Page 69 of Eight Steps to Alpha

Chapter 24

It wasthe following afternoon when Elliot walked into El Toro and spotted Ed in the corner of the restaurant. It had been only five days since his and Fe’s talk in his bedroom, but he couldn’t help but think she was avoiding him. She was a creature of habit, someone who came and went at the same time just about every day since he’d known her, but last night she’d stayed at work past dark, not making it home until he was ready for bed. He’d sent a text to check on her around seven, but the only reply that came back was that she was working on a project, and not to wait up for her.

The fact that she wasn’t here, on their regular Wednesday night, both bothered and scared him. He slid into the opposite side of the booth from Ed, propped open his menu, and glanced over this evening’s specials. “Where are the girls?” he asked, trying to keep his voice nonchalant.

Ed didn’t seem to notice, his face cast downward toward his phone. “I don’t know. I think they went shopping or something. They said they’d be a few minutes late.”

“Oh.” Elliot breathed a sigh relief, his shoulders finally relaxing. “What are you having?”

Ed shrugged, then set down his phone and looked up at Elliot. A slow amused grin tugged at his mouth as he regarded him with a grin. “Man, I haven’t seen you in a while. You really do look good.”

Elliot laughed, still not used to this reaction, and scratched the back of his head. “So I’ve heard.”

“Seriously, dude.” Ed leaned forward on the table and nodded his head, “If I swung that way, I’d have a stiffy right now.”

Elliot cringed. “Don’t.”

Ed laughed, sat forward, and opened up his menu. “You’ve gotta be getting close to the end, right?”

From the tone of Ed’s voice, he was pretty sure the guy was clueless about what had been happening, and he liked it that way. “Almost.”

“How’s it going?” Ed looked up. “I mean with Fe and all?”

It wasn’t anything in particular he asked that raised the red flag, but there was a tone in his voice that made Elliot pause. Like he knew something he wasn’t saying. “What have you heard?”

Ed frowned, then ripped a bit of paper from his napkin and began rolling it with his fingers. “April’s been in my ear, you know? Something about an incident?”

Elliot’s brow furrowed, and he tightened his jaw. “An incident?”

“Yeah,” Ed replied. “Something about New Year’s?”

Elliot leaned back in his seat, a rock suddenly dropping in his stomach. Women talked, he knew that, but hearing it labeled as an incident made his chest burn.

“Dude, you know how girls are,” Ed continued. “I’m sure it was nothing, right? I mean, you kissed? So what? April’s just freaking out so I had to ask. You guys solid?”

“Yeah…” Elliot nodded. “We’re solid.” But his mind was running like a jackrabbit, wondering what she’d told people about their kiss. Maybe he should have assumed as much, but hearing it out loud filled his stomach with gravel.

A football game was playing on the screen, captivating Ed’s attention, but all Elliot could think about was what came next. Maybe she was right. Maybe they should end this thing before something else happened. But for some reason, he didn’t want to. For some reason, he wanted to see it through to the end.

He turned to Ed, needing to get things off his chest. “The next step is football,” he stated.

Ed made a face, then shot his eyes up to the television screen. “Football?”

“We’re going to play with her brothers.”

Ed closed one eye and cringed. “Fe has brothers?”

“Three.”

The server came to take their orders then, just as April and Fe walked into the bar. She was wearing her normal garb. Jeans, tied flannel at her waist, and a gray tee shirt that read “Talk Nerdy to Me”, but for some reason, she looked different.

She quickly slid into the booth beside him, leaned across the table and grabbed a menu. “Sorry I’m late,” she whispered to Elliot. “Work has been crazy.”

It was the first she’d spoken to him in days, and just the sound of her voice eased some of the tension from his shoulders. “Glad you made it,” he whispered back.

She smiled at him, tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, and ordered her usual burger.

Their meals were brought to them a short time later, followed by an interesting conversation about Ed and April’s gaming channel.

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