Page 53 of Overeager
Eli
“I’m just saying you’re acting shady.”
Eli pulled the phone away from his cheek so he could make a face at it, never mind that Faith couldn’t see him on the other end. “Just because I don’t want to introduce you to my brand-new boyfriend means I’m acting shady?”
“Yes, it does,” she said, as snippy as she’d been the entire call so far. “Because he’s not even brand-new anymore. It’s been months.AndI’ve already met him. This would be a second meeting. Liz wants to make him dinner,” she added, unashamedly pulling out the big guns.
Eli tucked the phone back between his cheek and shoulder so he could keep editing his PowerPoint as he tried to talk Faith down from her meet-Noah-right-this-second crusade. “You’re lying. Liz can’t cook to save her life.”
“Fine. Liz wants to order takeout and put it in fancy serving dishes and pretend she cooked.” Eli laughed, but Faith wasn’t placated. “Is this just a sex thing, then?”
“No!”
“Are you still worried he’s not serious?”
“No …”
Noah had made it pretty clear he was into Eli in a major way. So clear that even Eli, with all his overthinking, couldn’t mistake his alpha’s intentions.
But what does a twenty-one-year-old know about intentions?
Jesus. Eli really wished he could turn that stupid, skeptical part of his brain off.
“Eli …,” Faith prodded.
“It’s just … complicated, okay?”
The problem was, Eli still didn’t have the guts to tell Faith that Noah was his student. He didn’t think he’d be able to handle her disappointment with him. If the person he trusted most in this world thought he was a genuine creep …
Plus, it seemed hypocritical to stress the importance of secrecy to Noah and then go blabbing to his own sister. But either way, Eli wasn’t handling this conversation well. Secrecy just wasn’t in his wheelhouse—it was getting to him. It was getting to Noah, too, judging by how mopey he’d gotten last week over the phone when Eli had strong-armed him into going to a party without him.
Well, mopey by Noah standards, which meant he’d still been sweet as pie and absurdly easy to cheer up. But still …
And it wasn’t going to get any easier for them, at least not anytime soon. Eli was getting closer to his heat, and his body was letting him know, mainly by telling him he should be touching and scenting Noah every single second of every single day.
Which meant the lecture he was about to go to was going to be hell. Eli couldn’t even wear one of Noah’s shirts under his sweater to get him through the thing, for fear of someone catching Noah’s scent on him.
“Eli.Eli.”
Oops. Apparently Faith had been calling his name. Eli cleared his throat, hopefully projecting full innocence. “Yes?”
“Permission to truth-bomb you?”
Eli saved his PowerPoint edits and closed his laptop, leaning back in his chair with a sigh. “Since when have you ever needed permission?”
“Good point. Here goes.” She gave a dramatic pause. “Noah is not you. And you are not Richard.”
Eli winced. Ouch. “That’s not what I meant by complicated.”
“Too baaaad,” Faith singsonged. “I’m bringing it up anyway. Because if you’re keeping him at arm’s length because of the age thing … Just know you’re not exactly unbiased in that department.”
“Why are you so adamant about him anyway?” Eli asked. It wasn’t like Faith to push him into dating. Into leaving the house more often, yes. Into trying to get a little human touch once in a while, sure. But not into shackling himself to another alpha. “You liked him that much?”
He could almost hear her shrug over the phone. “He had good energy, sure. But also …” Faith let out a sigh. “I hoped after you and Richard separated that you’d spread your wings a little. Let yourself grow and play and experience new things now that he wasn’t there closing you off at every angle. But instead you became … smaller. It was all work, work, work and nights at home. I want you to open your world up, Eli. You deserve it.”
Oh god. The sincerity had arrived, and it was painful. Painful and accurate. “And you think jumping into another relationship is the key?”
“I think the way this Noah kid had you blushing and flustered and off-kilter at the bar was the most out of your comfort zone I’ve seen you in a long time. And I think some people find it easier to be brave when they have a person in their corner. I think, from thevery littleyou’ve told me about him,” she said, ina tone that made it clear how she felt about that, “he seems like the kind of guy who wants to be in your corner.”
