Page 55 of Absolutely Not in Love
She winces the slightest bit, but then she shrugs and breathes out a long sigh, the hurt in her expression melting into something more like resignation. “I mean, they tried. They always encouraged me to do whatever made me happy. But they didn’t really understand. If theydidcome to hear me play, it was only because it was me. Not because it was anything they actually enjoyed. They never come to any of my performances now. It’s just not their thing.”
“Butyouare their thing. You’re their daughter,” I say. “That should count for something.”
She quickly shakes her head. “I’ve made peace with it. And we get along fine now. The fewer expectations I have, the easier it is to not get my feelings hurt.”
I don’t like the idea ofanythinghurting Gracie’s feelings, but she clearly doesn’t want to talk about it anymore. “If it matters,” I say slowly, my eyes lifting to hers, “I love to hear you play.”
“A point in your favor,” she says with an easy smile. But then she bites her lip, her eyes flashing as her expression shifts into something flirty. “And something that made me finally decide I was being a little shortsighted by dismissingallhockey players.”
It’s not quite a declaration of interest, but it’s close. “It’s that so?” I say. “Want me to send you Eli’s number?”
She purses her lips. “You’re not funny.”
I smirk. “I’m a little funny.”
“And I’m sure Eli is a nice guy. But he’s definitely not the hockey player I’m interested in.”
“Felix!” A voice calls from the other side of my front door.Eli’s voice. “Are you home?”
Gracie’s eyes go wide, and I shake my head.
“No way,” I say.
She starts to laugh. “Is that actually Eli? How did he even do that? He literally showed up seconds after I said his name!”
“Leave it to Eli.” I sigh and put down my fork. I never should have given my teammates the code to the outside door. I stand and step away from the table, then pause and turn to face Gracie. “Just in case, I apologize for anything that’s about to happen.”
I slide my door open to find not just Eli, but Nathan, too.
“Hey,” I say. “What are you—” My words cut off as Eli pushes into my apartment, clapping me on the back on his way. “Sure, come on in,” I say dryly. “I don’t have anything else going on.”
Nathan shrugs and gruffly says, “You know Eli.”
I’ve actually been known toadmireEli in the past. The man enters every room with absolute certainty that he is one, always welcome, and two, everyone’s favorite person. Not in a cocky way. He’s just…happy and comfortable in his own skin in pretty much every environment.
Right now, I wish he’d be happy and comfortable somewhere else.
I step out of the way and motion Nathan into the apartment. He’s the exact opposite of Eli. Honestly, he’d probably prefer waiting in the hallway, or even outside in the car.
“Oh, hey…you have company,” Eli says as Nathan follows me into the kitchen. “Hi, Gracie. Nice to see you again.”
Eli moves to the stove, sniffing around the remaining spaghetti. What he doesn’t do isflirtwith Gracie, which, based on her raised eyebrows, seems to surprise her.
I’m not surprised, though. Eli won’t overstep now that he knows I’m interested in Gracie. He’s too good a guy for that.
“Yeah, I do have company,” I say as I run a hand through my hair. “I could have told you that had you texted.”
Eli pulls a spoon out of the drawer and takes a bite of spaghetti sauce. “I did text. You didn’t answer.”
I pat my pockets looking for my phone, but it’s not even on me. It must be in the kitchen somewhere, but I’ve been so focused on Gracie, I haven’t even noticed or missed it.
“Dude, this is amazing,” Eli says, motioning to the sauce. “Did you make this?”
“I did,” I say. “Why are you here again? We were kind of in the middle of…” I don’t finish my sentence because it’s not like I’m on an actual date with Gracie. We ate dinner, and now we’re done. We aren’t in the middle of anything except a conversation, and it feels a little too pointed to shove my friends out of the apartment just because of that.
“We’re here for the jerseys,” Eli says. “Seriously, can I have a plate of this? I’m starving.”
“Wejustate,” Nathan says, tugging at his ponytail.
