us watched as lemonade dripped from the nose he was gently cradling with a pained moan.

“You…are such an idiot,” I told him, unsure if I should be laughing or wondering what the hell was wrong with me that I actually found it cute.

The thought jerked me back from the moment as Leon made a half-hearted attempt to pat Elliot on the back. All I could do was stand there and stare at Elliot as he wiped what was probably a disgusting combination of lemonade and snot from his nose, complaining about how badly it burned. It wasn’t like I didn’t know I’d grown more than a little fond of Elliot. The more I learned about him, the more impossible it became to stick to my guns and see him as an annoying little shit I was stuck with.

But cute?

That went beyond begrudgingly finding him tolerable or blatantly admitting he was physically attractive. At what point had I gone from accepting his presence to finding something ridiculous and gross that he’d done…adorable? Sure, I knew now that he wasn’t an idiot, just prone to doing stupid shit that didn’t harm anyone but himself, and there was a lot more to him than just his antics and his rambling mouth but?—

I watched him silently as he finally waved Leon off and started laughing at himself. I never stopped being surprised at how well he could flip the switch in his head. Doing something like that in front of others would have had me seething and trying to find the quickest way out of the situation, or at least making sure no one brought it up around me. Yet here was Elliot, finding a way to laugh at himself over it, even asking a disgusted Dom if he wanted some lemonade ‘fresh from the tap.’

There were things I just didn’t understand about him, and that was only one in a long list. He had the ability to laugh off just about anything that happened to him, especially if it was his own doing. He was capable of standing up for himself, but with most people, he chose to brush off problems with a joke or a smile. He was just as capable of the same care and compassion as Riley but had found a way to conceal it under his lighthearted nature…except when he felt it needed to be serious.

Maybe that was the mystery solved right there. Leon and Mona would probably be the smuggest assholes alive if they realized their little plan was working…or had worked. I couldn’t say when I started seeing him differently, it could have been the first time we had sex, or it could have been that first night he stayed up with me, but something had shifted between us. I’d always been aware of it, but it had been so subtle, shifting over time, that I barely paid attention. But with that one ridiculous moment of stupidity, it felt like I could trace back every shift in our attitudes and feelings toward one another.

Not truly, of course. There were far too many little moments to keep track of and memorize. But I could feel the enormity of the change, how it had snuck up on us and lingered, constantly making little alterations. Like finding this moment endearing, being more exasperated than pissed when the little jerk wouldn’t get up in the morning, actually finding his jokes amusing, or even just knowing he was ‘perving’ on me, and instead of being self-conscious, I found myself horny.

“Why is he staring at me like that?” Elliot asked, finally piercing through the haze of thought I’d surrounded myself with.

To my annoyance, I wasn’t surprised when Dom chuckled. “I think he’s thinking about…well, something important.”

“Reno thinking hard about something is a terrifying idea,” Elliot said, his words joking, but the look in his eyes was concerned.

“The only one here who should avoid thinking is you,” I told him, shaking the thoughts away. I’d go over them when I wasn’t on display to people. Dom’s knowing smirk was uncomfortable enough as it was. “So it’s a good thing it only happens once a month.”

“Alright, well, you can fuck off,” Elliot sniffed, taking another drink of his lemonade.

“Tried that, and look, we’re in trouble,” I said, nodding toward Leon.

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