Page 9 of Daddies’ Little Cubs (Ivory Mountain Daddies #3)

CHAPTER EIGHT

ELI

I t had been several weeks since he officially met Destiny and Eli was starting to get antsy. He wanted nothing more than to continue to progress his relationship with both the girls, knowing that Jackson felt the same.

As it seemed, Destiny had taken to coming and meeting up with Jessa at the end of their class every week and it warmed his heart to see them interact together.

He had mentioned it to Jackson that she was showing up at the end of class and so Jackson started texting Eli when Destiny would leave the library.

Call them a little overbearing, but it was nice to know where the girls were when not with them. It was hard enough not knowing what they were doing during the week.

It was time to ramp things up and see what other information he could learn about the girls. Eli was dying to turn the Little room in their home into the perfect space for them.

Finally Friday, it was time for his favorite class of the week. Stepping out of his car Eli looked around hoping for a small glance of their Little girls.

Spotting her giving Destiny a hug bye, Eli watched Jessa make her way towards the coffee cart. Seeing a chance to have a little more time with her before they are surrounded by people, Eli left his coffee from home in the car and also made his way towards the coffee cart.

Stepping up he ordered his coffee before quickly stepping up behind Jessa and slipping his card into the barista’s hand paying for her drink as well.

“Dr. West! There was no need to do that! If anything I should be buying your coffee.”

“That will never happen Jessa. I will always pay if we are together. Plus, sometimes I just want to spend my money on a pretty Little girl. Humor me, will you?”

Before she could reply to him, the barista handed her the hot chocolate she had ordered and Jessa stepped to the side. Eli made a mental note of her order for future reference and held out his hand for his coffee.

Gesturing out his hand, Eli fell into step beside Jessa as they made their way towards the classroom.

“So, tell me something about you, Jess?”

“Well ,what would you like to know?”

Stopping himself from blurting out that he wanted to know everything, he cleared his throat and started with an easy question.

“How about your favorite color?”

“That’s an easy one. My favorite color is dark purple.”

“Okay, next question. What’s your favorite food?”

“Now that one is a little bit harder to pick. I love all kinds of foods, but anything Italian would have to be my favorite guilty pleasure.”

Making another mental note, Eli opened his mouth to ask another question before Jessa spoke up, cutting him off.

“Oh no, Mister. You’ve asked two questions, it’s my turn now.”

He grinned down at her before nodding for her to continue.

“What made you choose economics?”

“Wow, we are starting off strong, huh?”

“I don’t see a reason to beat around the bush”

Eli busted out laughing at her response. He can appreciate the fact that she wanted to know the big things up front. It tells him a little bit more about who she is as a person.

“Honestly? I’m not really sure why I chose economics. I’ve always been really good at numbers. Growing up, I spent my summers working at my Grandfather’s bait shop keeping track of the books. He handed over that task to me once I turned fifteen and had shown an interest in learning the process.”

“That’s so cool and really sweet of him to take you in and teach you what he knew. I’m good with numbers, but not good enough that I would trust myself to do bookkeeping for a company.”

“Don’t sell yourself short, Little girl. I’m sure you could do anything you put your mind to.”

Jessa turned away from him, but not before he saw the blush creep up her face. Eli was disappointed that their walk to the classroom was coming to an end, but he was grateful that he got to spend a little bit of time with Jessa today.

He allowed her to walk inside first to not raise any suspicion among the other students. The last thing he wanted to do was make things harder for her. Eli didn’t like to be away from her already. That thought scared him as it meant he was getting attached quicker than he thought he would.

Determined to find more time to do that, Eli started crafting a plan in his mind.

He knew that Jackson and he couldn’t pursue the girls this semester because he was Jessa’s professor and that had ethical issues that came along with it, but that doesn’t mean that he couldn’t start to craft the perfect date for them to go on once the semester ends.

The first thing the guys needed to do though was talk to Emmett. He hoped last week, when Jessa told him that her brother-in-law was Emmett Benson, his reaction didn’t give away that he knew him.

They all had gone to college together and had taken many of the same classes together. Jackson was two years behind them, but when they had started dating Emmett never batted an eye and he opened up their friend group to accept him in, as well.

There have even been a few times that they all met up at the club the next town over and found Littles to play with for the evening.

Of course, when Emmett and Miles found their Littles that had slowly dwindled down, but everyone knew that Jackson and him were still searching for their perfect Little to complete their home.

Eli wasn’t prepared for it to be two Littles, nor for them to be related to some of his great friends. Life had a funny way of changing things up though.

He refused to enter into a relationship with the girls without talking to Emmett first and explaining things. It was only right to do so and if roles were reversed, Eli hoped that Emmett would be man enough to admit the same to him.

Pulling out his phone, Eli opened his texts with Emmett.

Eli: Hey man.

Emmett: Hey! What’s up? How have you been?

Eli: I’ve been good. Jackson and I are doing great. How about y’all?

Emmett: Rae and I are doing well. Had a pretty eventful couple weeks, but we are settling into the new normal.

Eli: Oh? Is everything okay?

Emmett: Yeah man, it’s great. Rae’s sisters came back into our lives a few weeks ago. It’s just been an adjustment.

Eli knew about this from Jackson. Apparently, Jessa was determined to fix their relationship and was willing to do anything needed to make that possible.

Eli: Wow! That's fantastic news to hear.

Emmett: It is, but it of course hasn't been easy.

Eli: I bet not. That's actually partly what I was texting you about.

Emmett: Okay? What's going on?

Eli: Do you have time to maybe have lunch one day this week so we can talk. We can do it during Jackson's lunch break since it involves him too.

Emmett: Uh, sure? I don't see why not. Is everything okay?

Eli: Yeah, everything is going to be just fine, hopefully.

Eli released the breath that he had been holding. Who knew it would be so hard to talk to Emmett about their hope of having a relationship with the twins.

Emmett: I'm free this afternoon if you want to meet up today.

Eli: That should be fine! I'll text Jackson and let him know that he has lunch plans today.

Emmett: Haha, good luck with that. That man enjoys being mouthy when being told what he has to do.

Eli: Don't I know it, lol

Eli and Jackson had talked earlier this week about how they needed to talk to Emmett about everything, but neither of them expected it to be this soon.

Opening up his messages with Jackson, shot off a text to let him know what was going on and then walked inside the building to prepare for his morning class.

As soon as he walked inside the classroom, Eli's eyes immediately darted towards where he knew Jessa was sitting. He chuckled to himself when she blushed and looked away when their eyes met.

Continuing to scan the classroom, he checked the time on his watch and noted that it was time to get started. Diving into the lecture, Eli turned his focus away from their afternoon plans and gave his all to the class in front of him.

Ninety minutes later, the class filed out while he packed up his things and checked his phone. Jackson had responded during the lecture to let him know that today worked great for him and to text when Eli was ready to leave.

"Dr. West, I just wanted to thank you again for buying my hot chocolate this morning. One day, I'll be sure to repay it back to you."

He turned towards his angel and shook his head.

"No such thing is needed, Little girl. Let me spoil you a little."

"Spoil me? You barely know me, so why would you do that?"

"For now. I plan on getting to know you well. You and Destiny, if you both will let me."

A look of shock crossed her face but before she could respond Destiny stepped into the classroom.

"Come on, Sissy. Let's head home for the day. I have some pretty important news to tell you."

Eli knew exactly what news that Destiny had to tell Jessa. It was the same news that he was sure Jessa was going to share with her. The guys had decided that they were both going to tell the girls that they wanted to slowly start to get to know them both.

The girls waved goodbye to him as they walked out the door. Grabbing his things and shooting a text to Jackson that he would be there in a few to pick him up, Eli mentally tried to prepare for what would be a huge moment in their life. Hopefully one that will change it forever.