Chapter 217: Adrenaline Rush
** Eli **
It took the better part of an hour to go through a brief recount of the past two months. Eli kept a good portion of details on his "lessons" to himself, letting Tyler use his own imagination to figure out how exactly the workshops went, though that didn’t mean the conversation was any less awkward ... especially not when he mentioned the semi-date that he agreed to go on with Vanessa.
He had expected Tyler to lose it again at some point, or at least have to pace around the room to let out some steam. But to his surprise, the guy remained pensively silent almost the entire time, and when they were done, he simply stared out of the window, as if contemplating a new profound dilemma in life.
Eli wasn’t sure if he preferred that reaction to getting himself flung against the wall.
"Pass me the whiskey," Tyler said in the end when he finally turned back from the window, gesturing at the open bottle on the table. "No, don’t pour it. Just give me the whole damned thing."
... Great.
"Try not to whack me on the head with it, please." Eli sighed as he handed over the bottle that was still half full.
Tyler said nothing in return, pouring a huge gulp straight down his throat. The burn seemed to have helped him reorganize the thoughts in his head, and when he set down the bottle again, the sulky pensiveness was slowly fading from his face, replaced by something else that was a bit more difficult to read.
"You know Harper hadn’t talked to you for years before this," he said.
Well, that wasn’t the type of comment Eli had expected at all. "Yes?" He glanced at Tyler, slightly puzzled, unsure what the sudden turn of topic had to do with the conversation at hand. "I did try to stay in touch, though she seemed busy with college. I suppose my calls never caught her at a good time."