“Let’s eat!” his dad called out, and everyone went toward the table where they had all the plates and fixin’s. They were having burgers and barbecue chicken—one table with the food and then a couple of longer ones that folded and were likely only brought out when they had large gatherings.
I stuck close to Elijah. It was silly, but he was like my favorite blanket I’d had as a kid and didn’t want to ever let go. Mom used to gripe at me for wanting to take it everywhere and hold it all the time, and that was how I felt about Elijah.
We made our plates and then ended up at the end of one of the tables. His mom, dad, and Brooklyn in the first three seats, the ones across open for me, Elijah, and Danny, I assumed. “I’m gonna grab a drink,” I told him, and he nodded. I rummaged around the cooler, getting a Coke for myself and searching for a Dr Pepper for E. He liked that shit. It was his favorite.
They were all seated when I got back. I set my plate and soda down and put the Dr Pepper in front of him. “I snagged this for you. It looks like it’s the last one.”
“Thank you,” he said when I sat down. I felt the heat of a stare and glanced over to see both his parents watching us. Damned if my cheeks didn’t warm.
“So how did you guys meet?” Deidre asked, and I froze. I mean, we were neighbors, but we also hated each other until he sent an email to my anonymous account, wanting to make his best friend fall in love with him.
“Shaw lives across the hall from me,” Elijah said. “We started hanging out.”
“We started taking a ballroom-dancing class together,” I word-vomited.
“You dance too?” Michael asked.
“Oh no. I’m shit at it, but he’s good—which obviously you know. I thought he would like it, and he shows me up every week, so I might have to quit soon,” I teased, and they all laughed. “But he has fun, and he’s taking ballet again, so go me, I guess.”
His parents were looking at me funny, and my stomach started twisting. Goose bumps spread across my skin, followed by an uncomfortable itch. Had I said something wrong?
“You’re taking ballet again?” Deidre asked softly.
Oops. I guess she didn’t know.
“Just for fun. It’s not a big deal,” Elijah said.
“I love to watch you dance. It’s a big deal to me, and I know it’s a big deal to you too.” Her eyes went from Elijah to me, then back to Elijah again.
I reached over, pulled him closer, and pressed a kiss to the top of his head.
Michael cleared his throat. “Are you all going to let my food go to waste or what?” he teased, and the moment lightened.
We talked about random things after that. Eli invited them to the gala, which was coming up. They asked about my family and what I did. I told them I was in real estate, but Elijah added, “He’s actually a photographer too. He’s really good, and he’s an incredible writer, though he won’t ever admit it.”
I frowned. Where had that come from? Elijah had never mentioned my writing before outside of talking about specific emails I got through Charades & Sexcapades.
“I’m not that good.”
“Wait,” Danny cut in. “Can I get you to repeat that? I’ve never heard you self-deprecating before.”
“Yeah, I’m thinking you don’t wanna go there with me. You’re similar,” I countered, enjoying the banter between us some.
“Mm-hmm. I’m with Shaw on this one,” Brooklyn added.
The jokes and conversations continued from there. Soon we were done eating and cleaning up our messes.
Everyone hung out on the patio after that, groups of people chatting. I sat in a chair against the house, Elijah on my lap as we talked with his parents. They were great and crazy in love. And you could see how much Elijah meant to them, how proud of him they were.
“Can I borrow your boy for a minute?” Danny asked, and oh, I liked hearing E called my boy more than I should.
“That’s up to him.”
“I’ll be right back. We always play a game of HORSE. While I don’t love ball sports, I’m good at shooting, so I always kick Danny’s ass.”
“Not this year, Eli. You’re going down,” Danny replied as the two of them disappeared around the house.
Brooklyn was talking with some of Elijah’s cousins, and Deidre stood and said, “I’m going to start taking some of the leftover food inside.”
“I can help.”
“Thank you, Shaw. I’d appreciate that.”
We grabbed a handful of stuff and began taking it into the kitchen. She pulled out Tupperware, we washed our hands, and then I helped her package up the food.
“Eli…he cares about you a lot,” she said, and I froze.