Arrow to the Heart: A Cupid Romance

Chapter 14

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For a date that I wasn't too sure about going on, I'm actually enjoying myself quite a bit. Eli is extremely handsome—well-built with striking features and a great smile. He's charming and sweet. And this restaurant has pretty great tacos too.

"You're kidding," he says.

"I wish I was," I say with a laugh, covering my mouth with my hand. "He did a whole impression and everything."

"Oh that's just tragic." He lets out a hearty laugh.

"It really was."

"Well your taste in men has clearly impro-" He narrows his eyes and touches his ear for a moment, and I realize he's wearing an earbud.

"You okay?" I ask. "What's with the earpiece?

"Yeah uh, I use them for noise canceling. It makes it easier to hear in loud places like this." He gestures around. "But uh... it just beeped in my ear. I didn't expect it is all."

"Oh okay."

He looks very confused, though I'm not really sure why. He takes the earbud out and slips it into his pocket.

"That's better anyway." He shoots me a flirty smile.

Eli's whole vibe is hard to read. I can't tell if he's actually interested in me or if he's just going along with the date because Declan put him up to it.

Well, we're supposed to be straight with each other tonight, right? So screw it, I'll ask.

"You're not interested in me are you?"

He chuckles and rubs his chin between his thumb and forefinger.

"As a friend, perhaps."

"Ouch," I say, cringing at the admission.

"It's nothing personal. Really, we were doomed from the start."

"How so?"

"Well, as lovely as you are and as much as I truly do enjoy talking to you, Dec is like a brother to me. He's the only family I have. And I know—even if he refuses to admit it—that he has feelings for you."

My eyes widen and my mouth drops open.

What?

Now it's not just Dec giving me mixed signals, but his friends too. Great.

"No." I shake my head. "He was very clear that he is not interested in me like that."

"He'd kick my ass for saying this, but at this point it's probably a foregone conclusion anyway, so might as well go for it: Dec's childhood was shit. He got dumped by his mom before he even had a name. He was bounced around the system and treated like dirt. He has no idea how to have a real connection with another human being. So he will lie his ass off rather than risk admitting that he has feelings for you."

I gape at him, trying to process everything he just told me.

"You really think he likes me?"

"I know he likes you. Anyone with eyes knows he likes you."

I'm pretty sure he just called me dumb, but I guess we did agree on a no-holds-barred date.

"What am I supposed to do with that?"

Lord knows I want to explore things with Dec, but if he's too afraid to come clean, then we're in a stalemate.

"Depends. It's really up to you. You could do nothing, stay friends, and wait to see if he'll spontaneously combust. You could walk away. Or you could push until he's honest with you." He chuckles. "I'm partial to that last one myself."