Bad Enough for You (Currently Editing)

We're Naked and We've Got Wine. This is a Date.

35.] We're Naked and We've Got Wine. This is a Date.

That late afternoon, Eli and I had had a seemingly casual dinner between friends on the back patio of a burger shack near the boardwalk. We had shared a basket of french fries and Eli attempted to steal my milkshake, complaining that he hadn't gotten enough when in fact he had drank it so fast that I barely even gotten my first sip through the straw.

 I didn't miss the stares of the girls walking by on the sidewalk along the porch railing. I saw how they turned to look at Eli as he laughed at me, eyes only occasionally leaving the realm of our table to look out at the sea as it washed on the shore. I don't know if he saw those girls in their little shorts and tiny tops. I didn't know if he saw how they looked at him, mouths tightening around the edges when they saw him lean forward, attempting to shove fries into my mouth.

It was during this time, when we were just sitting around and not doing anything that could lead to sexual activities, that I wondered if Eli saw any future for us. I wasn't even sure why he was here, let alone what his plans for after summer was. For all I knew, he could be packing his bags at the end of August and leaving for good.

It made me sad to think that there was a chance that Eli and I couldn't make things work. Part of me was scared that we were too comfortable in this relationship we already had, one that felt like friends with benefits or possibly even skinny love. The problem with skinny love, however, was that neither Eli or I were too shy to admit our feelings. I just wasn't sure if he had them too.

While I worried about how Eli felt about me, I also wondered about what Eli had been saying earlier when he had come back from his run. He had been talking to Emmett, completely unaware of my presence in the room and saying that there was something he wanted to tell me.

I was definitely hoping that it was that he felt the same way that I did about him. I was definitely hesitant to call it love, but there was something strong about my feelings for him. On the other hand, there was always the chance that it wasn't what I wanted to hear. There was a possibility that it was something that I wouldn't want to know.

I pushed those thoughts away for the time being as Eli picked through the fries that were left at the bottom of the basket. Scrunching his nose as he continued to dig, he dropped the ones in his fingers before wiping his hand on his jeans and looking at me.

"So, how did that talk with Callie go?" I asked as I remembered what Eli had set out the night before to do. When he froze, hand hovering in front of his drink and blue eyes looking at me in surprise across the table, I shifted uncomfortably in my seat. "I mean, we don't have to talk about it if you don't want too. I just thought that since you were in such a good mood, maybe things went better than you thought they would."

Eli let his hand fall to the table, his expression crumbling as he looked down at the styrofoam cup before him. With the corners of his mouth twisting and his eyebrows narrowing in a way that reminded me of the way Emmett looked earlier, I wondered if maybe I was wrong.

Maybe he had talked to Callie and things had gone drastically. I felt bad for him. I didn't think that Eli did the right thing very often. It had taken a lot to convince him that he should try to call her and tell her the truth. I didn't know Callie personally, but I could just tell by the way he reacted when someone said her name that he truly loved her. I just hoped that for all of our sakes, she had taken a moment to hear him out. Even if she didn't like what he had to say, I hoped that she at least listened to him.

"I didn't get to talk to her." He finally shrugged.

"Eli," I sighed. "I know you're nervous about it, but if you want to get rid of the guilt, you have to tell her the truth. It's going to hurt, but eventually she'll get over it. Besides, I think by now that you both know that you weren't meant to be."