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He narrows his eyes and I can tell he’s so done with my shit and is losing patience faster than his receding morals. “Carry on. Let’s hear the conditions.”
“One, if you want me to go to a cocktail party or event or whatever, you have to give me ample time to prepare and ask me first.”
“You have an hour to prepare and I already had Sam ask you.”
“She didn’t ask me, she carried out yourorder. So it’s time for you to rectify that.”
“And how am I to do that?”
“Simple. Ask me.”
I know Eli is used to having his orders met. He single-handedly made our friend group, Cecy included, scared of his wrath because he ordered them that if I strayed off the crystal—also spelled boring—path he’d drawn for me, they’d regret it.
The only rebel is Lan, and Eli always makes him pay for it, whether by revealing his questionable actions to his parents, smashing a few of his precious statues (did it three times, one of them was prior to an important competition), or simply broadcasting his weaknesses to Mia after they became an item.
Eli is cold, merciless, and, above all, persistent. If he delivers a threat, he’ll act on it.
And he doesn’t, under any circumstances, take orders or compromise on things that don’t benefit him. If you see him compromising, it’s because he already has the upper hand and methodically planned out the situation to play in his favor.
So I fully expect the rearing of his monster horns and harden myself to stand my ground. This is the hill I choose to die on, thank you very much.
“Will you be my plus-one for the charity event, Mrs. King?”
My lips part. “You…asked.”
“Isn’t that what you wanted?” He sounds fully exasperated and on the verge of pulling away.
“Yeah, um. I will honor you with my presence.”
“I couldn’t be morethrilled,” he says with a complete poker face. “What’s the second condition?”
This one is tricky, but here goes nothing. I push my shoulders back. “You’ll spend time with me.”
“I am currently spending time with you.”
“I don’t mean like this.”
“Then?”
“Like I asked you that night.”
“I amnotgoing to court you, Ava.”
“Then don’t. It’s not the Middle Ages anyway. But you must spend time with me.”
“Doing what exactly?”
“I don’t know. Talking?”
“Is that another word for fighting?”
“Reading books?”
“We don’t read the same books. Besides, do you expect me to sit there and watch you vandalize precious paperbacks?”
“I’m highlighting passages that stand out to me. No vandalizing happens. But you’re right, we’ll need to call the ambulance for your issues if you witness that for an extended period of time. Besides, no offense, but your taste in books sucks. How about we watch films?”
“I don’t watch films.”
