Page 21 of Just Business

“Good.” Eli stepped out and raised the golf umbrella with the touch of a button. “Come here.”

A command. Like every other time, Justin obeyed without thinking, heart hammering against his ribs.

“Hold this.” Eli handed him the umbrella and wrapped his free arm around Justin’s torso. “Donotget me wet.”

Every nerve fired from the grip of Eli’s hand at his waist. It was a wonder Justin could walk. But he did, at the pace Eli set, down the street a few blocks to Hobart.

Thankfully, Eli’s car, a blue Audi, was one of the first ones parked along the street. Justin wanted lean into Eli, kiss the tantalizing skin above his shirt collar. Eli unlocked the car and steered Justin to the passenger door. He loosened his grip. “Take the cane, give me the umbrella, and get in.”

They made the exchange. Justin opened the door and sank into the seat. Eli closed the door. A moment later Eli settled into the driver’s seat, tucking the umbrella against the door. “Nicely done.”

The praise sent a shiver down through Justin. “Thanks for the lift.”

Eli chuckled, but didn’t say anything more. They rode in silence up Murray, and past where they’d eaten lunch, where Eli had lost his shit. Sam had pulled Justin aside after lunch and explained that those two had been Eli’s parents. They’d been dressed conservatively and Eli’s father had worn a kippah.

Different thoughts rattled through Justin’s head. Eli’s shell-shocked expression, the tremble in his hands. The inward focus on something horrible. He’d seen those in his sister, too—though Eli had pulled himself back together far quicker than Mercy could after an episode. PTSD from the accident that had fucked up Eli’s leg. But there was more there, much more.

Justin glanced out the window as they crawled past Wightman—biking would have been faster, had the weather not been shit. Traffic was horrid this time of night. He stole another glance at Eli. “You’re Jewish.”

Eli gave him a quick look. “Yes.” A pause. “Figured my name would have been a clue.”

His first name, sure, but... “Ovadia sounds—I don’t know—Spanish, or something.”

A chuckle. “I’m Sephardi. Family’s from Portugal.Ovadiais Hebrew, though.”

“Well, I guess that’s my one new thing learned for today.”

“God help you, if it is. Don’t you have a class tonight?”

“Yeah. Financial Engineering.”

Eli’s face twisted and Justin laughed. “Good to know I’m not alone there.”

“Last thing I should do is discourage you from your studies.” Eli’s smile was small but warm.

Traffic freed up and they moved faster now, rolling down Forbes toward CMU. “Where do you want to be dropped off?”

“University Center is fine.” He glanced at the dashboard clock. “I want to get a soda before Don and class, or I’ll never make it through.”

Eli nodded. Soon—too soon—they pulled into the UC turnaround. Eli put the car into park. “There’s a smaller umbrella in the door pocket.”

Justin glanced down. So there was, one of those ones that folded up into a tiny thing.

“Take it.”

“I’ll be fine.”

Now Justin remembered why he’d thought Eli the ice king. “If you’d rather Don see you as a drowned punk rat, I could have let you bike in the rain.”

Justin grabbed the door handle. “If I’d known you’d be anassabout it—” Before he could yank open the door, Eli put a hand on his shoulder and—for fuck’s sake—it stilled him.

“I wasteasing, Justin.” Gone was the mask, and what lay behind was far more complicated. “Please take the umbrella. I have the other, and it’s not like you don’t know where to find me to return it.”

The anger evaporated. “I—sorry. I get...” He took a breath then blurted out what he’d wanted to say for weeks. “I’m not an idiot.”

“I know. Believe me, I have never thought you to be one.”

Justin had no idea how to respond to that. So he watched Eli, who blushed ever so slightly. “Take the umbrella.”