Page 40 of Tangled Hearts (Mended Hearts #4)

Eli

I don’t want to do today at all. Not that I’m not happy to see The Dads.

Of course I am. But seeing The Dads means hiding, and I’m getting really tired of hiding.

The problem with me is that I’m greedy, and the more time I get with Nic, the more I want.

So something about spending an evening out together without having to hide and then two more days at home holed up together makes me want more.

Instead, we’re pulling into the parking lot of The Hart Foundation. Which means no holding hands, no stolen kisses, and no teasing each other. We don’t feel like us when we have to hide. And after having a taste of what it’s like to not , I’m not too excited about doing it.

I reluctantly pull my hand from Nic’s with a sigh. “I hate this.”

“Me too, doll.” He puts the Jeep in park and shifts in his seat so he can face me. “It’s almost time, yeah? Just a little longer.”

I know. But I’m still going to be pouty about it. I’m still going to hate it. “Yeah, I know. It’s just… ugh. Our date was so nice, and I had so much fun. I hate having to be part of the world and hide. Can’t we just go back home and stay there for two weeks? ”

Nic’s lips turn up in a sad smile. “I wish, but I’d like your dads to still like me when it’s all said and done. We told them we’d be here today.”

I growl a little. “I know. Still hate it, though.”

“Yeah, I hate it too.” Nic sighs. “Let’s head in before they notice we’re here and come out to us.”

I unbuckle my seatbelt with a dramatic huff and climb out of the Jeep, doing my best to ignore Nic’s amused laughter. I don’t know what he thinks is so funny. We walk in the door side by side, but not touching. Hate, hate, hate.

“Hey!” Beck pops his head up from the box he’s looking in. “Perfect. Our backup is here.”

“Reporting for duty,” Nic says.

I almost roll my eyes. Suck up. But also, I get it. And honestly? Beck probably is the hardest parent to impress. You’d think it would be Roman, but no, he’s chill and easygoing. Beck is difficult to the core.

“What are we doing today?” I ask, glancing around. All the organizing Nic and I did a few weeks ago seems to be for nothing because, once again, the place is in disarray. “Why does it seem like someone came in and undid all my hard work?”

“Because someone did undo all your hard work,” Roman says, stepping into the main part of the office where we’re standing. “Someone called to verify that we got their donation. It wasn’t checked off on the list, so I had to tear pretty much everything apart looking for it.”

“What was it?” I ask, frowning a little at the idea of missing something.

Roman waves his hand like it’s no big deal. “A homemade custom quilt. We had it, but it didn’t get checked off. ”

I try to think back on the day Nic and I organized the donations.

I remember the quilt, so why didn’t I check it off?

Fuck. That was when I was trauma dumping on Nic.

How could I have forgotten to check it off?

“That’s my fault. I was telling Nic about my past, and I just… forgot to mark it off, I guess.”

Nic gives my shoulder a squeeze, and I turn to face him, gazing into his warm hazel eyes.

“It’s alright, d—Eli.” My stomach goes hot, my face flushing.

He clears his throat. “I think that was when you got upset about your bio dad. I took your notebook. It was my fault. You must not have checked it off yet. I didn’t think to look. ”

He’s taking the blame for me. Even though it was definitely my fault. I’m not sure how that makes me feel. Warm, I think. Inside. Warm and fuzzy.

We keep staring at each other, and his gaze softens, then his lips curve into a grin.

Beck clears his throat. I jolt, looking away from Nic. When I glance at Beck, he’s staring at Roman with a smirk. “Anyway,” he says, turning back to us. “It doesn’t matter. We obviously found it and got it checked off, but now we just have to reorganize everything.”

“Do we have food and stuff done?” I ask, trying to push down my guilt. “Vendors and everything?”

“I believe so,” Roman says. “But there’s a list on the table in the conference room. If you two wanna tackle the stuff in there, and then just check the list to double-check that everyone has confirmed?”

“Perfect. We can definitely do that.”

Nic opens the wooden door, gesturing for me to go in. What a gentleman. I flash him a bright smile and walk past him into the room.

When we’re safely tucked away inside, I sigh in relief. At least this offers us a small amount of privacy. It’s better than being directly under the all-knowing eyes of The Dads .

“I’ll work on the list,” I say, stepping up to the table.

“That’s fine. I’ll work on getting these boxes organized again.”

I sit down at the table, grabbing the pile of papers. “Oh fuck yes.”

Nic pauses mid-lift, turning to me with a raised eyebrow. “What?”

I wave the papers in the air. “There’s a taco place down the road that makes the best birria tacos I’ve ever had in my entire life. They’re catering.”

Nic laughs. “Priorities.”

I nod. “Food is very important.”

I go back to scanning the list. Mia and Emily are bringing desserts, along with… I gasp. “Holy fuck .”

“What now?”

“Mia and Emily are going to be setting up a boba station.”

Nic stares at me for a second, then bursts out laughing. “How did I not know how food-motivated my boyfriend is? I feel like this is important information.”

I shrug, narrowing my eyes at him. “I’m not ‘food motivated.’ I just like it. Also, boyfriend?”

“You gasped like someone offered you a blowjob,” Nic says, deadpan, then his lips quirk up in a smile. “Yes, boyfriend.”

“I’m not sure that I agreed to that.”

Nic smiles, his eyes soft as he looks at me. “Oh?”

“Yeah.” I roll my eyes. “I’m pretty sure I would have remembered you asking me to be your boyfriend.”

“Eli?” I bite my lip to fight my smile as Nic grins at me. “Will you be my boyfriend?”

I can’t help but giggle. The whole thing feels a little juvenile, but hey, Nic’s my first boyfriend, and my stomach’s all fluttery that he actually asked me. “I’d be honored. ”

Nic blows me a kiss, then sets the box down before grabbing another. My heart swoops. But also, ugh. Now I’m thinking about blowjobs. Although… “I think boba may be just a teeny step past blowjobs, just for your information.”

He carefully places the box he’s holding on the table and leans over it, getting so close to me I can feel his breath on my lips.

“You really think boba is better than my mouth wrapped around your cock? Better than fucking into my throat. I’ve heard the sexy little sounds you make when I swallow you down, baby. I know you’re full of shit.”

I swallow hard, my cheeks burning. Ugh. I love and hate and love how flustered he makes me. “Just depends on the flavor of the boba,” I breathe, giving him a wink I don’t feel confident about at all.

Nic chuckles. “Sure, doll. I guess we’ll just have to see later tonight, yeah?”

“Sure,” I croak.

Nic leans the last bit forward, pressing his lips to mine for the quickest moment. “Back to work, baby,” he whispers before stepping away and picking up the box he set down to tease the fuck out of me.

Ugh. What the fuck? “Well, now I’m horny,” I whine, glaring at Nic.

He shoots me a look. A look that doesn’t help my horniness like… at all. It’s his fault, really. If it wasn’t so hot, and he didn’t smell so good, and he didn’t look at me like that and talk about blowjobs, this wouldn’t be such a problem.

“What would you like me to do about it?” he asks, raising an eyebrow at me.

I give him a smile. “You could get me off.”

He places the box he’s holding on the table and narrows his eyes at me. “Look around, doll. ”

Yes, I’m aware this is not exactly the place to get off. He started it, though, talking about blowjobs and getting all close to me and stuff. “Please?”

He shakes his head. “Nope. You can wait.”

Ugh. “You used to be fun.”

He laughs out loud at that. “What do you mean, I used to be fun?”

“What happened to road head Nic fucking my face driving back from our date last week?”

I’m pushing it. I know I am, but it’s so damn fun that it’s almost impossible to resist. I quite enjoy watching the way Nic’s eyes flare when I do, though. The way his jaw clenches when I say something that turns him on.

“Road head Nic is dead.” He tries to press his lips into a firm line, but he’s not fooling me. I can see the smile he’s working hard to suppress. “Today you get responsible we’re in a conference room with your dads ten feet away Nic.”

I groan. “Like I said, no fun.”

He shakes his head with a laugh. “You know, the sooner we get this stuff taken care of, the sooner we can get home.”

That’s fine, but there’s something about watching Nic lean across the table that just…

has my dick hard and throbbing. He likes to tease me that I’m just young and easy to excite, but I’m sure the real problem is that he just doesn’t realize how hot he is.

How nice it is to watch his muscles flex under his shirt as he moves.

How sexy it is when he does stuff. Any stuff. All the stuff. “It’s your fault.”

“How is it my fault?” Nic asks, glancing at me as he lifts another box and carries it to the corner.

“You’re leaning across the table all sexy and shit. Don’t act like you don’t know how attractive you are. It’s not a good look for you.”

He faces me with a smirk. “What’s not? Being humble? ”

“Is it humble if it’s fake?”

“You’re ridiculous,” he says, laughing.

“Ridiculously hard,” I mumble under my breath. “I mean, be real. What am I supposed to do when you’re leaning over the table like that? All hot? With your hands and your muscles and—well, your whole body, really?”

He lets out a huff, turning to face me. “Act like a functioning human being, maybe.”

I wrinkle my nose. “Well, that sounds boring.”