Finding Our Forever (Silver Springs #1)(27)

She could only imagine how aroused he’d been when he’d had to leave. Being interrupted at that point was never fun. But she wasn’t sure they should continue what they’d started. She’d been thinking of this fling in such a harmless way. She’d presented seeing Elijah to Aiyana in a harmless way. And yet...spending more time with him was beginning to feel dangerous.

Can’t. Going to LA to see my folks.

Until that moment, she hadn’t planned on returning home. She was essentially running away. But she knew where she’d spend the night if she didn’t get out of Silver Springs, and she needed to put on the brakes, gain some perspective, rethink what they were doing. The tenderness she felt at any thought of him frightened her. This wasn’t nearly as casual as she’d imagined.

When will you be back?

Tomorrow night.

Call me when you get in.

Okay, she wrote back. But she didn’t return until it was late—too late to consider seeing him before school started the following morning.





Chapter Nine

Eli had never had trouble concentrating. Not since he’d overcome what he’d been through as a child and grown into an adult. He was so focused on his job and the boys he served that there were days when he almost forgot to eat. Work was what he enjoyed, what kept him going and looking forward to each new day. He was especially busy this time of year, when there was so much to do in order to get the semester started off right.

On top of that, his two youngest brothers were back, and Dallas, the middle brother who’d taken them climbing in Yosemite, was temporarily visiting. The following week, Eli spent most of his evenings with them, which he enjoyed, but he often found his mind drifting when it shouldn’t. He kept remembering what it had been like to make love to Cora, felt such a strong craving to be with her again he couldn’t help watching for her whenever he was on campus. She’d texted him when she left LA last Sunday night but only to let him know she’d be getting back too late to see him. With Dallas in town, Eli hadn’t thought much of it. He’d told her to let him know when she’d be available, which indicated he wanted to see her again, but he hadn’t heard from her in six days. He wasn’t sure what she was thinking. Although she’d smile and wave if she happened to bump into him—she wasn’t unfriendly—she’d turn away right after, wouldn’t really meet his eyes. And she never called him or reached out to him, even at night. Since Dallas was staying at the big house with Aiyana, Liam and Bentley, they could’ve seen each other despite Dallas’s presence on the ranch, if she’d acted interested.

Eli had almost stopped by her place a dozen times. He would have at least called her, but he could tell that something was different. She’d withdrawn. He wanted to believe she was just busy. Being a new teacher, any teacher, the first week of school was stressful. He needed to give her time to settle in, couldn’t expect to take priority over her work. From what he could tell, she was dedicated to her students and intent on getting to know them. Since he was the one who’d hired her, and he’d chosen her over a candidate most others had expected to get the job, he wanted her to excel. He’d heard from several of the boys that she was already well liked, which gave him hope. But when he saw her at their first football game last night, and she still didn’t reach out to him afterward, like he’d thought she might with the weekend before them, he knew it was more than her job that was keeping her away.

She’d decided she wouldn’t see him again. Why? What had made her change her mind? Had she decided a strictly physical relationship wasn’t worth it? Had she gotten back with her boyfriend? Or...what?

“Hey, where are you tonight, man?”

Eli blinked and drew his attention back to Dallas and Gavin, who’d dragged him to the bar. He didn’t come here often, was careful about how much he drank. Although drinking could wipe out the painful thoughts and memories that plagued him, it could also rob him of his functionality. And he was determined to show the boys he worked with how to overcome that temptation, not fall right into it.

“Sorry, what’d you say?” he asked Dallas, who’d broken into his thoughts.

Dallas finished his last swallow of beer. “You’re a million miles away. I was wondering what you were thinking.”

Eli lifted his own glass. “I’m thinking Freddy Nance deserves to play ahead of Jason Peachtree.”

“Do you have any idea what the heck he’s talking about?” Dallas looked to Gavin for an explanation.

“Cougar football,” Gavin replied. “Freddy and Jason are both hoping to make first-string quarterback at New Horizons.”

“Jason’s so gifted,” Eli said. “But Freddy’s willing to work twice as hard. That counts for more, in my book.”

Dallas shook his head. “I swear, big brother. You need to get off that campus a little more often. Look at the chicks here, man. Have some fun.”

Dallas’s childhood hadn’t been any better than Elijah’s. After a relatively normal life, he’d watched his father come unhinged and shoot his mother and his sister, and attempt to shoot him before he managed to run out of the house. When the police came, they found that his father had turned the gun on himself. While Eli used work to anesthetize him from his past, Dallas deadened the painful memories he carried with sex when he wasn’t climbing and adrenaline when he was. Eli was fairly certain, of the three of them, Aiyana worried about him the most. Eli did, too. Although Gavin had been abandoned at six years old in a park, he seemed to cope better with life.