Changing Everything (Forgiving Lies #2.5)(7)

“Chocolate, peanut butter for my wingman,” he said softly as he handed me one of the shakes.

I stood there smiling and staring at the cup like he’d just given me something so precious.

“So I only seem to have insomnia when my best friend isn’t sleeping beside me,” Eli hinted with a shameless grin.

“I have the pillows propped up just the way you hate them,” I offered, still speaking into the phone.

His blue eyes darkened, and voice dropped low. “That sounds perfect.”

“Did you want to come in?”

He simply nodded, and everything in me heated. But I knew what this meant for him, and I knew what he was doing. I knew Eli far too well for me not to know.

He was making up for last weekend, tomorrow was Sunday morning at my place, and this way he was assuring me that he would be here.

He was apologizing for tonight.

And he was letting me know I was still number one for him.

If only he knew I wanted to be number one for an entirely different reason. If only he knew that having him protect me from someone tonight had made my week. If only he knew that him showing up right now—like this—meant the world to me.

Stepping back, I waited until he was inside before ending the call, and closed and locked the door behind him. I followed him down the hall and into my bedroom before climbing onto my bed. Watching as he moved around my bedroom, I tried not to let him see how much I loved this. The simplest acts, but acts I wanted with him every night. Flipping off the light, turning on the TV to find a movie for us to watch, and pulling his shirt off before he slid into bed next to me.

Holding his arm out for me to curl under, he pulled me in close as he got settled up against the pillows.

“Switch.”

I handed him my cup and took his from him before taking a sip. “Chocolate, banana?” He made an affirmative noise, and once he stopped moving, I got comfortable against him and sighed. “Thanks, friend.”

“Anytime, wingman.”

August 5, 2013

Eli

JASON SWUNG INTO my office and slapped his hand on the door. “Lunch?”

“Uh . . . yeah. Just let me send this last thing . . . done. Where are we going?”

“Deli around the corner? I can’t be gone long, I’m slammed with everyone taking their vacations.”

“Sure, are the girls coming?” I asked distractedly as I loosened my tie and rolled up the sleeves of my shirt.

“Nah, you’ll just have to deal with looking at my beautiful face.”

I snorted and followed him down the stairs and out of the building.

“What’d you do the rest of the weekend?” he asked once we’d gotten our food and were sitting down.

I shrugged, buying myself some time as I tried to finish the bite I’d just taken. “Spent the night at Paisley’s after the party on Saturday, did our Sunday morning thing, went to the gym, then just chilled at my place the rest of the day. You?”

“Of course you did,” Jason mumbled.

“Of course I did what?”

“Spent the night with Paisley,” he answered with a challenging look. “You’re twenty-five, you don’t need to be having sleepovers with your best friend when there’s nothing else going on between you two. It’s weird.”

“Dude, you know I sleep better when Paisley is next to me.”

“It’s weird,” he repeated.

I shrugged. “It isn’t to us. She’s been sleeping next to me for years, and that’s how I prefer it. What’s weird is sleeping without her.

Jason rolled his eyes. “Whatever, I’m not getting into that with you today, but speaking of Paisley . . . thanks for being a twat block the other night, you dick.”

The change of subject caught me off guard for a second, but when I remembered the guy from Paisley’s party, I huffed. “You’re shitting me, right?”

“When was the last time she dated anyone . . . a year ago?”

Two. But I kept that to myself.

“And then Kristen and I try to set her up with someone, and you not only make her change, you won’t let her near Sean the rest of the night.”

“Okay, hold on.” I sat back in my chair and swallowed more food. “That guy was a creep. He was feeling up one girl and flirting with another at the same time when you went to get the girls.” Jason looked surprised, but I kept talking before he could. “Like I told Pay when I was making her put some goddamn clothes on—and you can let Kristen know she made her look like a hooker, by the way—I’d never try to stop Pay from dating someone as long as I thought he’d be good to her. And your pick definitely wouldn’t have been good to her. I was saving her from a douche who would’ve wanted her for all the wrong reasons, you’re welcome.”

Jason sat there for a few seconds with wide eyes. “Are you serious?”

“Yeah, where’d you find him anyway?”

“I went to college with him.”

“Nice,” I mumbled before picking my sandwich back up. “Stop trying to set Pay up. If she meets someone, she meets someone.”

“That’s a little hard to do with you around,” he argued.

“What the f*ck is that supposed to mean?”

He avoided looking at me, keeping his eyes on his sandwich like it was the most interesting thing in the world. “It means you usually scare off anyone who tries to approach her.”