Page 30 of Tangled Hearts

He holds up a model plane. “It’s a Boeing 747. It’s my favorite plane. Do you wanna know something?”

“Always,” I say, sitting down on his bed.

“The Boeing 747 hasfourengines!” He flies the plane through the air. “Do you want to know how many wheels it has?Sixteen!”he says without waiting for my answer. Would have been yes anyway. “And she has a nickname too. Do you know what it is?”

I shake my head. “No, but I bet you do. Will you tell me?”

Warren nods excitedly. “The Queen of the Skies. It’s a really big plane, Uncle Nic.”

“I don’t know,” I tease. “This one looks pretty small, kiddo.”

He giggles, his eyes dancing. “Notthisone. It’s just a model. It’s not real.” He giggles again, side-eyeing me like I’ve lost my mind.

“Ohhh. That makes sense.” I wink at him.

“Hey, guys.” I glance up to find Holden standing in the doorway. “It’s time for dinner.”

I look at Warren. “Wanna race?”

“No racing in the house,” Holden scolds.

“He’s no fun,” I mock-whisper, making Warren burst into laughter. “Let’s go eat dinner, buddy.”

Warren takes off running, despite Holden’s stern warning to not run. I push to my feet and make it to the door when Holden stops me. “Is Eli okay?”

My stomach sinks. “I actually don’t know. He—um, he doesn’t talk to me.”

Worry flashes in his eyes. “Yeah…” He sighs. “He’s not really talking to me, either. Has he just been busy? I’m worried he’s trying to isolate.”

I’m worried about that too. I’m also worried that everyone will blame it on me. They should, though, really. He was fine before I came around. It’s my fault. “I’m working on finding another place to stay.”

“You can stay here,” Holden offers for the second time. The first time was after the awkward as fuck conversation when Eli broke the news that I would be staying with him.

“No. I won’t put the kids out of their rooms.” I don’t mention how I’ve basically already put Eli out of most of his house. I think his dads would probably hate me if they knew how little space he was taking up in his own home.

Holden places a hand on my forearm. “Well, the offer is there. You know we’d love to have you.”

My throat goes tight. “I know. Thank you.”

Holden smiles and we walk toward the kitchen together. I guess when I get back home, I’ll need to talk to Eli. I can’t let him isolatehimself from his family. If he doesn’t want to talk to me, that’s okay, but he can’t cut off everyone else.

Throughout dinner, I keep thinking about Eli. I hope he’s okay. I barely even eat. I push my food around on my plate, smile in the right places. Ihearmy voice, but I couldn’t tell you what I’m saying. Holden and Julian seem completely unaware.

There’s something nagging at me, and I can’t put my finger on it. All I know is that my body may be here, but my mind and my thoughts are firmly on Eli.

He’s been quiet and withdrawn, but I don’t know him well enough to know if that’s his normal. I saw the spark in his eyes the day I went to Safe Haven with him, when he made waffles, and when Kassie licked syrup off his fingers.

I saw that same sparkle the night we made mac and cheese. He told me he’d never made it that way before, but that it was delicious. He damn near licked his plate clean. His lipstick was smudged a little along his bottom lip and I had to keep my eyes away from him because the sight was entirely too distracting. My first thought was that I wanted to kiss it away and clearly thats a fuckingnopethought.

A realization hits me like a bolt of lightning.

He hasn’t worn makeup. Not since… when? I can’t remember. A week… at least. Fuck. There’s been no sparkle. No color. NoEli. How did I miss that? Whatelsehave I missed?

I drop my fork and it clangs loudly against the plate. Holden stops mid-sentence, raising an eyebrow. “Are you okay?”

I nod, swallowing hard a couple of times, nausea settling in my stomach. I’m ruining him. Ruining his sparkle and shine. I’m not even surprised. How did I manage that so quickly? “Yeah. I’m okay. I need to get home. I, uh—I forgot that I told EliI’d be home early.”

Holden shares a look with Julian that has my stomach twisting with guilt. When his eyes find mine, he looks rightfully confused. “It can’t wait until you’re done eating?”