Page 72 of Fun Together
“Because you’ve done too much. I can’t pay you back.”
“There’s no payback required.” He rubs his hands down his face. “It’s not that complicated.”
This is when I realize something. Eli is annoyed. He never makes snide comments like that. I hate to admit that I am almost excited by this side of him—he’s usually so chill, it’s almost inhuman. Maybe things not working out with Dani really is bothering him. Maybe he needs to do this so he can feel like something can come out of this night. Which is maybe what I need, too.
“If you insist.” I grab a knife to open the box and hand it to him.
“It won’t take us long,” he says, running the knife through the tape. “Do you have real tools, or will we have to use these things?” He holds up the plastic baggie full of screws and tools that come with the package.
“Do I look like I own real tools? Oh wait! I have a hammer!”
“Never mind, we can make this work.” He pulls pieces out of the box and starts laying them out on the floor.He holds up the instruction booklet but doesn’t even look at it before tossing it to the side.
“I’m going to change. Be right back.”
I put on some bike shorts and my biggest, softest T-shirt, and I already feel ten times better. After taking my contacts out and washing my face, I feel like an entirely new woman. When I come back out, Eli is laying out the pieces on the floor. He glances up when I walk over, pausing to look at me for a second before sighing and continuing to spread out the pieces. He doesn’t seem to be enjoying this at all.
“Are you sure you want to be doing this now? You seem . . . frustrated.”
23
Eli
I am frustrated,but probably not for the reason she thinks.
It’s not because of things not working with Dani. Or because of anything Faye said. I’m frustrated at Cameron for being an idiot and at myself for introducing Faye to Chris, knowing that he would never make the first move with her. Since everyone left, Faye has tried to act like she’s okay, but I can tell she’s in her head about it.Even though she says it was fine and that she’s not actually into them, I guarantee she’s running through everything she said tonight, wondering what she could have done differently.
I’m frustrated at the battle I’ve had with myself for the last three hours because the handle I have on this crush is slipping by the minute. I guess I should be happy she changed, because those pants she had on tonight were designed in a lab to torture me.
But honestly, what she changed into doesn’t help matters. Now, she’s in her glasses and wearing these spandex shorts and huge T-shirt that just makes me want to curl up on the couch with her, instead of putting together this dresser.
Maybe if I talk to her about tonight, it’ll help distract me from my own thoughts.
“Faye,” I say.
“Yeah?” She's concentrating on screwing in a piece, and she’s making this face that is so cute it’s killing me.
“They’re idiots.”
“Yeah, I know,” she says.
“I’d say you dodged a bullet with both of them. And look on the bright side, you’ve gotten a couple of dates out of the way. Gotta kiss some bad frogs or whatever the expression is.”
She just hums in answer.
But I can’t stop talking. “Can you imagine what either of them would be like in bed?”
She stops what she’s doing but doesn’t look at me. “Eli?”
“Hmm?”
“I don’t really want to talk about their potential sexual prowess with you.” She sits back and looks around. “Do you see another piece like this one?” She holds up what I think is the front of a drawer.
I sift through the other pieces. “No, don’t see it.”
She tosses the drawer piece aside. “If you want to continue this slow torture, go for it.” She stands up and heads into the kitchen. “You still want cookies?”
I’m thrown by the change in subject. “Uh, yeah?”
