Chapter 135: Attention Seeker
** Harper **
Harper had expected Eli to be relieved by the news. Shouldn’t it be a good thing that Wallace wasn’t suddenly interested in her just because he discovered a NSFW web novel she wrote? But why was Eli looking like he actually got more annoyed after hearing it?
"... Were you hoping that I had talked to him differently?" she asked. It was the only reason she could think of. "I thought it’d be better to get straight to the point, so I didn’t beat around the bush about it."
"Oh yes. Of course. I didn’t mean to sound like I was judging how you handled it." Eli let out a muffled groan, leaning into her. From their current position where she was still caged between him and the wall, the gesture felt satisfyingly intimate, and Harper liked it ... until he groaned again with a clear hint of annoyance.
"Goddamnit," he grumbled against the top of her head. "HappyRoastedBeans ... I spent two weeks trying to outrank that guy! When I first started reading your book, he was your number one fan for all the comments and gifts he sent you. I actually felt so accomplished when I finally took over the spot he had held for so long ... But to think that reader is the suitcase jackass! Damn it!"
Harper: "..."
Wow, that was quite a bit of information to process. She had no idea that Wallace was "the suitcase jackass" in Eli’s dictionary. Nor that Eli could somehow always turn out so adorable when he was jealous. Nor that he was involved with HappyRoastedBeans in a secret rivalry of some sort all this time—
"Wait," she blurted as the next thought struck her. "Wallace — as in, HappyRoastedBeans — hasn’t been my number one fan for quite a while now. Are you saying you are the one who replaced him?" She pushed Eli up from her shoulders so she could stare at him, almost rendered speechless by just how many web novel surprises she could stumble upon in a single day. "Are you saying you are my current top fan with that impossible to pronounce name? Cher.St.Sucre??"
Eli blinked. Then, slowly and sheepishly, he returned her a half smile, half grimace, as if only now realizing that his rant had exposed his hidden identity. "Um ... Maaaybe?"
Harper was certain that her mouth must’ve hung wide open in an O shape for at least fifteen seconds.