Chapter 2: Jealousy and Jump Shots

The next day, I made sure to save a prime window seat for Eli in class.

Then I saw him walking in with Adrian Cruz.

Eli isn’t exactly tall—only six foot. Adrian, on the other hand, is six-foot-three, the star player of the economics department basketball team. I’ve played against him a few times—he’s tough and always wears his lucky Duke Blue Devils jersey.

But I don’t like him hanging around my roommate. After all, he’s gay.

My roommate can’t be turned gay—right?

Yesterday, I made Eli cry because of Adrian.

I’d seen them walking together and felt weirdly uncomfortable. I don’t know why, but I blurted out, "Do you like Adrian?"

He glanced at me. The Glacier Freeze Gatorade he was holding—he’d bought it for me—suddenly fell to the floor with a thud.

"Are you for real?"

And then he cried.

That’s when I realized: maybe he really hates being teased about this stuff.

Lesson learned.

Ignoring the twinge in my chest, I waved to Eli.

He rolled his eyes at me, then smiled.

Eli’s smile is captivating—his eyes curve like crescent moons, and a little crease appears at the corner when he smiles. It’s like being licked by a house cat—my chest tingled and went numb, like I’d just seen a puppy video on TikTok.

At that moment, the option box floated in front of my eyes again:

[Based on your future data, here are two recommended options.]

[Option 1: Shout, "Wifey, I saved you a seat! Come sit!" (49.1%)]

[Option 2: March over, pull Eli away from Adrian, and say, "I’m really jealous." (46.1%)]

What is happening?

I stared blankly at the options, then looked around. Only I could see this screen, like some AR filter gone rogue.

I clenched my fists, fidgeting with my phone, and muttered, "Can’t I just skip?"

The screen showed [......] for a moment, then the same message as before:

[Detected no intention to choose. Auto-selecting for you—]

[Option 1…]

"Wait, wait, wait!" I panicked. Both options were way too much for me. But option one…

This was a big lecture, with three classes packed into the room. If I shouted, "Wifey, I saved you a seat! Come sit!" the campus group chat would explode—probably end up on Barstool Sports.

Tomorrow’s hot topic would be: [Shocking! Management student publicly claims Eli Whitaker in class! #spicy]

I quickly said, "I…I choose two."

Almost as soon as the words left my mouth, my body stood up on its own—

I strode past the crowd and stood beside Eli. I pulled him into my arms, glared at Adrian, and declared, "He’s mine."

Then I leaned down and whispered into Eli’s ear, "I’m really jealous."

—Everything went silent. I could hear the hum of the projector and a few gasps from the peanut gallery.

I regained control of my body.

The Eli in my arms felt like he was burning up. He ducked his head, rubbing it subconsciously against my chest.

He murmured, "Mine."

Only then did I realize how quiet the classroom was. And the teacher’s voice that followed was even more shocking—

"If you two lovebirds want to date, do it properly. Don’t mess around in class."

Eli immediately slipped out of my arms and hurried to the seat I’d saved for him.

Adrian, stunned, bumped into me as he passed. "You’re something else, man."

But all I could think about was the teacher’s voice.

I turned stiffly toward the podium.

…That class was taught by my dad.

When I got back to my seat, I could feel my dad’s death glare burning a hole in the back of my head.

Next to me, Eli tugged at my sleeve, his eyes soft. "Carter…there’s nothing between me and Adrian."

He slouched across his desk, looking up at me, his eyelashes fluttering in the sunlight. "He’s just my childhood friend, that’s all."

Honestly, the Eli in front of me really looked like a cat—lazily showing me his soft belly.

Looking at him, I shamefully…swallowed. My face burned like I’d just been called out on national TV.

I couldn’t help reaching out to ruffle his hair.

"No…it’s fine, I didn’t misunderstand."

Eli bit his lip, hesitating. "That…when you said you were jealous, did you mean it?"

I blinked, about to answer, but before I could, a piece of chalk flew at my face.

My dad’s booming voice rang out: "Carter Brooks! Stop flirting with Eli! Pay attention! Did you hear me?"

I looked up at the podium. The old man glared at me, laser pointer in hand.

Taking advantage of the chaos, I ruffled Eli’s hair again. So soft.

"We’ll talk after class."

When the bell finally rang, Dad wrapped up his lecture.

I grabbed Eli’s wrist, ready to take him to lunch.

Dad’s gaze landed on our hands—

He snorted, "Carter, come with me."

I turned to Eli. "Eli, I’ll go first. You go eat."

He hesitated, looking up at me. "Should I go with…Adrian?"

I ignored the faint sourness in my heart and patted his shoulder, jaw clenching just a little. "Yeah, isn’t he your childhood friend?"

"Oh."

For some reason, his voice sounded a little hurt.

He looked up. "Today you…"

I pulled out my student ID. "I’ll explain everything later."

"Lunch is on me today."

There was a weird feeling swirling in my chest, but I chalked it up to…friendship possessiveness, like something out of a Friends episode—except I was way more confused than Ross ever was.

I ruffled his hair again. "Eat more, you’re too skinny. Otherwise, you won’t have the strength—you’ll need it."

We had a mile fitness test that afternoon. Eli was explosive but lacked endurance. I had to remind him to eat well.

I didn’t know why, but his face turned red again.

After saying goodbye, I crossed my arms and went to find Dad.

Dad coughed dramatically. "Are you dating?"

I denied it. "No."

Dad immediately lost it. "You were hugging him! Trying to avoid responsibility?"

His voice got louder. "How did our family raise a rascal like you—"

He stopped mid-sentence, then chuckled. "Tell me, are you worried we won’t approve?"

He patted my shoulder. "Don’t worry, your mom and I are very open-minded. We’re not like those old-school frat houses that freak out when someone comes out."

After hesitating a while, I looked up. "I think he’s probably straight."

Dad rolled his eyes. "A straight guy hugging Eli? Back in my day, if someone tried to play it cool but was obviously crushing, their friends would prank them with rainbow confetti."

I pursed my lips. "Dad, there’s a reason for all this, and you’re being ridiculous."

He gave a fake smile. "Whatever the reason, bring Eli home for a visit soon."

"I told you, it’s not like that!"

He pushed up his glasses, eyes glinting. "I just want to ask him about his grad school recommendation."