I raised an eyebrow. "Not as smart as who?"
Emerson stared at me without a thought behind her eyes. "Albert Newton..."
I was a few seconds away from bursting out into laughter. My jaw was hanging from a mix of humor and disbelief. "You mean Albert Einstein? Issac Newton?"
Emerson’s lips pressed into a thin line, embarrassed by me calling her out. She flipped me off with a pout. "That's my point, idiot. Not everyone is as smart as you are."
"I'm not saying that–-"
“Anyway, I wish you would have gotten me to talk to her sooner. She’s literally the best.” Emerson beamed. “And it turns out we have a class together. That’s how I met her and then I was like, ‘Oh, this is the girl my brother was telling me about.’”
"I'm so glad that worked out for you," I said dryly, putting my pencil down because I had finished the last problem of her homework. “If you would have listened to what I had to say in the first place then—”
Emerson paid no attention to my words. “It’s refreshing to talk to her because she’s so different from all of my friends, and she’s a nice change from being around all of you boys. I live with you and Easton, and then I go to spend time with Benji only for him to talk about Easton all the entire time.”
“Benji talks about Easton?”
Emerson pursed her lips. “Gosh, does he? He spends all our time together talking about the next greatest thing Easton did. Does Benji seriously think I want to listen to my boyfriend talk about my brother all day?
Odd. I understood Easton was his closest friend and all, but it was weird that he was constantly speaking about him to Emerson.
“Anyway, that’s enough conversation between us.” She took the homework off the table with swiftness and then left. WhenEmerson wanted the conversation to be over, she cut it off instantly.
I was glad that Javier's sister ended up getting the cheer coaching she needed despite my failed effort at first.
I had been thinking about Javier all day. When I was beating Ricky’s ass in Call of Duty I was simultaneously thinking about Javier. Hell, even hyper-focusing on studying couldn't stop my mind from wandering into thoughts about Javi. It was truly aggravating.
I had been itching to tell someone about him. I wanted to tell someone how we hung out at a party and then I woke up cuddled up with him in his bed the very next morning. I needed to say out loud that the hatred I had for my rival was dwindling down as time went by. I couldn’t wrap my head around it, so maybe someone else could.
I didn’t bring any of that up to Ricky because I was constantly making things about myself. He was in no mood to have an Eli-Pity-Party with me. I figured that Bella was with Kailey, and she too would not be in the mood to hear about anything that I had to say.
Well, there goes my only options.
That was when I got a text from Alex—the guy from the park with the cute niece. He wanted to see if I wanted to hang out. Should I have been studying? Yes, but I wasn’t being proactive because all my thoughts were about him. Maybe talking about my rival would finally get him off my mind so that I could focus on school.
I wanted a peaceful walk to clear my head, so I didn’t bother asking them for a ride to their place. I wasn’t sure how much time passed until I got there, my earbuds being in my ears for the entirety of the walk making me lose a sense of time. When I finally did make it, I was greeted with open arms and wide smiles.
"Eli!" screeched a high-pitched voice belonging to none-other than Millie. She hopped up from the couch and skipped toward me.
I crouched down and opened my arms wide before she practically flung into me. I almost fell backwards when I caught her, but I managed to keep my balance. Millie squeezed my neck as tightly as she could and refused to let go. Accepting that she was stuck to me, I wrapped my arms around her as I stood us up.
"Mills, don’t squeeze him too hard," Alex said gently. He gave me a questioning look, one that asked whether I was okay with Millie’s affection.
Millie buried her head in my shoulder and shook her head. She didn't want me to put her down. "She's fine, I don't mind."
Alex nodded and took a step back. Who could have a problem with this sweet bundle of joy’s affection? I knew I didn’t.
Millie was a child, she probably latched onto every stranger that she didn’t really know. Children do things like that because they're kids. It had nothing to do with me personally. Still, Alex and Killian had no idea how happy it made me that Millie was so excited to see me. I didn’t think she’d remember my name, let alone jump for joy when I entered the room.
After a couple more seconds Millie decided that I was allowed to put her down. Once I set her down, she grabbed my wrist and led me over to the table. On the table was an entire nail polish kit. It had a bunch of different colors, a dryer, stickers, and a nail file. It was a whole nail salon.
"I'm doing your nails," the six-year-old stated. Based on her tone I knew I couldn’t object. "What color?"
Killian folded his arms to his chest. “I’m not sure Eli wants his nails painted.”
"Purple," I responded as I flashed a smile toward Killian and Alex to let them know it was alright. It wasn’t that I wanted mynails done, I just wanted the kid to be happy. I would have to take it off the moment I got home because I would never hear the end of it if anyone saw, but for the time being it was fine.
As Millie got to work, the rest of us fell into conversation about what we had been up to lately. I had been dying to tell someone else about all the shit that had been going on between my rival and me. I wanted to hear a different perspective and it was finally my chance.
