Page 42 of Rules to Love By

Maybe he hadn’t appreciated Eli’s assessment? But then he probably got that sort of compliment often enough. Even in work-grubby clothes and with sweat sticking his hair to his temples, Eli had thought Marcus looked fantastic. Most people probably thought so. But maybe saying so would feel even less flattering to Marcus, so he kept his mouth shut.

“So you probably have to get back to classes tomorrow?”

Eli shook his head. “I can do what I have to online, so I can pretty much do it anyplace.”

“Oh. I didn’t know that was a thing.”

“Maybe depends on the course.” Eli fidgeted. He wasn’t one hundred percent lying, since YouTube was online, and he would be spending a fair amount of the next few days scouring it so he wouldn’t look like an idiot when he helped Marcus with the display and the storage cupboard. “Mine’s pretty light, I guess. What about you?” Best to change the subject before he dug himself an even deeper hole. “How is my dad’s renovation going?”

“Not bad. Mostly, it’s been Andre giving up his weekend to redo some wiring and refurbish those old lamps your mom chose. They can take LED bulbs, and now they cast enough light for your dad to work by. Today I plastered up the holes and painted the lamps.” He grinned at Eli. “Tomorrow we sand the dry plaster, plaster again, and count more inventory. Fun times.”

“You mean you didn’t finish that scintillating task while I was gone?”

“You wish. No, I helped Andre. It was… educational.”

“Educational?” Eli watched Jake approach, expertly balancing coffee and pie on a tray as he wove through the tables.

“I now know eighty-seven ways to swear in French, how to rewire a light, and that the trend of refurbishing old shit is a nightmare.”

Eli chuckled. “Ready to order?”

While they were perusing the offerings, Jake returned with Eli’s iced tea and a glass of lemonade for Marcus.

“What’s this?” Marcus frowned at the glass.

“Do you want something else?” Jake asked, frozen, the glass held an inch above the tabletop. “You like lemonade.” A furrow formed across his forehead.

Eli opened his mouth to step in, to defend Jake for doing something he thought was nice, when Marcus’s expression softened.

“Yeah, of course. I love lemonade, Jake,” He moved his menu out of the way so Jake could set the glass down. “It was really nice that you remembered that.”

Jake beamed at him. “You want pancakes too? You like pancakes.”

“I love them.” Marcus grinned at him, like they were sharing a secret. “But maybe not for supper. How about we get some garlic bread.” He glanced at Eli.

Eli nodded.

“And while Kreed’s making that, we’ll figure out what else we want.”

“Okay.” Jake took a moment to carefully write on his pad, then turned and left without another word.

Once again, Eli opened his mouth to say something, but when he looked over, Marcus was sitting back, eyes closed. Eli waited.

Finally, Marcus opened his eyes. “I’m sorry about that. I shouldn’t have snapped at him.” He tightened his fingers into a fist. “I’m not very good at this.”

“At what?”

He blinked a few times, and a muscle along his jaw popped.

Eli realized Marcus was clenching his teeth. Without thinking, he reached over to touch the popping joint but stopped himself mid-motion and instead, dropped his hand over Marcus’s clenched fist. “You don’t have to explain.”

“I don’t think I was actually expecting this ‘date’ to last this long.”

“Why the hell not? We haven’t even ordered yet.”

“They never do, you know. ‘Let’s have dinner’ is just—a meeting. Nobody is really wanting dinner.” He ran a thumb over Eli’s fingers, but Eli didn’t think he was aware of the gesture. “Not most guys who ask me out. They don’t often get to it.”

“Why ask a guy to dinner if you don’t plan on eating?” he wondered. Not that he needed it spelled out. But he had to say something, didn’t he?

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