Parting Chances (Fighting Chance #1) Read online

  I nudged his shoulder. “Well, good thing you have me then.”

  The blush on his neck deepened. Oh shit. Why did I say it that way?

  “And you’re lucky most of this class is computer based work. You’ll be fine.” I was blabbing and was glad when Professor Grady walked in.

  “Students, welcome to Motion Graphic Animation. I see many familiar faces.” His eyes scanned the crowd. A smirk formed when they landed on me. “Ah, I see you’ve secured your spot in the back row once again, Ms. Cavanaugh.”

  “Better acoustics,” I breezed at him. I knew his game, and he knew I was an A student. But that didn’t stop a blush from heating my cheeks.

  Professor Grady chuckled, pulled out a piece of paper, and started calling off names. Once finished, he had a student in the front hand out the syllabus—another reason why I liked sitting in the back.

  We went through the syllabus and dug into a lesson. I glanced over at Eli to see if Professor Grady still had his attention. Eli was hunched over his computer working away with the lesson that was projected on the overhead screen. I grinned, then turned back to my screen and followed along.

  Forty-five minutes later, Eli and I walked out together.

  “When’s your next class?” he asked, pulling his phone from his pocket and checking his schedule. “Mine’s not until one.”

  I pulled my cell out too and brought up my schedule. “One-thirty.” Which means we had two hours to blow.

  “Want to hang out in the student union?” He stood in front of me, hands in his pockets, giving me slight puppy dog eyes. Whether he realized he was doing that or not, I’m not sure. But I was having a really hard time saying anything but yes.

  I’d planned on going home, eating lunch, maybe getting a nap in…but my damn mouth seemed to have different ideas.

  “Sure. I haven’t been there since they remodeled.”

  “Let’s check it out.” He smiled and turned to hold the door open for me once again.

  We walked across the campus to the union. They had remodeled the inside, adding more seating areas, more food choices and a legit coffee shop. I had only breezed through it the other day to get to the bookstore, so I never really noticed what had all been done.

  Eli once again held open the door for me when we got to the building.

  “You’re an awfully chivalrous guy,” I mentioned to him, noting this was the fourth time he held the door open for me today.

  “Isn’t it kind of sad that you’re surprised? Isn’t opening a door what people should do?” He nodded his head to his hand that was still propping the door open, until the kid behind him grabbed it with a mumbled thanks. “I think over-all politeness has kind of died in the world.”

  I let his words settle inside me. Realizing he was completely right. I remembered back to yesterday when I was going to work, and the couple in front of me let the door slam in my face at the coffee shop. They could clearly see me. I was right behind them, but the effort to even hold the door open for an extra second was lost on them.

  Eli led the way to two wing-back chairs by the floor-to-ceiling windows that overlooked the sports practice fields. He set his backpack on one chair and nodded in the direction of the coffee shop, Union Bean. “You want anything?”

  “Oh, I can get it.” I was almost settled in the chair but jumped back up.

  “I can get you a coffee.” He raised his eyebrows, daring me to argue with him.

  Well if he wanted to get me a coffee, I wouldn’t complain. I sank back down in the chair. “Thanks. I’ll have a caramel latte.” He flicked his fingers into the “okay” sign and headed in the direction of the Bean.

  I stared out the window, watching students run around the track. Before, the whole wall of windows was nothing but solid brick. It not only let a ton of natural light into the union now, but it also gave you something more to look at. And since Chapman University was situated in the Northwoods of Wisconsin, the beauty outside was undeniable. I couldn’t wait until autumn when all the leaves would be changing color. The view from here would be amazing.

  “Here you go.”

  I jumped at the sound of Eli’s voice.

  “Thanks,” I said, taking the cup he extended to me.

  “So…” Eli began as he settled into the chair opposite me. “How are classes so far?”

  “Well, considering that was my first class, I would say good so far.” I watched as a blush crept up his neck. He tried to rub at it, but it only seemed to make it worse.

  “Yeah, that’s right.”

  I moved my coffee in front of my mouth so he couldn’t see the smile. Poor guy looked all sorts of flustered. It didn’t work, though. Eli saw the grin on my face and nudged my leg with his foot.

  “Not funny. It’s been a long morning already. It feels like I’ve been to more than one class.” He rubbed his hand over his eyes and stifled a yawn.

  “Have trouble sleeping last night? Nervous for the first day of classes?” It was my turn to nudge him with my foot.

  “Yes and no.” He stopped and took a sip from his cup, resting his head back against the chair. Dark blue circles were prominent under his eyes, which he now had closed.

  As much as I wanted him to stay here and hang out with me, the poor guy looked like he wasn’t even going to make it close to his one o’clock class. “Hey, why don’t you go home and take a nap?” He peeked at me from under his lashes and gave me a small lopsided grin that set my heart racing. Even in his exhausted state, he was completely adorable.

  “By the time I get home, I could maybe take a five minute nap before I’d need to eat and leave. I’ll be fine.” He sounded confident, but his eyes betrayed him by closing again.

  “I live down the road. Crash at my place.”

  He barely stirred, and I glanced at the time on my phone. “We have an hour and a half. You can nap for a bit and I can make lunch and you’ll get back here in time for your next class.”

  Finally, he opened his eyes. The intense gaze he gave me almost had me retracting my words. Before he could say anything, I stood and shouldered my backpack, kicking his foot again. “Come on. Let’s go. I make a mean turkey sandwich.” That got a laugh out of him, and he didn’t fight me. He stood and followed me outside.

  It only took ten minutes to get to my apartment. When we got inside, Eli pretty much fell onto the couch and told me to wake him in half an hour. He was out two seconds later. My mind started coming up with all these different scenarios about why he didn’t sleep last night. Most of which dealt with girls. And all of them made me stupidly jealous.

  I wasn’t tired in the slightest so I spent the time avoiding staring at Eli as he slept. Yes, it made me feel like a creeper, but the guy was even more attractive when he was asleep, if that was even possible. So I locked myself in my room and played around on Facebook—which meant I stalked Eli there instead of staring at him in person. I had become a psycho.

  I forgot we had been friends on there since freshman year. Thanks to all the Facebook algorithms, he’d disappeared from my newsfeed. Which is why I knew nothing about his life for the last two years. I’m not sure if it would have been better to see him transform over the years. It’s not like it was an all at once transformation. It was very gradual, and you couldn’t even tell from the photos he posted. But when you look back at pictures of him in high school and that first year in college…well, you can definitely see how much he’s changed.

  I was hoping something on his profile would give me a clue as to what he was doing last night.

  Or who. No. Not who. God, Haley, don’t even go there!

  He must have not cared about Facebook much because his posts were few and far between. It was nice knowing he wasn’t constantly on his phone updating his status or posting every single picture he took to his wall. Not wanting to be a stalker any longer, I shut my computer down and wandered back into the living room.

  To keep myself occupied for the next ten minutes he had left of his nap, I got
to work preparing our lunch. It wasn’t going to be much. Just turkey sandwiches and some fruit. I thought there was a bag of chips in the pantry that I could throw on the table too.

  A loud beep, beep, beep coming from the living room scared the crap out of me. I dropped the knife I was using to spread mayo on the bread and whipped around clutching my hand to my heart. Eli’s hand searched the floor before settling on his phone and turning the ear-splitting noise off. He yawned and rolled over onto his back, stretching his hands above his head.

  His shirt rode up, exposing that amazing stomach and perfect happy trail. I gulped, trying to peel my eyes away from him, but my brain was not working. His chuckle finally broke me out of my trance, and I met his gaze.

  “Like what you see?” He gave me the full-powered lopsided grin, and my heart fluttered. Damn. I hate that he had this power over me. I was not getting attached this year. I was focusing on the two important things in my life right now: Mom and school. That was it.

  Spinning back around, I plucked the knife off the counter and went back to the sandwiches. “Do you like lettuce and tomato?” Maybe if I didn’t even acknowledge his comment we’d forget all about it. He made a sound that sounded like a confirmation as he stood.

  “Bathroom?” he asked, his voice still rough from sleep.

  “First door on the right. You can’t miss it.” I finished the sandwiches and cut up two apples, placing them on plates and on the table. I looked for the chips and saw they were on the top shelf in the pantry. If I could just get a little air I could swipe them down without having to drag a chair in here. I jumped once and failed miserably but wasn’t ready to give up yet. Standing on my tiptoes, I reached as high as I could but was just an inch shy of my target. I felt his presence behind me before I could move. Eli’s body pressed against mine as he reached over my head and snagged the chips with ease. He brought them down in front of me but didn’t move.

  One. Two. Three. I counted my breaths, trying not to have a panic attack. Or worse, turn around and start making out with the guy who had my heart all up in a roar. He let out a small chuckle before backing out of the pantry and taking a seat at the table. When I could finally control my breathing I walked out to the table and threw the chips down. What was it with him and invading my personal space like that?

  “What do you want to drink? We have water, soda, milk...” I peered in the fridge seeing if we had anything else.

  “Whatever you’re having.”

  I pulled two cans of Dr. Pepper out and joined him at the table.

  “Good choice.” He grinned and took a long swig. His Adam’s apple bobbed up, and his neck muscles became defined.

  How the hell is watching him drink something so attractive?!

  Averting my eyes before he could catch me staring again, I picked my sandwich up and took a very large unladylike bite. Lettuce stuck out from my lips, and I chewed down the rest of my sandwich. Attractive, I’m sure.

  Eli didn’t even bat an eye at my appearance and took an even larger bite from his sandwich. We ate in silence, the crunch of the apples and chips became our background music. Eli finished well before I did and sat back rubbing his stomach.

  “Thanks. That was delicious.”

  I gave him a nod and popped the rest of my sandwich in my mouth.

  “Next time lunch will be on me,” he said. A small piece of bread went down the wrong pipe at his words, and I started a coughing fit. My eyes watered as I tried my hardest to contain my coughing. A few sips of my soda later, and I had regained control of my breathing.

  “You okay?” Eli’s eyes were furrowed with concern.

  “I’m good. Went down the wrong pipe.” I sipped my soda slowly, letting it trickle down my throat easing the ache that was left there. Eli gathered our empty plates and took them to the sink. Before I could tell him to just leave them, he had washed and placed them in the drying rack. He walked over to the couch and took a seat, waving me over to join him.

  Still clutching my soda, I made my way into the living room and took a seat on the opposite end of the couch, tucking my legs under me.

  “So…” we both said at the same time. Then we chuckled and stared at each other. My eyes pleaded with his to start the conversation. I was always horrible at that kind of thing. Especially with a guy who made me so nervous.

  “How’s your family?” he asked. And now I regretted wanting him to go first.

  “They’re fine,” I said with a shrug. Eli’s eyebrow twitched as he waited for me to continue. “Caleb is getting married.” Maybe that would be enough to pacify him.

  “To the girl he just met?”

  “Yeah. Well, I guess they met last year during the summer program, so they knew of each other. They reconnected this year, and she helped him through his issues with our mom. And now they want to get married right away so Mom can be there.” I took a sip of my soda to clear the lump in my throat and tried to blink back the tears forming in my eyes.

  “Well, I suppose I could understand that logic.” Eli reached across the distance between us and patted my leg, leaving his hand there. “So, how is your mom?”

  My heart jumped at his touch and the concern etched in his voice. Although, part of me wanted to adjust myself so he wasn’t touching me and run out the door to avoid talking about my mom. But I made the mistake of looking into Eli’s eyes and saw nothing but pure compassion in them. Any thought of me fleeing left my mind in an instant, and I relaxed back into the couch.

  “She’s doing okay. Still having more good days instead of bad days. This weekend, it seemed like there was nothing wrong with her, which I think is the hardest thing of this all. Part of me forgets that she is even sick…dying.” The word tasted bitter. I didn’t want to continue talking about this, but there was a tightness in my chest I didn’t even realize was there until I felt it slowly release as I finally talked to someone about her. Eli’s hand ran up and down my thigh, urging me to continue.

  “I think she is trying to be strong for the rest of us, and she doesn’t want Caleb or me to see the cancer affecting her. She kept going all weekend, and never let on that something was wrong. But when I left on Sunday I could tell she was drained. She was paler than normal and seemed so weak, either leaning on my dad for support or sitting every chance she got. And I saw her taking more pills. So I know things are getting worse, but she’s still trying her best to hide it from us.”

  I hadn’t realized that at some point in this one-sided conversation, Eli had moved closer to me and his arm was now wrapped around my shoulder. My body was completely relaxed against him, with my head resting on him. He must have some ninja skills to have maneuvered me into this position without me even realizing it.

  I could stay in his arms forever.

  As soon as that thought entered my mind, my body tensed. These were the exact thoughts I was trying to stay away from. And by the way Eli ran his hand up and down my arm and pressed kisses into my hair, I had a feeling he may be getting the wrong idea. Moving quickly, I slid out of his grasp and was in the kitchen in an instant. It took a moment for Eli to realize what had happened. His gaze was questioning, before clearing and becoming pained.

  “I get it. Sorry,” he said while standing. He walked to the door and slipped his shoes on, then reached for the door handle.

  “No. Wait…” I didn’t want him to leave thinking I was rejecting him. And though my excuse may come off as lame, it was better than the possibility of destroying our friendship. His hand paused on the knob, and he turned his head slightly, giving me a raised eyebrow.

  “I know this is going to sound like some line. But I promise it really isn’t. I mean, I like you, I really do.”

  “Is this about Drew?” Eli asked.

  I was so taken aback by his question, my hip banged against the counter. “Shit,” I groaned, rubbing the sore spot.

  How did he even remember Drew? We had dated for the last few months of freshman year and I was pretty sure Eli had never met him. S
ure Drew and I dated for almost two years, and yeah, he stuck a knife in my heart when he broke up with me. He also took me away from my family when there was another cancer scare the summer after our freshman year. Instead of being at home, like I should have been, I was oblivious to the situation and spent every moment with Drew. I had chosen Drew over my family, and that couldn’t happen again.

  “So you’re still dating?” he asked, taking my silence completely wrong.

  “What?” I glanced at him to see if he was being serious.

  He crossed his arms over his chest and leaned against the door, waiting for me to answer him. Yep, he was serious.

  “No.” I shook my head. “God, no! I haven’t spoken to that asshat since he left me last December.”

  “So, what’s your excuse then?” Eli raised an eyebrow. He was probably waiting for some other typical line. Guess I had no choice but to tell him the truth.

  “With everything going on with my mom, I’m just not in the right place to start anything…with anyone. And believe me when I say, I wish I was in a good place right now. I wish I could trust myself to date someone because you’d definitely be that person. But my focus should be on my mom right now. Not on whatever my stupid heart wants. Drew made me forget what's really important, and I can't let that happen again.” A blush crept up my neck as I said more than I meant to.

  Eli sighed and pushed off the door. “Damn… I can’t even be upset because last year I was in the same place. I understand, Haley.” His hand once again grasped the doorknob, this time pulling it open. He took a step out, paused, and turned back to me. “Thanks for lunch.”

  I nodded, expecting that to be the end of it, but when he didn’t turn to leave, I started getting anxious.

  “For the record,” he said, “I’m pretty sure I’ll still be waiting whenever you do come around.” And with that, he walked out, shutting the door behind him.