I'll be home soon, Romy

Ugghhh. I get excited at the prospect of Eli coming home any minute but my mood dampens a little at his secrecy. Why is he always so avoidant with his answers? Oh well, I am a curious mastermind, so I will definitely find out all of his dirty secrets, muhahaha.

Okay, time to tone down my inner villain, if I even have one. I do, probably. I think everybody has one.

Wanting to spend some time outside today since the weather is beautifully mild today, I skip to the kitchen to make some veggie wraps for Eli and me to take on a little walk around the lake. I pan fry some zucchini, tomato, bell pepper and onion, throw some spices on it, and fill the rest of the wrap with lettuce and couscous.

An hour later and Eli and I are walking around the lake. The sun casts a warm glow on our skin and we walk in sync and silence. He seems tense and I can barely hold myself back from asking him why. His jaw and hands keep flexing and his brows are furrowed tightly.

"Are you hungry? I made us some wraps," I offer. I have them neatly stored in a small basket that I brought with us.

He doesn't show any reaction so I gently grasp his elbow in my free hand to gain his attention and pull him to a stop. "Eli?"

"Huh? Oh yeah... I mean no, I'm not hungry, thank you."

"Oh, okay." I let go of his arm and we continue walking. "Are you sure?" I try once again.

"Yes, Romy."

I nod and look up at the blue sky. Not a cloud in sight, I hope we'll reach the trees behind the lake soon, otherwise my skin will not be in a great state tomorrow.

"Tess and Bennett are coming back tonight."

"I'm aware."

I sigh since he is obviously not catching on. "Should we tell them?"

"Tell them what?" he questions.

"About, you know... what happened between us." I shyly press on.

All he does is shrug his shoulders. Okay, this is enough. I stop walking. He continues moving until I open my mouth.

"What's going on, Eli?"

"N-"

"And don't you dare say 'nothing' right now. I can practically feel the tension rolling off of you in waves and you can't even put more than three words in a sentence. You're being frustrating and annoying, to be frank."

"It's nothing you need to deal with, Romy." His fingers are rubbing at his eyes and he seems tired.

"You're right. I don't need to deal with your problems or whatever it is that's bothering you so much but I can very well listen to it."

He looks hopeful for a second before shaking his head and quietly chuckling to himself.

"What's so funny?"

"Nothing. Let's not tell Bennett and Tess anything, alright." It wasn't a question, it was like he was commanding me.

"Of course, I am gonna tell Tess, she is my best friend. I'm not your secret play toy, Eli." I can feel myself getting worked up. "What the hell happened? I thought you also like what we have..."

"Of course I like it, otherwise I wouldn't do it. But what do we even have? We've known each other for a week, please don't interpret too much into this, Romy." His eyes soften a little when he notices the sorrowful expression on my face.

"Are you serious?" I ask him. "I didn't ask you to be my boyfriend, to marry you, or for you to have my kids, Eli! I thought we are finally getting to know each other and that we are both enjoying it." I am trying to calm my voice but it's getting harder to do so.

"I didn't say I'm not enjoying it," he counters and I hold back a scoff.

"Okay, let's pause for a second. Please, can we talk about this in a calm and collected manner? Why are you freaking out right now? Talk to me please."

Eli heaves a heavy sigh but hesitantly nods. He threads his fingers through his dark hair and harshly tugs on it.

"I just don't want to rush anything right now," he finally lets out. "I am not in a place where I can jump into a relationship with someone new, I don't even want to think about it, to be honest. I have a lot of shit to deal with that I don't want to put on you in the slightest. I know you said I can talk to you but it's not easy for me to talk about myself and I feel pressured if someone keeps pushing. I am sorry for lashing out, though, that wasn't fair of me." Eli takes a very deep breath and throws me an expectant look.

I can see this was hard for him to do.

"Okay, I can understand that. And I agree, maybe we have been going a bit too fast, as you've said, we've only known each other for a week. I know I can be a bit pushy or too curious but that's just who I am. If it bothers you you just have to tell me and I will stop but I don't appreciate the hurtful words. And it's only natural for me to want to tell my best friend about an amazing experience I have. I want to share the joy I am feeling. I think it would do you good to share your thoughts with your friends too but of course, it's totally up to you. Let's not put any labels on us and we don't have to make a big deal out of it, that's fine. But let's not sweep it under the rug either. We both deserve to be happy and I felt fucking happy these past days. I got the feeling you did, too."

"You're right about that. I am happy when we're spending time," he says and smiles at me. "Even though you can be a noisy little shit."

"Ey, careful mister!" I raise my finger at him, smiling too.

"Yeah, yeah," he mutters. "Now come over here and give me one of those damn wraps. I'm hungry."

"I knew you were lying when you said you weren't hungry."

He goes to grab the basket from me but I pull it behind me quickly.

"Nuh-uh. You have to pay first," I smirk at him.

He raises an inquiring eyebrow. "What?"

"The price for a wrap is one kiss and for you tell me what's bothering you today." I see his face forming into an annoyed expression and quickly add "Okay, special offer today, one kiss only." His gaze becomes playful again and I sigh in relief. Man, this guy can be so tightly wound and closed off.

"That cheap, huh?" he muses and before I can get offended at his remark, he pulls me to him by the waistline of my skirt and puts his lips on mine for a searing kiss. I have to pull all my strength together to keep my knees from buckling and all too soon, I feel him sneak the basket from me and break the kiss. I pout at him but follow his lead further into the woods.

After walking around the lake and the woods, Eli has loosened up a bit and we talked about our families and childhoods. I only briefly told him about my parents, telling him their names and jobs, not wanting to indulge in that depressing topic of having emotionally distant and manipulating caregivers. I told him a lot about my sister and me growing up and about our childhood dog. Of course, it wasn't easy to get him to tell me about his family but from what he chose to share, they seem very loving. He grew up with very little, in his words 'piss poor', but his parents, especially his mom was always there for him and supported him. He has one younger brother and two older sisters but he doesn't see them too often. They all live hours apart. I feel that there's something about his family he isn't telling me but what's new. He diverted the topic to my studies.

"So do you like studying business?" Eli asks me.

"Yeah sure. I mainly do it to have the basis to start my own business one day but I'm still missing the grand idea," I chuckle and look at him from the corner of my eyes. I can see him nodding at my answer.

"That's cool. Very ambitious."

"Oh, I am not a very ambitious person, to be honest. I mean, of course, I have goals and such but I wouldn't drop everything just to have the business running, you know. I think there's more to life than money and a career."

"Mhhm."

"So, should we cook some dinner for later when Tess and Bennett are coming back?" I suggest.

"Sure," he nods and takes my hand to pull me back towards the house. Tingles shoot up my arm and spread a warm feeling throughout my body. Slowing down, remember? I try to remind my body but I guess it doesn't care because the tingles don't stop.

We both work well together in the kitchen. Eli is not the best cook he told me so I delegate some cutting and stirring tasks to him. He also sets the table and it is nice to see a man helping in the kitchen without moaning about it for half an hour or flat out refusing to. Haven't seen that before in my life.

More than a few times, we seem to migrate towards each other, stealing looks, sharing fleeting touches on our backs or arms and he even started kissing my neck when I was stirring the pasta sauce. My body starts to betray me and lean back into him but my mind quickly catches up and I remind him of our earlier conversation.

"You were the one that started with the whole 'not rushing into things'," I remind him, waving the spatula at his face to get him to back up.

"You agreed, though," he argues back.

"Yep, which is why I am doing this."

"I'm gonna eat my fucking words," he mumbles under his breath and I can't help but grin. Serves him right for being so shitty about it earlier today.

A truck is pulling into the driveway and my nerves get the best of me. I wipe my sweaty palms on my jean-clad thighs and turn off the stove, placing the food on the table.

"Romy?" Eli stands in the doorway, taking in my nervous form.

"Yeah?"

"Calm down. It's all gonna be fine. You can tell Tess right after dinner if you want. I will talk to Bennett, but on my own time." I frown at his words sounding again like he gives me the permission to tell Tess but I decide now is not the time for another discussion. And if I am being honest, his demanding tone kinda cleared my head a bit. I will tell Tess after dinner. But now I just want to hug my best friend and eat a delicious dinner.

A warm, large hand takes my cold slender one and squeezes gently, making me smile up at Eli. Before I can say anything, the front door opens and my hand is dropped from his.