Page 109 of Problematic Summer Romance

He chuckles. After our fight, I feel more relaxed around him than I have in a long while. “And you kept insisting that you’d just gone for a run.”

“Ihad.”

“You reeked of weed and wore a denim miniskirt.”

“Oh, right.” I laugh. “Then maybe I hadn’t.”

“That’s why I grounded you for a month. Out of curiosity, where were you?”

“Hmm. I think at the time I was hanging out with a guy whose older sister went to UT. She would get us into parties at the dorms all the time.”

He nods like I’ve solved an ancient mystery. “Then maybe that’s the reason I’m reminding you of that night.” He sighs. “Maya, I think we need to talk about Hark.”

Chapter 34

It’s unsettling, how easily I slip back into my adolescent tactics, as though the instinct tolie, deflect, omitwill forever be embedded within me. “What’s up?” I ask, batting my eyes innocently. “Anything I should know?”

Eli gives me a calm, slanted look. It lasts long enough for me to ask myself:What the hell are you doing?

“I’m sorry. That was uncalled for. Let’s start again—what about Conor?”

Eli’s tongue roams his cheek. Clearly, seeing us interact during the fight must have given him some food for thought. “You know, for a while there, I wondered if you were just pretending to like him because you enjoyed watching me squirm.”

“That was just a nice perk.” I grin. “Okay, before you start the overprotective-older-brother routine, allow me to give you a brief overview of the facts: Everything is consensual. I initiated it. He’snot taking advantage of my wide-eyed youth. He’s not breaking my heart. He’s not—”

“Areyou?”

“—using his considerable influence to…Excuse me?”

“Areyoubreaking his heart?”

It’s like a mischievous child is shaking the little snow globe in which I dwell, and now the world is upside down. “So…You’renothere to inform me that if this continues, you’re going to lock me in Rapunzel’s tower and beat up your closest friend for ruining me. You’re here to tell your barely legal little sister to be gentle with the rich older guy.”

Eli licks his teeth. “Put this way, it sounds fucked up.”

I nod, thoughtful. But say, “I find this very flattering.”

“You do?”

“At leastyouare giving me agency. I’m not wholly sure why you’re siding with him, but—”

“I’m not—it’s not aboutsiding, Maya. I am just worried about the one who clearly has feelings.”

I laugh. Then realize that he’s serious. “You thinkIdon’t?”

“I…” Eli’s palm draws circles against his temple. “It’s different. He’s different. With you, I mean. I think it’s the way he looks at you. I’ve never seen him like this.”

“Like what?”

“Like…Like he could become unhinged really quickly.” A sigh. “In the last couple of years, he’s been very protective of you, but—”

“Are we talking about Conor Harkness?”

Eli looks at me like I’m an ungrateful toddler. “Yes, Maya. He cares about your well-being. He checks in. Pays attention when you come up in conversation. Remember that hard-to-get computer Minami gave you as a graduation present?”

“Yeah.”

“He’s the one who pulled strings to get it. And—” Eli snorts. “You know how he feels about UT after they kicked us out, right?”

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