Schooling the Jock (Nerds Vs Jocks #1) - - Eli Easton Page 0,30

of us stopped dead.

Dobbs sat there holding Eli’s jacket on his lap. Eli lay on the couch, wrapped tightly in his weighted blanket, sound asleep.

I crooked a finger at Dobbs and turned back to the kitchen where I set my mug of cocoa on the table. I handed the other one to Dobbs as he walked in. In return, he handed me Eli’s jacket.

I grinned. “How did you get him to part with it?”

He shrugged. “I figured he was in one of those I-don’t-want-to-do-anything-that-anyone-else-wants-me-to-do moods. We all have those. So, I just sat down and asked him if it was okay if I studied. I started reading an article about computer architecture I had on my phone using a sleepy-time voice. Next thing I know, he took off his coat, pulled up the blanket, and conked out. The kid knows boring when he hears it.” Dobbs sipped his drink.

Mom chuckled. “Good job. I’ll have to remember that one.”

I nodded. “Yeah, that was smart. Sometimes, it’s like too much attention has friction and rubs him the wrong way. Doing your own thing takes the pressure off.” I took a big swig of my cocoa. It was one of the things I longed for at school. Mine never tasted the same.

Mom said softly, “If you’re ever going to escape for a little while, this is a good time. He’ll probably sleep for a couple hours.”

I looked at Dobbs. “I guess we could work on Quiz Bowl.”

Dobbs started to reply, but Mom said, “Oh don’t do that now. You can work on school tonight after Eli’s in bed. This might be your only chance to show Dobbs Mercy Creek.”

“But I’m only here for one weekend, Mom. I should help you. Do you want me to straighten the boys’ room?”

Her face went tense, and she gave him a hard look. “No, I want you to go enjoy yourself for a few hours. Show your guest around.”

Dobbs looked at me with raised eyebrows.

I said, “Mercy Creek’s the nearest town, but it’s not exactly a tourist attraction—”

He shrugged. “I wouldn’t mind getting the tour. I’m a city boy. It’s in my blood to wanna poke fun at a small town in Iowa.”

He said it cheekily, and I knew he was kidding. Dobbs’s sense of humor was an acquired taste, but I was starting to get the hang of it. His jibes weren’t serious, and I liked never knowing what would come out of his mouth. At least I was never bored with Dobbs. But I glanced at Mom to see if she’d taken offense. She was smiling.

“Oh, you’ll love it, Dobbs. The people watching is pretty eye-opening.” She gave him a wink.

I blinked in surprise. My mom lighthearted was something I rarely saw.

“What city are you from?” she asked.

“Minneapolis. I know it doesn’t sound that cosmopolitan, but it has an awesome downtown. My parents are real city mice, as my Grammy Dobbs would say. They love the symphony and all that.”

“I’ve heard Minneapolis is really nice.” Mom nodded. “Maybe I’ll get to visit it someday.”

Dobbs gave her a genuine smile. “A tour for a tour then. Let’s do this Mercy Creek thing, and someday I’ll show you Minneapolis.”

He was probably just being polite, but it still made me kind of want to tear up. I was such a soft touch when it came to my parents. I sternly shoved away the feels and turned to my mom. “Hey, how about we have dinner at Julie Ann’s and bring something home for you guys?”

Her face lit up. She accepted anything that took even a little of the work off her as a huge gift. But she demurred, “There’s no need to do that, Jesse.”

“No worries, Mom. It’ll be fun. Should I get something for Dad too?”

“No, honey. He’ll be at the hospital with Micah until late. He’ll grab something from the cafeteria there.”

“Okay.”

Truthfully, I couldn’t afford it much better than my folks could—my scholarship only gave me a little living stipend—but she didn’t need to think about that.

It took a few minutes to get the hot chocolate drunk and us into our warm clothes again. We left through the back door so as not to wake Eli and then rounded the house to my car.

Once inside, Dobbs said, “Your mom works hard.”

I nodded and guided the car down the long, rutted drive to the main road.

Dobbs glanced at me. “Your brothers are a lot younger than you.”

“Yeah. Ten years younger. They just turned ten.” My mouth ran