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Zena nodded, shoving some of her red hair away from her face. “I get that, I do, but at the same time, I don’t think that Eli has ever fallen for anyone. He’s always cool and charming, right? He’s a playboy, so he knows how to land the girl and leave her. All of his past girlfriends pretty much got sick of him and left.”
“Yeah, because he probably just screws them and then loses interest.”
“I think it’s because he’s never really been interested in them. I think it’s different with you though. I think he’s fighting his feelings for you.”
“Oh my god, Zena, you are such a hopeless romantic.”
“Yeah, and you’re not? Come on.” She poked my bicep playfully, and then motioned to all the boxes that were still empty. “We should probably focus on packing, huh? If you wanna be out of here Saturday after the premiere, we definitely need to get moving—no pun intended.”
I giggled, shaking my head at her, but before I could shoot back my own nerdy joke, my phone rang. I dug it out of my light-wash jean pockets, inwardly bracing as I looked to see who it was. There was still a part of me that always hoped it would be Eli…
But it never was—and it wasn’t this time, either.
“Hey, Owen,” I greeted my brother. “What’s up?”
“Um, just hanging out at home. I’m supposed to be going out with Eli later tonight, and I was just wondering—”
“No, I haven’t told him.”
“Ugh. Why? You listened to me when I said to stop sleeping with him, why can’t you listen to me when I say to tell him that he’s going to be a dad?” Owen sounded like he was almost begging for me to tell Eli.
“I’m not telling him,” I said in a flat voice.
“Well, when do I get to tell Katie then? Like, I’m dying to tell someone that I’m going to be an uncle.”
“I guess just tell Katie after I leave.”
“And you’re sure that moving to Los Angeles is the right thing to do in your condition? Because I don’t like the idea of you being a single mom out there all alone.”
“Then you move out there with me,” I suggested, smiling as I heard him groan on the other end of the phone. “That’s what I thought.”
“I just think you’re being really rash with all of this. I know how things were, but you have to give him—”
“No,” I cut him off. “And I’m done with you trying to change my mind. If it changes, I’ll let you know.”
But it’s not going to.
24
ELI
“Dude, I don’t know why you insisted that we go out tonight,” Owen grunted as we stepped through the doors of my favorite club. “I have to be at work early in the morning.”
“Then I guess you should’ve stayed home,” I shot back at him, giving him a smirk. “You’ve always tagged along though, and you’ve always survived those early mornings.”
“It’s a miracle that there aren’t a bunch of misdiagnoses on my record.”
“You’re just getting old.” I slapped his shoulder as we headed for the bar. “Katie has aged you a good ten years too.”
“No, she hasn’t. It’s been proven by science that having a significant other actually increases your lifespan, so I don’t even want to hear it from you.”
“I’ll probably die young then.” My voice came out unemotional, and the heartache that had been looming over me since Olivia stopped things was suddenly back, just as potent as ever.
Jesus, when does this end?
I had thought that in a few days I’d be back to normal, but nope. It hadn’t worked like that at all. Instead, it felt as though it was getting worse as time passed. Not to mention I knew that Olivia was leaving soon, and while it should relieve me, instead it made me feel as though I was on a clock to do…something.
“Good evening, gentlemen,” the bartender, a woman named Sarah, said to us. “What can I get for you? Your usuals?”
