Parting Chances (Fighting Chance #1) Read online

“Robb, I’m heading out.” I tossed a dishrag into the sink as I called to my boss. A grunt of a reply came from the back, verifying that he heard me. After hanging my apron up, I grabbed my purse and headed to my car. I pulled my phone out of my pocket and typed out a quick message to Eli.

  Me: Just left work. Be there in a few.

  Opening my car door, I tossed my purse in, and my phone buzzed with an incoming text.

  Eli: Great. See you soon.

  Me: Yeah, can’t wait to study up on the periodic table. Psht.

  Eli: It won’t be so bad. You had basic chem in high school, right?

  Me: Yes…and I hated every moment of it. I retained nothing.

  Eli: Oh…maybe I should do a coffee run before you get here?

  Me: Probably a good idea.

  I couldn’t erase the smile from my face even if I wanted too. It had been three weeks since that way too informative lunch date. But I should have known I had nothing to worry about. Eli didn’t make it awkward, and we fell into a normal friendship. And that friendship included study dates for the horrible general ed class we had together. Why college forced you to take Chemistry was beyond me. And being the oh-so-smart person I am, I pushed it back until my senior year. Although, that had become quite the gift, since Eli was amazing at the class and had the patience to tutor me every week.

  I placed my phone in the cup holder in my car and headed out of the parking lot. Eli’s place was about fifteen minutes away, so if he was telling the truth about the coffee run, he’d still make it back before I got there. And now that I think about it, I could very well have brought the coffee myself, since I worked at a freaking coffee shop.

  My phone rang, and I laughed to myself, figuring it was Eli coming to the same realization I had.

  “Hello?” I answered it.

  “Hales! Please tell me you’re done with work.” Kyler’s voice came yelling through the phone.

  “Er, yeah I am. I was just…”

  She cut me off. “I need you here at the apartment. Now!” She sounded out of breath and angry.

  “Ky, I have a study session with Eli.” She knew how much I sucked at Chemistry. She knew I needed to study, especially with an upcoming exam.

  “It won’t be that long. I hope. I just really need you here. Please, Hales!” She knew she was going to get me with the pleading.

  “Okay, I’ll be there in a few.” Thankfully, I was pretty close to the apartment, and I hoped whatever she needed me for wouldn’t take very long.

  I pulled into the parking lot five minutes later, ran up the stairs to the apartment, and threw the door open. The door banged against the wall, and I stood rooted in place, taking in the scene that once was my living room.

  “Ky?” I asked into the mess of boxes and bubble wrap.

  “In here!” her muffled voice came from the middle of the chaos. Her blonde head popped up, and she gave me a small smile. “So, I need your help.”

  I had been trying my hardest to contain the laughter, but seeing her in the middle of debris with bubble wrap on her head, undid me. “What happened?” I managed to get out in-between hysterics.

  “I’m so glad you’re finding this funny. Can you help me?” She stuck an arm up, which I grabbed and helped drag her out of the box.

  “What exactly are you trying to do here?” I asked, still unable to see through the mess of bubble wrap to see what was actually in the boxes.

  “I’m trying to put this stupid chair together. Except I’m horrible at instructions. There are too many pieces, and I just want to throw it out the window. Please put it together for me?” Kyler begged while staring at the directions with pure hatred. Another laugh erupted from me, and I was able to dodge Kyler’s arm as she attempted to hit my shoulder.

  “Okay, okay. I’ll help. Hang on.” I snuck my phone from my pocket and pulled up Eli’s name.

  Me: I’m going to be late. A chair attacked Ky.

  Chuckling, I slid the phone back and held my hand out for the instructions. She slammed them in my palm and fell gracefully onto the floor, bringing her arms around her knees.

  “It doesn’t look that hard. But I can’t find half of the damn parts!”

  This time I held the chuckle in and went about sorting all the bubble wrap, making sure nothing was taped to them. After five minutes, I was finally able to see the chair parts. We made quick work of assembling the chair, and just as Kyler and I placed it in front of her desk, my back pocket buzzed.

  Eli: A chair attacked her? That may need to be explained.

  Me: Ha! I will. I’m heading over now.

  “Thanks so much, Hales. You’re a lifesaver. Noah works the night shift tonight. Otherwise, I would have called him.”

  “It’s fine. Just tell Noah he owes me.” I gave her a wink as she swiped at her phone, probably to call Noah. She waved as she headed back into her room.

  “Have fun studying,” she whispered while closing her door. My eyes rolled at her comment. No matter how many times I’d told her, she still thinks I’m doing extra-curriculars with Eli on our study nights. It also doesn’t help that our study sessions always fall on the nights Noah works the night shift.

  I pulled my car up in front of Eli’s house a little while later and took my backpack from the passenger seat, before running up the walkway. Eli met me at the door with a grin.

  “Tell me. Tell me now about the chair attacking!” He sounded way too excited. I laughed and brushed past him, toeing my shoes off by the door before walking into the living room and plopping down on the couch. I opened my backpack and pulled out my chemistry book and notebook, spreading them out on the coffee table next to Eli’s books and two steaming cups of coffee.

  “You are a doll!” I reached out and clutched the cup with my name on it, savoring the delicious liquid.

  “Tell me!” Eli jumped on the couch, his eyes begging me to explain the story.

  “Really, it’s not that big of a story.” I laughed, but proceeded to tell him what I had walked into after Kyler had called.

  “And you didn’t take a picture?” Eli asked, a chuckle escaping from his lips. My eyes popped wide open.

  “I didn’t even think of that! Damn it!”

  “She would have killed you,” Eli said, still laughing at the mental image of it.

  “Would have been worth it.” I took another sip of my coffee and directed my eyes to the table. With a groan, I slid my books on my lap and relaxed back into the couch. “I suppose we should start this beast. Nothing like an exam in the morning to kill the mood.” The words came out of my mouth before I could stop them. Eli whipped his head in my direction, giving me a lopsided grin and arching his eyebrow slightly.

  “Killing the mood? I didn’t realize it was that kind of study date,” he joked. And even though I knew he was just playing around, my cheeks turned red. My overactive imagination went wild and a fluttering erupted in my stomach. It’s not like it was the first time that ever happened when Eli and I were together. Ever since our conversation about me not dating and he said he’d more than likely be waiting, I had been more observant of every conversation or touch we had. He never made me feel uncomfortable, but he still made it clear he was interested. Now, if only I could get over my issues. I knew it wasn’t going to happen anytime soon, but my brain always liked the fantasies.

  A nudge to my shoulder startled me out of my daydream. Eli sat next to me grinning, causing me to turn an even deeper shade of red.

  “Um…okay…so, periodic table.” I opened my book, flipping back and forth, trying to find the chapter we were on. My hands were shaking so badly it was nearly impossible to be smooth about anything.

  “Chapter ten,” Eli said as he took the book from my hands and flipped to the correct page. He handed the book back to me, our hands brushing as he did. Heat jolted through my fingers, which made my hands tremble even harder.

  Seriously, I didn’t know if this was a good idea anymore. Us studying together when there was clear sexual tens
ion.

  Returning my focus to the book, I started our normal routine: reading through the chapter, before quizzing each other with the practice test the professor handed out.

  By the end of the night, my brain hurt. I stifled out a yawn and glanced at the clock. It wasn’t even ten o’clock yet, and my brain was completely shut down for the night.

  “I can’t do anymore,” I complained, leaning my head back against the couch and letting out another, louder yawn. “My brain is beat.”

  “You think you understand this?”

  I shrugged. “Guess we’ll find out when I take the exam tomorrow.”

  “You’ll do fine. You only need a C to pass. And his exams are ridiculously easy.” Eli reminded me. That was right. This professor was notorious for giving out the easiest exams while just giving you the basic knowledge of Chemistry. I suppose that was why his classes always booked up so quickly and why I even took him in the first place. And since my last exams had come back with solid Bs, I wasn’t going to worry anymore about this stupid periodic table.

  “Okay. I need to head home now. My brain hurts too much to do anything more than sleeping.” I shoved my books back in my bag and headed to the entryway to slip on my shoes.

  “Well, text me when you get there.” This was what Eli said every time I left his place at night. I nodded and gave him a quick hug. I couldn’t let it linger, not after all the crazy daydreams I had while I was here tonight.

  “See you tomorrow,” I called over my shoulder as I headed out to my car.

  The drive home was shorter than normal. I wasn’t sure if it was because of the lack of traffic or if I was driving faster than I usually do, but I was grateful I was home. After locking the front door, I dragged myself into my bedroom, shutting the door behind me and face-planting on the bed. The idea of changing my clothes crossed my mind, and I shed off what I was wearing and slipped into an overlarge t-shirt before crawling into bed.

  I tapped Eli the mandatory text, though I had to admit, those texts were always my favorite.

  Me: Made it home. Am crashing…now. Night!

  Eli: Night. Sweet dreams.

  My phone vibrated as I was locking up the Chapman Buzz. With a sigh, I swiped my finger against the screen to see a new text from Kyler.

  Ky: You better still be coming over!

  I let out a groan, remembering the movie night planned tonight at the boys’ house. We hadn’t all hung out as a group since classes started, and with the upcoming midterms, a break was needed. However, today had been the longest day in the history of ever, and I just wanted to go home and crawl into bed. Maybe get a whole eight hours of sleep. That would be nice. Instead, I responded to her text.

  Me: I’ll be there in a few.

  The drive over felt longer than the fifteen minutes it typically took, and there was more than one time I wanted to turn in the opposite direction and drive to my apartment instead. But eventually, I pulled up in front of the house and slowly made my way inside.

  Once I kicked off my shoes, I made my way into the empty living room and sprawled out on the couch. My legs spread out as far as they could, one arm behind my head, the other taking up the rest of the couch. My eyes closed the instant I was settled.

  I heard Noah and Kyler, and the air filled with the smell of popcorn, making me salivate. My eyes popped open to see them getting comfortable on the loveseat. I would have felt bad about not giving them the larger sofa, but Kyler was the one who forced me to be here tonight, even after I had mentioned the super long day. They would just have to deal with the close quarters. Not that they would mind, considering they were currently feeding each other popcorn.

  Eli walked into the living room with his own bowl of popcorn and stopped right by my head. “Move over.” He looked down at me.

  “Why? Sit in the recliner.” I complained. I really did not want to move right now.

  “If you knew what those two did in the recliner the other night, you wouldn’t want to sit there either.” Eli mentioned in a low voice.

  “Oh. Ew.” I slid my butt down further, moving my head completely on the middle cushion and my feet were now dangling over the armrest. Eli was just going to have to deal with the one cushion because I was not sitting up.

  He leaned down and moved some of my hair before sitting. I turned toward the TV where Noah had clicked play on some action movie.

  Yeah, great. Totally in the mood for that. I started to close my eyes again when Eli’s hand came in view of my face with a piece of popcorn.

  “Want some?” he asked.

  I opened my mouth, and he placed the kernel inside. He pulled his lower lip between his teeth as he watched me chew. Damn, that gaze… My tongue darted out to wet my lips, and his eyes darkened.

  Well, hell. That was a lot sexier than it should have been.

  I couldn’t let him do it again, so I leaned on my elbow and grabbed a handful of popcorn, feeding it to myself. The effort to stay propped up was too much for my lazy body, and after the first handful of popcorn, I went back to laying down. My arm curled under my head rested against Eli’s thigh. I tossed my other arm slightly over my head, and my fingers, having a mind of their own, decided to rest on top of his thigh.

  Eli didn’t move his leg or my fingers, so I figured he wasn't having an issue with it. We were friends after all, right? My gaze met Kyler’s, who was giving me an arched eyebrow and looking down at my fingers. I gave her a small smirk and closed my eyes.

  This action movie that should have kept me awake just wasn’t doing it for me tonight. I should have just gone home after work, but hanging out with my friends always came above sleep. And let’s face it, I wasn’t about to leave now—not when I had an excuse to be this close to Eli. And I knew it was probably a stupid idea, but in my exhausted state, I was tempted to just throw my plan of not dating anyone out the window. Especially since it was only getting harder and harder to deny my feelings the more time we spent together.

  ***

  The room was dark when I woke up, only the TV giving off any light. I rolled to my side and repositioned my head on my pillow. It was the most uncomfortable pillow I had ever slept on. I moved my hands up to adjust it and felt strong, muscular legs. I bolted upright and stared into the amused eyes of Eli’s.

  “Um…” Words failed me.

  “You were out before the movie started. Kyler told me not to wake you up.” He smirked. “You’re a wild sleeper.” He nodded to the leg I’d claimed as a pillow and I felt heat rush through my face.

  This had to be in the top five of awkward and embarrassing things to ever happen to me. Thankfully, I hadn’t drooled.

  Or had I?

  I scanned his leg, looking for any drool spots. I didn’t see any and relaxed…slightly.

  “I should get going.” I stood, stretched my arms over my head and yawned.

  “You can crash here. It’s really late. Or…early,” he said after glancing at the clock.

  “The couch? That’s okay. No one else needs to see how I sleep.” Even though I knew both Kyler and Noah had seen me sleeping before.

  “We have the guest room.”

  The idea of just climbing the stairs and going to sleep was very tempting to me.

  “I should just go home. I don’t have any clothes to sleep in. These smell like coffee.” I had just realized that I was still in my gross work clothes. Coffee and pie stains along with the smell, yeah, I was a pretty sight.

  “Go upstairs. You’re exhausted. Take a shower, Kyler has some stuff in the bathroom you can use. I’ll get you some clothes.” He grabbed my hand, sending fire through my veins, and pulled me up the stairs, pausing outside the bathroom door. He opened the linen closet and handed me two towels. “Go. Shower. Relax.” He pushed me into the bathroom and closed the door behind me.

  He didn’t have to tell me twice, I stripped my clothes off and stepped into the shower. The hot water pounded on my back, instantly relaxing me. The idea of leaving the shower seemed really
unappealing, but I was sure they didn’t have an unlimited supply of hot water. Kyler’s bath products were easy to spot, since they took up the entire shower caddy hanging above the shower. As I was lathering my hair the bathroom door opened, letting in a gust of cool air. My arms wrapped around my body in instinct as I waited for the intruder to say something, but a few moments later, the door shut again, the bathroom remaining silent. I peeked around the curtain, praying no one was propped on the toilet. The room was empty, but there was a pile of clothes sitting on the counter. I eyed the thin curtain, hoping it wasn’t see-through. If Kyler had been the one to drop them off, she would have said something. So that had me believing Eli had left them, and I really hoped he didn’t get an eyeful.

  I finished my shower and came out smelling like some fruity drink—fuzzy navel, pina colada, bahama mama? Something with peach and coconut, which was completely different from my usual mixture of lavender and honey. When I was fully dry, I slipped into the sweatpants that Eli had set on the counter. It took me a moment, after I had to tighten and roll the waist down so they would somewhat fit, to realize that these were Eli’s sweats. The shirt was his too. If it wasn’t the size that gave it away, it was definitely the smell. The crisp citrus and woodsy smell that was uniquely Eli overwhelmed me. I gathered my work clothes and hurried to the guest bedroom. A queen-size bed sat in the middle of the room with an old quilt comforter over the top. An antique dresser placed against one wall completed the room. It was simple, yet very homey and comforting. The only issue was now I was wide awake.

  I sat on the middle of the mattress and checked through Facebook on my phone. If I’d known I was going to be staying over, I would’ve brought something to occupy my time with. My phone beeped, the red exclamation point in the battery picture at the top of my phone indicated just how badly it needed to be charged. Not wanting to wake Kyler and Noah, or walk in on them in a compromising position, I hopped off the bed and padded down the hall to Eli’s room. His door was cracked open with light spilling out into the hallway. I tapped lightly and waited for a response. The door cracked open further, and Eli stood there looking especially attractive in his green athletic shorts and white shirt. His hair was even messier than usual, my fingers twitched in the need to run them through that mop.