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The past twenty-four hours have been nothing short of a shitshow.
Between breaking one man’s heart to hearing that my best friend came and left without even speaking to me… a complete shitshow. Now, as my shaky hands grab my bags from the Uber driver, I realize just how chaotic my thoughts are. From the moment Maddie pulled me aside after breakfast, telling me she was almost positive Eli leaving had nothing to do with his teammates and everything to do with Luke, my heart and mind have been racing.
I haven’t always been Eli’s twin's biggest fan because of the way she treated Sloan. Nor was I her favorite person—most likely because of her jealousy over my relationship with her siblings. But I could feel the genuine concern wafting off Maddie for Eli. Taking her word for it, plus the fact that he hadn’t returned any of my calls through the night, I rushed back to the city and found the first flight out of JFK to Charlotte Douglas.
Not wanting to answer any of my parents’ or Luke’s questions, I keep my phone on airplane mode and send up a silent prayer as I walk up to his gate.Please be home.
“Quinn…?” “Wha—what are you doing here?” he asks over the intercom.
“Just let me in, E,” I say, sounding stronger than I feel, wanting some damn answers before my head and heart explode.
The gate opens, showcasing his beautiful white home with black shutters that sits perfectly on the Lake Norman waterfront. He always said he bought this because it reminded him of my parents’ house at the lake. The same place he was so quick to leave last night.
He stands at his opened front door. His eyes are puffy, red, and curious as they take me in. I notice his hair and beard are not in their normal immaculate style, and his posture is slightly slumped in a defeated manner. Nothing like my confident best friend.
Dropping my bag, I take the few steps to stand in front of him. Without one word, I embrace him in a hug… needing to feel his heartbeat against mine. I hold him for several minutes. He rests his chin on the top of my head.
“Queenie, what are you doing here?” he whispers, voice thick with emotion.
“I could ask you the same thing… since you apparently showed up in New York last night to surprise everyone for the weekend, but then left abruptly. Without even acknowledging me… I should add.”
Eli lets me go. Ignoring my response, he grabs my small bag from where I left it.
“Let’s talk inside.” He ushers me into his home.
Anxious to get the answers I want to hear, I ask, “Tell me why you left?” The chaos in my head causes me to blurt out a question that’s been on my mind since this morning. “Is this some sort of jealousy thing because you saw me getting serious with someone else?”
He licks his lips, staring at me in the entryway of his home. Picking my left hand up, he examines it. “You aren’t wearing your ring?”
So he did see that…
“Have you ever known me to wear something I didn’t want to?”
My favorite shade of blue-gray traces my face, and I see some of the color return to his tan complexion as he moves closer to me.
Both of his hands encase the sides of my face, and the tears shining in his eyes have me in a chokehold.
“Are you saying what I think you are saying, Q?”
I nod as my own tears start to spill down my cheeks. Everything about this feels monumental in our relationship. A changing of the tides.
“He wasn’t you,” I whisper, feeling breathless as my heart races.
His lips are on mine in the next second.
I fall into him, completely surrendering myself. The touch of his mouth lights a fire inside my body I haven’t felt in over a year. Eli kisses me with a different type of urgency… longing revealed in every swipe of our tongues. He runs his fingers through my long caramel highlights, the familiar caress causing a sense of calm and comfort to mix with the desire thrumming through my body. I whimper in his mouth as all the sensations take over.
He gently pulls back, staring at me for a few beats. “As much as I want you right now, there are things I want to say… have to say.”
With my hand in his, he leads me out to his sunroom that looks out over the lake, knowing it's my favorite room in the house.
“To answer your question… no, this isn’t just some jealousy thing where it took me seeing you with him to realize what I am missing in life.” He runs his hand through his messy hair and down his face. “Well, I guess that isn’t entirely true… I was extremely jealous of you with him. But more than that, I hated the way I saw him trying to control and change you in the little time I was around you both.” Emotion twists inside of me. Luke was the total opposite of Eli… maybe that was the appeal at the time, but it makes me sick to think I even allowed someone like him an ounce of my time. E would never try to change me.
He stands, leaving me on the couch. The one Ava and I helped him pick out when we flew down and put her interior design skills to use in his new house a couple of years ago.
Turning back to face me, he asks, “Do you remember when Coach Riley’s wife passed away?”
I nod, remembering how much it seemed to impact Eli. I threatened to come down here a few times because he seemed so distant after that.
