Hopelessly Falling [book 2]

Chapter Eleven

XI
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*Layla's POV*

"Zooooeeemama! Who is that?" I asked Eli, zooming in on a pretty boy that was in a picture I found on his phone.

"What- how the hell did you get my phone?" He snapped his attention over to me and quickly grabbed his phone back. I grinned proudly at my amazing pick-pocketing skills.

"Eli Parker! Are you afraid I would have seen some inappropriate pictures in there?" I replied in a shocked-mom voice. He sarcastically laughed.

"That's Alex, my cousin," he told me in a monotone voice, utterly uninterested.

Dinner had been, as one could say, absolutely fan-fucking-tastic. I hadn't had a good home cooked meal since, well, I don't even know. I mean, Ashton had always tried to cook for us but it was always pretty shitty.

Once we finished, Eli's parents suggested for us to go in the living room while we were waiting for dessert, since apparently dessert was a thing. For as down-to-earth as Eli was, his family was totally your typical modest rich family. I swear I saw his mom shudder when I put my elbows on the table.

"How old is he?" I asked about Cousin-Parker with a mischievous smile.

"Nope," he answered with a stubborn smile in my direction. "Not happening."

"That's not an age, young fellow," I said. "Oh well, if you don't want to give me that number than I guess his phone number will just have to do," I added with an even more stubborn smile. He rolled his eyes again.

"Not happening."

"But whyyyyyy," I whined, standing up and shaking his shoulders. He pushed me away from him.

"You know, you act like the lovechild of a stubborn baby and a hyperactive spider monkey," he mumbled as he re-straightened his shirt.

"Thank you, that's all I've ever wanted to hear from someone," I replied, my hand on my heart and a touched expression on my face. "Seriously though, why can't you just be my wing-man on this one?"

"Because your brother would singlehandedly kill me if I set you up with someone, let alone my cousin.." he answered as if it was obvious. I grunted.

"Well, who cares?? Didn't he like, take your girl or something? That wasn't very bro-code of him," I referred to Crystal and he let out a loud 'pffft'.

"She was never mine," he corrected with a laugh.

"Gotcha- hence the Scarlett rebound," I filled in the blank, and he shot me a glare.

"You're the worst," he said and looked away again with a slight smile.

"But like, why would he care about it being your cousin? Wouldn't he rather me be with someone that he sort of knows?" I continued, confused about how boys' brains worked.

"They're pretty close, when Ashton lived here Alex would always hang out with us," he gave me a little backstory.

"I still don't get it.. I mean what if I was dating you or Kevin? I get that he'd be uncomfy thinking about the fact that one of his best friends and his little sister are sharing crazy-hot-sex and lobster rolls at 3 am from that really good place up the street.. but at least he'd know I was safe, right?" I tried to explain what his thought process should have been. I wasn't sure why I had my heart so set on Cousin-Parker, but I was rolling with it.