Page 10 of Silver Foxed

“How so?”

I grab the open bottle of Chianti Elijah brought to the table and refresh my glass. His is still mostly full, so I set the bottle back down then take another long drink.

“You don’t have to say if it upsets you, Alex.”

I express appreciation for his thoughtfulness with a soft, grateful smile. “It doesn’t upset me.”

Elijah brings his attention to the wine in my hand, and I huff a light laugh.

“It’s more annoying than anything, really,” I continue. “Sean and I weren’t compatible in the end. So we broke it off. And while we hadn’t started doing much wedding planning, the breakup caused a ripple effect in our social circles.” I put my wine down. “But that’s boring and stupid. The bigger issue was that we lived together so I had to move. Do you know how hard it is to find a place that isn’t infested with roaches at a reasonable price in Los Angeles?”

Elijah swallows his bite of food, his brow pinching like I’ve noticed it does when he’s thinking. Even when he’s not doing it, I can see the fine lines on his forehead from his years of scrunching. I want to reach out and smooth the skin with my thumb. Thankfully, I have some self-restraint.

“I have to say I haven’t had to look for a place in a long time. But I’ve heard the market is bad,” he says.

“I live on a teacher’s salary, so finding a place in my budget near my school isn’t easy, either.”

Again, Elijah’s brow pinches. He opens his mouth as if he wants to say something, but then he closes it again.

“What is it?” I ask.

He sets his fork down and wipes his mouth. His blue gaze penetrates mine again. “Forgive me if this is rude, but I would think Oliver would be glad to help you.”

I grin. The question doesn’t offend me. I’ve grown up with privilege and get asked questions like this all the time.

“He would,” I say, warming at all the times my dad has slipped money into my account only for me to return it. “And trust me, he’s wanted to. But after I graduated college and got my first job, I refuse to take his money. I like to buy my own things, pay my own way. That was something Sean and I argued over a lot, too.”

I stop myself from getting angry thinking of the arguments we used to get into. One time, I gave my credit card to the waiter at a nice restaurant, and he was pissed for two days after, saying I made him look like a broke idiot who couldn’t pay for his fiancée’s dinner. That was one giant red flag that made me start to question everything with him.

“Can I ask you something?” Elijah says, his brow still pinched.

“Only if you promise to relax.”

Elijah raises an eyebrow at me. “I am relaxed.”

My restraint crumbles, or maybe the wine is hitting my system, but I can’t stop myself. I reach across the table and press my thumb into his forehead, against where the skin is scrunched. The whole time, Elijah sits in his chair, his eyes watching me carefully. It doesn’t escape me that his breath has picked up at my touch and nearness.

“Didn’t anyone ever tell you that if you keep your face a certain way for too long, it will get stuck that way?” I tease, moving my thumb across the textured skin.

Elijah expels a breathy laugh, and his brow finally relaxes. Satisfied, I lower my hand and sit back in my chair. “See, was that so hard?” I ask.

He beams and reaches for his glass, taking a long sip. “Thanks for your help.”

I make a silly salute. “Anytime.”

With a shake of his head and a long exhale, Elijah’s shoulders relax, too. I top off his wine for him after he sets it down, and then we settle back into our meals.

We take a few more bites before I ask, “What was it you wanted to know?”

He swallows his bite of food. “Honestly, this is more of a selfish thing to ask.”

“Ooh.” I smirk. “Go on.”

He chuckles. “Oliver speaks about you quite often, but he never mentioned you got engaged or that you were even dating anyone. I wonder why he never spoke of it.”

I chew and swallow another bite of food as curiosity fills me. “Why is that selfish?”

The hand that was bringing Elijah’s wine to his lips pauses in midair. His brow almost furrows again, but he stops it. “It’s only that your dad and I are close. That is a huge deal in your child’s life, and he said nothing. It makes me think we aren’t that close.”

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