Page 41 of The Build-a-Boyfriend Project

Despite it all, despite his annoyance with Peter, and despite the incredibly odd circumstances that led to this date, he does like Peter. At least what he’s seen. He seems like a genuine guy, earnest—maybe to a fault—and despite his addiction to his work, he seems like he does care.

And for the rest of the night, without the distraction of his phone, and with more than a little prodding from Eli, Peter manages to open up. Peter even dares to pull out a folded piece of notebook paper where he’s written basic facts about himself that he shows to Eli.

“In case I ran out of things to talk about.”

He hands Eli the paper, and Eli gives it a quick read.

“Your favorite color is yellow.”

“Mustard or goldenrod, no pastels.”

“Your favorite vegetables are broccoli and bok choy. Your favorite hot pot broth is tom yum.”

Peter nods.

“And you graduated from UC Berkeley?”

Eli looks over the paper once again, smiling at the small details like “allergic to cats” and “hates the smell of citrus.” He’ll admit, this is the first time he’s heard of someone bringing a list of their personality traits to a date, but he doesn’t mind.

“Berkeley’s far from Georgia,” Eli says, supposing now is as good a time as any to start the impromptu interview. “What made you want to come to school here?”

“I figured it was a good school. And, I mean, Comer isn’t a huge city.” Eli doesn’t admit to the research he’s done into where Peter is from. “I think . . .” Peter pauses, almost seeming unsure of his words. “I think I wanted to explore more, have some different experiences. I thought about going back to Incheon, a lot of my mom’s family is still there. But the moving process was a lot to handle.”

“That sounds fair. Would you ever go back to Incheon?” Eli wants to press, to ask Peter what it is he isn’t telling him, but Eli resists. At least, for the time being.

“Oh, yeah! We used to go back every few years or so, but money got tighter the closer college got. I think I was fourteen the last time I went.”

Eli smiles softly at him, appreciating that information.

“What?” Peter pauses, a spoonful of the purple rice and sizzling pork halfway to his mouth.

“Nothing, it’s nothing.” Eli wants to dig deeper; something feels off about Peter’s tone. But maybe that’s too deep for a first date. Even if it isn’t their first date. “I went to San José State.”

“But you’ve been in the city your entire life otherwise?” Peter asks, and Eli’s proud of him for the follow-up question, even if he already knew the answer.

“Yeah. Moved down just for college. My parents live in Berkeley now.”

“Do you see them often?”

Another point in Peter’s favor for the night. He’s just narrowly recovered from answering his phone at the start of the date. “I try to. We’re actually having dinner tomorrow night.”

“Oh, that’s nice.”

“Yeah . . .” Eli almost dares to invite Peter, but it’s too early to throw him to the wolves like that. Even if Eli’s sure his mother would adore Peter and his shyness. “What about you? Do you go back to Georgia often?”

“Not often enough for my dad. Really just to see them. It’s not like there’s much to do out there.” Peter laughs to himself. “I keep trying to get them out here, maybe move so they can be closer, but my parents hate flying and big cities. It’s the whole reason they chose Comer, for the ‘quiet rural life.’”

Eli’s heart warms at the mental image in his head. It’s nice to hear that Peter seems to have a good relationship with his parents.

“Mm-hmm!” Peter hums as he scarfs down the rest of his rice. “What time does the movie start?”

“Ah, shit . . .” Eli completely lost track of time. “Fifteen minutes.”

Peter waves shyly over toward the waitress, digging in his pocket for his wallet. For a moment, Eli thinks that he might’ve forgotten it again, but then he pulls out the small leather square, grabbing a blue credit card from one of the pockets.

“I didn’t forget this time.” Peter beams proudly.

Eli smiles back at him.