Page 88 of Still Here Without You

“You answered pretty quickly, considering it was rude.”

“What can I say? I like forward people.” He shrugs. “How old are you?”

My face scrunches in response, and he mimics my look. “That bad?”

“I honestly don’t think you want to know.”

His eyes widen in panic. “You’re legal, right?”

I wince. “Only just.”

“Justwon’t get my club shut down, so we’re good.”

“Shit, Mark. I’m sorry. I never even thought of that. I’m twenty-one. I’m legal.”

Mark’s silent for a moment until he shakes his head with a laugh. “Would it be okay if you called me Eli?”

“Eli? Why would I do that…holy shit, did you lie to me?”

He laughs again. “No, no. Mark is the name I use for business. But hearing you say it over and over when my friends call me Eli feels wrong.”

“Are we friends?”

“Here’s hoping.” He crosses his fingers, holding them up in the air.

“Two questions,” I say with narrowed eyes.

“Shoot,” he says, seemingly unfazed by my curiosity.

“Why me and why Eli?”

“Both easy answers. Eli is my middle name. Well, Elijah is. So I go by that. And for you… Something about you drew me in. I can’t pinpoint what…but I recognized something in you that I feel myself.”

“Heartache?”

“That’d be it!” he says with a smile.

“Misery loves company.”

“Hey, no. It wasn’t like that.” He shakes his head, frowning.

“It’s okay. I get it. As long as you don’t have a hero complex and want to fix me, we’re good.”

“I was kind of hoping you’d want to fix me.”

My lips pull into a thin line as I stare him down, trying to gauge the level of truth to his statement. “I can’t even sort my own shit out, let alone yours.”

“Want to talk about it?”

“To you?”

“Yes, to me,” he says with a laugh.

“I’ll think about it.”

“Are you worried that I want in your pants…” He tilts his head to the side. “Or up your skirt in this case.”

I quickly look down to double-check what he can see, but I’m still completely hidden under his jacket. An uncomfortable feeling takes over, even though he’s been kind until this point. I should have seen this coming. Why else would he approach a random girl in his club?God, I’m such an idiot. I—

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