Page 46 of Try Line Hearts
They slowed near a wider railing. Lucas leaned on it; Eli mirrored him, shoulders almost brushing.
“Tell me something that isn’t rugby,” Eli said.
“Maeve stole apples from the neighbor’s tree,” Lucas said. “Made me confess for both of us.”
Eli laughed. “Saint Luke.”
Lucas huffed. “Patron saint of stolen fruit.”
The silence that followed was warm.
“What about you?” Lucas asked.
“My nan talked to the sea,” Eli said. “Said it listened better than people.”
“Did it?”
“Better than some of my exes.”
“Some?” Lucas echoed.
“Several,” Eli said. “I fall fast. Too fast. Love like it’s my job.”
Lucas absorbed that.
“You?” Eli asked gently.
“There was someone,” Lucas said. “Once. A teammate. He never knew.”
Eli didn’t push. Just stood with him.
“You’re not finished yet,” Eli said quietly.
A gust of wind cut up the river. Lucas shivered.
Without ceremony, Eli stepped closer. Sleeves brushed. Shared warmth.
Lucas didn’t move away.
“I don’t hate this,” he said.
Eli smiled, soft and real. “Me neither.”
They walked back slower.
Outside the dorm, Eli dug into his pocket, then paused. “Oh — hold on.”
He produced a square of chocolate, the purple wrapper glimmering in his hand.
“Have it,” Eli said, dropping it into Lucas’s waiting palm.
“Thank you.”
Eli beamed a megawatt smile in return.
They went inside.
The room felt different now. Less tight. Less like a cell.
