Page 71 of Bad Habit
“I genuinely don’t know.” No eye twitch. How does he always have them but don’t know where he gets them? He looks back up at Oliver and there is a request in his eyes.
“For fucks sake. Just tell her.” Eli motions to Oliver, his voice slightly annoyed. I turn to where he and Maxwell are staring down Oliver. His eyes divert to the ground, refusing to look at me. “Fine, be a coward.” Eli declares. Eli takes my hand and pulls me towards the kitchen. Maxwell steps in front of everyone else, blocking them from following us. He steps around the island and pulls a drawer open and what’s inside has my mouth falling open.
It’s lined with cherry paper, full of cherry candy. Specifically, the hard cherry lifesavers I love so much. There’s all my favorite snacks. I start to rifle through the drawer, and it’s also a mess of all my things that I leave around. It’s a junk drawer. I look up at Eli in awe.
“He’s been on eBay buying those damn lifesavers for months. It was never Maxwell. All the cherry soda, your favorite kind of cherries that are always stocked at the gym? Him. He even makes Grover and Ty stock them for you.” Eli speaks softly but with such firmness that I’m left without words. I don’t have to turn around to know Oliver is behind me. Cinnamon and mint fill my nose and my hand starts to quiver where it’s holding the drawer open. Eli leaves the room without saying another word. I gently close the drawer and turn around.
“I’m ready to go dancing!” I’m ready to go do anything that doesn’t involve Oliver trying to explain why he created an entire drawer for me in his home.
MIA
Oliver takes a hesitant step forward, “don’t…” he warns. I crunch down on the candy left in my mouth, suddenly very aware of the fact that I only have it because of him.
I swallow the fragments as I rush to say, “I have a friend meeting us at the club, we need to get going.” I try to side step but the space between him and the counter is too narrow for me to be successful.
He reaches his hand out to rest on my hip, the heat of his skin burning through the thin material. “Don’t freak out.”
“I’m not freaking out.” I counter. Even though I am, in fact, freaking the fuck out. He has an entire drawer dedicated to me in his house. We’re not even dating. I don’t know what we are, but I definitely feel like that is something serious to do. To put an entire drawer in your home dedicated to a girl that you sometimes do fun naked things with.
“You’re absolutely freaking out.” He speaks gently. “It’s just contact paper. It can be removed easily. It was just a funny thing. You said everyone has a messy drawer. So I created one.” He keeps his body positioned in front of mine. He dips his head down to bring his eyes more level to mine. “Let’s just celebrate you, okay?” His eyes are full of pleading and I can feel my chest start to release from the pressure of the weighted thoughts running around in my mind. “Eli shouldn’t have dropped that on you like that. I’m sorry.” I feel the tips of his fingers dig a little deeperin my skin.
“The whole time?” I ask him, recalling what Eli told me about the candy and the cherries. He’s been letting me think it was Maxie.
His eyes drop to the floor and I lean forward a little bit. He lifts his head back up and wets his bottom lip while nodding. “You would have thrown them in the trash if you knew it was me. I don’t know why I did it at first. I found some and just knew you needed them. Then you were so happy… so I started searching for them. Then it just became routine. I found your favorite cherries, so I bought them. I searched for the stupid rolls of cherry lifesavers. I even kept a roll because I realized that’s what you tasted like the first night we slept together.”
Our breathing is more erratic than it should be, but his brown eyes are full of so much tenderness. I don’t hesitate to stretch up and capture his lips with my own. It’s a delicate kiss. We always have so much unspoken between us. Pretending we are okay with exactly what we are doing. I try my best to translate my gratitude for his quiet kindness through this one kiss.
He rests his forehead against mine and I can feel his lips lift in a fragile smile. My hand is resting on the back of his neck, his soft curls tickle my skin. “Ready to go dancing?” He lets the words bring us back to a less serious place without breaking the preciousness of this moment.
“You think your dad will dance with me?” He exhales a short laugh, knowing I’m unserious.
“Come on, pretty girl. You have a birthday to finish.” He steals one quick peck before moving to the side to let me pass by him.
Melinda offers to clean up before we all head out to one of my favorite clubs. When we all meet up at the entrance, I pull Eli to the side.
“I know, that was aggressive what I did back there. I’m sorry.” He starts in but I waive him off. Because while he isn’t wrong, I’m happy to now know.
“You have a surprise inside.”
He leans back a little, his glasses falling slightly on his nose as his face scrunches in confusion. Maxwell motions for us to follow him inside. After we’re inside, the music vibrates through the air and the lights dance over our faces. I seek out where I know she is sitting at the bar and smile when I find her already looking at us.
I pull Oliver and Maxie back a little while Eli keeps walking ahead of us. It takes him all of thirty seconds to find her. She moves as fast as she can in her black dress, until she’s in his arms. Eli lifts her up in the air and is wearing the biggest smile I’ve ever seen on his face.
“Did you know Devyn was going to be here?” Maxwell looks over at Oliver, who just shakes his head.
“I invited her.” I smile as AJ and Rory come up beside us. All heads turn to face me. “He misses her. Look how happy he is.”
“You invited Devyn just to make my brother happy?” Oliver asks.
“No, I invited her because I want a new tattoo and she’s a badass and fun.” I smile up at him, “andbecause it would make your brother happy.” Eli and Devyn are on their way back to where we are standing.
“Drinks?” Rory motions for all us to head to the bar.
Devyn pulls me into a tight hug. “Happy birthday!” She kisses my cheek and then hugs Oliver and Maxwell. She and AJ just do a weird nod and weak smile thing.
“So, can I crash this tattoo date?” Maxwell gives her his best pout and pleading eyes combination. It’s something that guarantees he will get his way.
“Obviously, Maxie boy. Whatever you want.” She ruffles his hair and Max gets excited, squeezing Devyn again before downing a shot placed before him and saluting us as he disappears into the crowd. Eli brings Devyn a shot glass and they toast, tossing the shot back. He spins her around and then pulls her into the dancing crowd. AJ brings me a shot of tequila and I tilt my head back as she pours it down my throat. Shewaves to Rory as we follow suit and enter the dance floor. Oliver and Rory take a seat at the bar in eye sight of us.
