Page 107 of The Build-a-Boyfriend Project

Peter gives Eli a smile that he can tell is forced.

“But nerves don’t have to be a bad thing. I think anyone in your position would feel the urge to impress, it’s a normal feeling.” Eli recounts Rose’s own words.

“Yeah, maybe you’re right.” Eli sees Peter’s shoulders relax for the first time since he showed up at Peter’s door. “I just want them to like me.”

“They will, trust me. Just be yourself.” Eli lets his hand fall from the bright yellow railing that runs through the entire bus, reaching down to grab Peter’s hand and give it a soft squeeze. Peter looks at their hands, and then back at Eli. “Tonight’s going to be fun.”

“Right, yeah.”

“Besides, I’m the one who should be nervous with the way my mom likes to tell any stranger she meets the most embarrassing stories from when I was a baby.”

“Oh, really?”

Eli rolls his eyes. “And if I hear you’ve been going around and repeating them, don’t forget, I know where you live.”

Peter smiles at him, and this time, Eli can tell it’s the genuine article. “I’m shaking.”

The bus suddenly brakes, the driver laying on the horn. Eli lurches forward before he’s thrown back into Peter’s chest. Peter’s reaction is immediate, letting go of Eli’s hand and instead wrapping a strong arm around his waist, pulling him in close.

Too close.

Eli looks up at Peter, his heart beating a little faster thanks to being whipped around like a toy.

“You okay?” Peter asks him.

“Yeah.” Eli swallows. “Thanks.”

The moment passes, but Peter keeps his grip around Eli’s hips, holding Eli close to him. Eli knows he could say something, pull away, grab onto the railing for himself. But there’s a safety here, a comfort that he isn’t quite willing to compromise for the sake of his own sanity.

* * *

Starting in late October, the Union Square Ice Rink is open to anyone brave enough to stand outside long enough to get their turn.

Ice-skating is one of those traditions that started in the Francis family well before Eli was even born, his parents spending nearly all night on the ice together, spinning in front of the giant Christmas tree the city puts up in the middle of November.

Despite skating for nearly three decades, Eli is a total disaster on the ice. It was easier when he was a kid and he could always use an ice walker. But his balance and center of gravity never seemed to improve, and the older he got, the more embarrassing it was to skate with the assistance.

He’d even paid for private lessons once but left the rink when he realized the only other adults were parents there to watch their kids.

Patricia never let him live that one down.

“Have you ever skated?” Eli asks Peter as they grab a pair of rental skates from the kiosk at the front of the park.

“Nope, you?”

“Yes, though you wouldn’t know it by watching me.”

Peter grins. “Oh, I can’t wait to see how this turns out.”

“You think you’re so funny, don’t you?” Eli asks sarcastically, tapping his card on the reader to complete the transaction. “So, okay . . . I know that I told you not to be nervous on the bus.”

“And now you’re going to undo all the hard work I’ve done since we got off?”

“No, I swear. I just think I should warn you that my mother, she’s very . . .”

Eli can’t complete his sentence before there’s a cry from the other side of the park somehow cutting through the mass of people between them and his parents.

“Eli!” His mother shouts, her hands high in the air.