Chapter 15: Primer Lesson
** Harper **
Harper found the situation Eli described extremely hard to imagine. Her brother wasn't a short-tempered person. Surely if they explained everything truthfully, he would be able to understand and accept it. Besides, he and Eli had always been close, so why would he be opposed to this to begin with?
Nevertheless, she had no intention of telling everyone in the world about her audacious adventures anyway, least of all her family. It cost her nothing to agree to what was asked. "I'm not going to tell him," she said. "Though I can't guarantee what he might find out on his own, however unlikely that is."
"Fair enough," Eli conceded. "Then I'd say let's give this a try."
Harper felt her heart skip a beat. He ... agreed? She was getting so focused on the back and forth bargaining that she realized she hadn't prepared herself for the answer. Or had she simply been subconsciously avoiding thinking about his potential response, to save herself from the awkwardness and second-guesses?
But now, he agreed ...
"You're sitting too far away." Eli's voice broke her trance. He patted lightly on his lap, and a smile played over his lips. "Get your cute butt over here, we'll get you started with a proper primer first."
Harper fought back an urge to simultaneously blush and grin. Oh well, the game was on now. There was no point in overthinking any further. Shoving her doubts aside, she pushed herself up from the couch and reseated herself gingerly in Eli's lap.
It felt unreal, to be this close to him while they locked eyes. They had napped on each other's shoulders plenty when they were kids, and she had just spent three long hours next to him in that theater room a week ago, but this wasn't the same. To perch atop of him with his full attention on her ... felt like something fundamentally different, and the thought alone was enough to make her almost blush again.
If Eli could tell her musings from her expression, he didn't show. Instead, he placed a hand casually over her knees. "For future reference," he said, that smile seeping into his voice, "when you sit in a man's lap, you should straddle him by default. This is the time to look sexy, not to practice royal etiquette."
"Oh," Harper muttered, looking down at her tightly-pressed-together legs. She was still too tense from all the fast turn of events.
"But we'll save that for another day." A finger hooked under her chin, turning her face around so that she was looking into his eyes again. "First things first, can I assume you've at least kissed someone before?"