There's Something About Sweetie(79)

Oliver set his textbook down with a slam. Ashish tried not to wince; if the glass of that tabletop cracked, Ma would have his head. Not that that was important when his two best friends were having a lovers’ quarrel, obviously. It was just a random, errant thought that deserved no more airtime.

He surreptitiously slid the textbook over with his pinkie to check. Yessss. Crack-free.

“I didn’t know you were going to be here!” Oliver said, his cheeks aflame. He always got really red when he was mad. Uh-oh. Ashish met Samir’s eye across the balcony and tried to telepathically convey: Crap. What do we do now?

Pinky smiled and held up her hands. “Hey, guys, chill. Let’s all just sit around—”

“You told me it was just going to be the four of us,” Oliver said to her, his eyes going all dark and cloudy.

“And you told me Oliver couldn’t make it,” Elijah said, glaring at her.

She folded her hands and put them in her lap. “Oops,” she said, forcing the fakest-sounding chuckle of all time. “I guess I got mixed up.”

Elijah shook his head. “How do you get freaking ‘mixed up’ with somethi—”

“Oh my God!” Samir said suddenly, throwing himself off the chair and onto the floor.

Everyone stopped and stared at him.

“What the heck are you doing?” Oliver asked finally.

Samir looked around at all of them. “It felt like … like a charley horse or something on my leg. …” He massaged his thigh unconvincingly. “Er … it seems to have gone away now.”

“Good. I’d hate it if you died from a charley horse,” Ashish said loudly, glaring at Samir. Did he really think that was going to distract Elijah and Oliver from their fight? The dude was deluded. If his big plan to get them back together was of the same caliber as this move … RIP, Elijah and Oliver’s relationship.

Oliver sighed and picked up his textbook. “I’m out. See you guys.”

“Oliver, wait,” Ashish said. Seeing his friends like this made him feel like he’d eaten some of Gita Kaki’s (in)famous aloo palak. “You don’t have to go.”

Oliver tossed a glance at Elijah. “No, I really do,” he said. “I’ll text you later.”

Elijah exhaled when the French doors had closed behind Oliver. He sat back down on the settee, his head in his hands. “He can’t even stand to be in the same space as me. If you’d have told me that even a month ago, I would’ve called you an idiot.”

Pinky put her hand on his shoulder as Samir dusted his pants off and took his seat again, looking completely upset for Elijah. Ashish knew how he felt.

“I still love him, you know,” Elijah said, putting his elbows on his thighs and looking down at the floor. “These past couple of weeks have been hell. I can’t sleep. I can’t concentrate.” He glanced at Ashish. “You saw how I was at last practice.”

It was true. Elijah’s head hadn’t been in the game at all, and everyone could tell. If Oliver saw, though, he just ignored it. “If you feel so awful,” Ashish asked softly, dragging a chair over, “why don’t you just tell him? Just lay it all out?” Ashish scratched the back of his neck as his words filtered down to Elijah. Being up front wasn’t always the best option. If anyone knew that, he did. Feeling like a hypocrite, he added, “Um, you know, if you want to.”

Elijah laughed a little. “Man, I am really happy for you that you’ve found love or whatever. But being honest isn’t always the way to go with the object of your affections.”

“No, I actually totally get that,” Ashish mumbled. Man, the day he could put this whole Celia thing behind him couldn’t come fast enough.

Elijah continued as if Ashish hadn’t spoken. “Especially when he seems to hate your guts.”

“What if it’s just a front, though?” Samir asked. “Sometimes people put up these fake walls because they’re afraid. Maybe Oliver just wants you to make the first move.”

Pinky looked at Samir and smiled a little. She was probably remembering the same conversation Ashish was—the one they’d had with Samir in his room. “Have you tried calling him?” she asked Elijah.

“No. Picked up the phone a million times, but I just can’t bring myself to do it. I just keep going back to the day when he accused me—me—of cheating on him. How he just wouldn’t believe me.” Elijah shook his head and scratched his chest. “I’ve never given him a reason to not trust me. And for him to just dismiss the past two years like that …”

“Do you still feel like you’re too young to be in the relationship with him?” Ashish asked gently. “Like what you said the day you guys broke up?”

Elijah smirked. “That’s the funny thing. I did feel like that, but then what you said kept replaying in my head, Ash. Most people spend their lifetimes looking for something like this, you know? If it felt wrong, it’d be another thing, but Oliver and I belong together, like …” He trailed off, his eyes on the horizon, preoccupied with memories. “Anyway,” he said, seeming to come to. “What does it matter if he won’t even be in the same room as me, right?”

“But—” Pinky began.

Elijah held up a hand. “I want to forget about what just happened, please.”