Page 16 of The Build-a-Boyfriend Project

And he’d felt so proud of himself.

So was Keith, because he’d called Eli every name he’d ever wanted to hear from another man’s mouth. To Keith, Eli was beautiful, perfect, good, handsome, gorgeous. Even if Keith didn’t think it now, it was true then, and that was enough to make Eli’s stomach twist.

Shit. He can’t think of that right now, he can’t get all worked up over one man right before he’s literally about to go out with another.

“What are you going to wear?” Patricia asks him, taking the nail file she’s been holding and going back to shaping the acrylics she’ll spend her night painting and applying. “Picked out an outfit yet?”

“I had some ideas,” Eli replies. “But I hate all of them now.” He huffs when his hair falls flat. Again.

“Okay, I’ve had enough of this.” Patricia sets the nails and her file on the back of the toilet before she steps out into the hallway. “Rose! You’re needed!”

“Where are you going?” Eli asks.

“To rummage through your clothes,” she tells him with a sly smile.

“I’ve been summoned?” Rose appears, dressed down for her Friday night in. She’s already dedicated most of her evening to lesson planning in an effort to get ahead of the weekend, hair mask and under-eye strips already on for the night.

Eli takes the curl serum and the hair dryer and presents them to her. “Help me?”

“Sit.” She motions to the toilet, and Eli does just that, closing his eyes as Rose blasts his hair again, then uses her fingers to work through to the roots before she turns the hair dryer back on. Patricia might’ve taught him about taking care of his hair, but Rose worked at her mom’s hair salon all through high school and college, so she has the experience. Despite all of her searching across the city, Patricia has yet to find anyone else she trusts to braid her hair other than Rose.

When Eli opens his eyes again, he sees Rose mouthing something, but over the sound of the hair dryer, she’s totally inaudible.

“What?” he shouts.

The hair dryer cuts off. “I said, are you excited for tonight?”

“Oh . . .” Eli pauses, wondering the answer to that question himself. “I don’t know, actually.”

“What has—” Rose begins to ask before the hair dryer is flipped back on, and the rest of her words are totally lost.

“What are you saying?” Eli shouts again.

The hair dryer shuts off again. “Worried!”

“What?” Eli doesn’t like repeating himself, but he has zero clue what Rose just said.

“I asked, what has you so worried?”

He probably should’ve figured that out. “I don’t actually know, I just feel—”

Rose kicks the hair dryer back on, and this time, Eli just reaches up and switches it off for her.

She winces. “Sorry.”

“I guess I just feel anxious. It’s been a long time since I went on a first date.”

“It’s a lot of pressure, huh?” Rose sets the hair dryer down, teasing Eli’s hair again.

“Yeah . . .”

“You never dated anyone before Keith?” she asks.

“No. Between the gender dysphoria and trying to pass geometry, it wasn’t exactly my highest priority.” Eli hangs his head. “What about you?”

“Oh, you know. You’re away from your parents for the first time, you start doing all these crazy things because you can. I wanted all these lesbian experiences that I’d never gotten as a teen,” Rose explains. “God, there was this one girl I dated, literally she brought a whole box of her stuff to my dorm on our second date. Like I understand there’s some truth to stereotypes, but I thought we were better than that.”

Eli laughs, his heart feeling lighter.