Meant To Be (The Callahans #4) - Monica Murphy Page 0,68
and open it up to discover warm tortilla chips. “You went all out tonight,” I tease him as I pop a bit of a broken chip in my mouth. “Did you get salsa?”
“Of course,” he scoffs, as if I asked the craziest question ever.
We arrange the chips and salsa on the dashboard so we can both reach for them, and then continue eating our tacos. We both have our water bottles with us too, so we have something to drink. It’s cozy in here. An impromptu dinner for two. And the steady hum of the rain hitting the roof of my car is kind of…nice.
“I’m glad I came to your practice,” I tell him after I finish my first taco.
He’s already halfway through his second. “I am too.”
“Thank you for dinner.” I wave a hand at the chips and salsa. “My parents would kill me if they saw this.”
He hesitates in his eating, his gaze meeting mine. “Why?”
“They don’t want me to eat in this car.”
“Whoops.” He laughs, swiping a chip out of the bag and dunking it in the salsa. “Guess it’ll be our secret.”
“Just don’t drop anything,” I say.
“I’m too hungry to let anything drop.” He grabs his last taco and starts devouring that too. “What else is going on with you?”
I tell him about the past few days. We talk every night, but last night he was exhausted and wasn’t much for conversation, so I let him go to bed. There’s not a lot going on anyway.
If I’m no longer on the cheer team, they’ll be even less going on for me.
“How about you?” I ask when I’m finished. “How was your day?”
He grabs his water bottle and takes a drink. “I got an email from the offensive coach at Fresno State this afternoon.”
My mouth drops open. “What? Are you serious?”
“Yeah. I guess they watched my film. He asked if I was considering applying to Fresno State.”
“Are you?”
Eli shrugs. “I don’t know. I kind of wanted to get the fuck out of here.”
My appetite disappears, just like that. “Where do you want to go?”
“I don’t know. I kind of want to be like Ryan. He up and left and never comes home. Like ever.” He shakes his head. “I still haven’t heard from that asshole, and I texted him Saturday.”
“I’m sorry,” I say, my heart hurting for him. His broken relationship with his older brother hurts far more than he likes to show. He’d prefer to be angry about it.
“Fresno State is a great school,” I tell him. “And they have an excellent football program. Ash loves it.”
“Yeah, after talking with him, I wonder if he said something.” Eli glances over at me. “Did you hear him say anything about that? Or did your sister mention it?”
“No.” I shake my head. “We met them for lunch Sunday before Autumn left for Santa Barbara, and they didn’t mention you at all.”
“Ouch. So offended.” He clutches his heart, but he’s grinning so I know he’s teasing. “I might consider applying there. Shit, I don’t know what I want to do. My grades aren’t total shit, but they’re not the best. I took the SAT last year. Once. Maybe I should take it again.”
“What was your score?” I ask. I took the pre-SAT last year and bombed it like the biggest bomber ever.
“I don’t know. Around 1300 I think?”
I gape at him. “That’s…really good.”
Like, very impressive.
“Is it?” He doesn’t seem concerned in the least.
“Um, yes,” I say. “Are you a secret genius?”
“I told you, I don’t get the best grades. But they’re not complete shit.” He shrugs and looks vaguely uncomfortable.
“Do you not understand your classes? Or is it more you just don’t care about them?” I ask.
He smiles. “The last one. Definitely.”
“Eli.” I shove at his shoulder, quietly marveling at the rock hard muscle beneath my fingertips. “You’re going to graduate this year. You should totally care.”
“Eh. I have no idea what I want to be, or what I want to do. When I was younger, I wanted to be a professional athlete, but let’s get real.” He sends me a pointed look. “I don’t have a shot in hell.”
“You don’t know that,” I say, my voice quiet.
“I do. I know that. I’m not as talented as your brother. As much as it pains me to admit. I don’t even come close to your dad. He’s a god. Ash is going to end up being a god too. I can just tell.” The faraway look on Eli’s face tells