Page 67 of Beyond the Hate

Eli hands me a cup of coffee. I sniff the brew before taking a small sip. “It’s good.”

“You don’t have to sound surprised.”

“Trust me. I’ve seen what you can do to a coffee machine. I’m not faking surprise.”

“Ready for the tour now?”

My nose wrinkles. “I don’t know.”

The kitchen is impressive. The rest of the house is bound to be amazing. It’s a bit intimidating if I’m being honest.

“There’s no reason to be scared. Nothing in this house will bite you.” He waggles his eyebrows. “Unless you want it to.”

I narrow my eyes on him. “No biting.”

He winks. “You didn’t mind last night.”

I feel my cheeks warm but ignore them. “Let’s have this tour then. I don’t have all day.”

He threads his fingers through mine and leads me out of the kitchen. “This is the living room. You might be familiar with the couch.”

I am no wilting flower. I draw a finger along the back of the sofa. “It is a nice sofa.” I glance up at Eli and bite my bottom lip. “Very comfortable.”

He groans. “You can’t tease me if I’m not allowed to ravish you in every room of the house.”

I quirk up an eyebrow. “Who said I don’t want you to ravage me in every room of the house?”

“You can’t distract me.”

“Distract you?” I flutter my eyelashes. “Whatever do you mean?”

“You want me to give into temptation and bend you over the sofa, so you don’t have to discuss how good we are together.”

“I agree we’re good together.”

He steps close and presses his front to mine. “We’re fucking spectacular together but there’s more to us than chemistry.”

My heart thuds in my chest. I’m not ready to admit there’s more to us than chemistry. Eli would be too easy to fall in love with. But I’ve made the mistake of thinking I could fall in love before. And I don’t repeat my mistakes.

“Do you really have a swimming pool in the basement?”

He sighs and steps back. “There’s only one way to find out.” He motions me forward and I scurry in front of him.

We descend to the basement. This time, I don’t let my jaw drop to the floor. I clear my throat and feign nonchalance.

“Is this all?” I ask as I scan the area.

Behind a glass wall is a gym facility to rival any professional fitness center I’ve been to. Next to it is a gurgling hot tubbehind which is a sauna. But the real eyecatcher is the pool. It runs the entire length of the house.

“Nova would love this. She’s a great swimmer but she’s afraid to swim in the ocean.”

“You should invite her over. In fact, invite all of your friends over. I’ll invite my brothers. We’ll have a pool party.”

I point to the volleyball net stored in the corner. “I hope you have an industrial sized first aid kit.”

“I have five brothers. I have every first aid kit known to man. Plus, my mom’s a nurse.”

“Handy. It would have been useful for Sophia’s mom to be a nurse when we were growing up.”

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