Like You've Nothing Left to Prove by E.L. Massey

Author:E.L. Massey
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: contemporary, gay, interracial, new adult, sports, ice hockey, uni student, ice skating, professional athlete, physical disability, anxiety disorder, coming out, service dog, cooking/foodies, stanning, social media, hashtags, homophobia
Publisher: NineStar Press, LLC
Published: 2023-02-06T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Thirteen

THE NEXT WEEK is…

Well.

Idyllic, might be the word.

Alex takes Hawk to run with him in the mornings and stickhandles tennis balls around the house for her to chase in the afternoons. He drives Eli to his therapy appointments and drops him off and picks him up from class. They cook together, on camera and off, and cuddle on the couch while watching the All-Star Game coverage, even though Eli technically isn’t supposed to have screen time yet. (“Alex, no. Don’t turn it off. I’m not looking at the TV; I’m looking at the wall next to the TV!”)

After the second grocery delivery where Eli says probably unkind things in Spanish and bemoans a lack of plátanos, Alex google translates “plátanos” and then sacrifices fifteen minutes of selfies in the line at CVS to purchase a dozen bananas on his way home from the gym. When he proudly presents them to Eli, however, Eli is confused for several seconds and then just…laughs.

Uproariously.

For a while.

“Oh my god,” Eli says. “You silly gringo. You brought me bananas.”

“Uh, yeah? Because you keep complaining that Amazon won’t deliver them with our other groceries? Which seems dumb, by the way, because I don’t even like bananas, but I know they’re super common.”

Eli just laughs harder.

“Is that not— Google said plátanos is Spanish for bananas.” Alex pulls up the search screen on his phone from earlier that day. “Look. See? Plátanos. Bananas.” Alex shoves his phone back in his pocket and crosses his arms. “Why are you laughing at me?!”

“Oh, no,” Eli says, still giggling but grabbing one of Alex’s wrists. “No, no. I’m sorry; I’m not laughing at you.”

“Well, you’re definitely not laughing with me,” Alex mutters, pulling away from him.

Okay. He doesn’t really pull away. Just pretends to. Eli’s balance has improved, but it’s not back to normal yet and the last thing he wants to do is contribute to a fall.

That, and the fact that if Eli is touching him, even if Alex is kind of pissed at him, he doesn’t ever want Eli to stop touching him.

“No, I know,” Eli says, clinging a little harder anyway. “Hey. I’m sorry. I love that you brought me bananas.” He kisses Alex’s chin. Goes up on his toes to reach his mouth. “I really do. Thank you.”

Alex is mollified. “Then why are you laughing at me? I was trying to do a thing. A nice thing.”

“I know, baby. I know you were. It’s just—” He badly suppresses another laugh. “I meant plantains. In the Dominican Republic, plátanos are plantains. That’s what Mamá and Abuela call them, so I do too. Bananas are guineos.”

“Then why did Google say—”

“In most other Spanish-speaking places, plátanos are bananas. You didn’t do anything wrong; it was really sweet, just…funny. And I need to call Mamá and tell her right now. This is literally the cutest thing.”

Alex gets another kiss for his trouble and then is left glaring at a dozen bananas while Eli alternates between cooing and cackling loudly in Spanish from the guest bedroom.

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