Meant To Be (The Callahans #4) - Monica Murphy Page 0,69
me he’s wishing he could still be a potential god too, but he’s trying to be a realist.
My family is full of people who’ve made it. Who’ve done something. My parents are firm believers in never squashing our dreams, no matter what they are. When Autumn announced last summer she wanted to be a heart surgeon, my parents immediately supported her.
Of course, we’re lucky. They have money, and they can help us with our education. I know Eli’s parents do well, but they don’t come close to what my dad is worth. Hardly anyone does. Maybe his parents can’t afford to pay for college? Or they don’t want to help him at all?
It could also be that his parents are so wrapped up in their own bullshit, they don’t pay attention to what’s going on in his life. And they’re not offering him any guidance whatsoever.
That makes me sad.
“You don’t think you have the potential?” I ask him.
His gaze locks with mine. “Let’s be real, baby. I’m a show-boater quarterback at best. A mediocre one at worst. There is nothing special about my game play.”
He’s magnetic on the field. Even when he’s losing. All that swagger and confidence. How can he call himself mediocre? I’m about to protest when he changes the subject, sending me one of those smoldering looks of his.
“You wanna get out of here?” He reaches over and grabs the last couple of chips, dunking them in salsa before he shoves them in his mouth.
“Where do you want to go?”
“I don’t know. The lake?”
“And do what? Dance around in the rain?” Yuck, no. Plus, it’ll be way colder up there. Just like I’m sure it’s way colder at my house.
“No, more like mess around in the backseat.” He glances toward the backseat for emphasis.
“I have to be home by ten,” I tell him with a wince. “My mom is worried about me driving late at night because of the weather.”
“Maybe we should just go back to my house then,” he suggests. “That won’t be as long a drive.”
“What about your mom?” I ask, trying to ignore the dread that fills me just thinking about her. I don’t want to get in the middle of their family squabbles. I want to support Eli, but I also don’t want his mom coming for me, like she did Cami.
Ugh. Cami. Just thinking her name makes me angry.
“What about my mom? What’s she going to do when we show up at the house? Stop you from coming inside?” He instantly becomes heated. “Fuck that.”
“Don’t get mad.” His mother is such a touchy subject, I regret bringing her up. “Is she home right now?”
“Yeah, probably. She might be at her friend’s house though. She’s been going there a lot lately. I don’t know. She’s never really around.” His tone is dismissive. “We can drive back to the school and I’ll get my car, and then you can follow me over.”
“Okay,” I agree, though I’m uneasy. I remember what Jake told me. When Cami went to Eli’s house and his mom came out, calling her a whore or whatever. I don’t want to make her angry or make her think I’m something I’m not.
I want his mother to like me.
“Okay? Cool.” He starts the car and tears out of the parking lot, making me gasp. He immediately slows down, his expression contrite as he quickly glances over at me. “Sorry if I yelled at you. It wasn’t you at all. Talking about my mom always makes me feel…”
“Awful?” I add for him.
“Yeah. That.” He’s quiet for a moment as he drives, and all I can hear is the swish of the water on the road hitting the tires, the faintly squeaky slide of the wipers on the windshield. “If she’s there, I want you to meet her. More like, I want her to meet you. I want her to know that I’ve got a girlfriend, and that she means everything to me.”
The sincerity in his tone gets me. I can’t help it. I am such a sucker for this boy. “That’s so sweet.”
“It’s the truth.” He settles his big hand on my knee again, then slowly runs it up to my thigh. “Remember the last time I drove your car and you had that dress on?”
“Yes,” I admit quietly, wishing I had it on once more. There is no better feeling in the world than Eli’s warm hands pressing into my bare flesh.
“And how I kept brushing my fingers against the front of