The Summer We Found Us | BoyxBoy Romance (18+)

Chapter 3 | Tobias

"You do the same thing you did today in practice and we're going to annihilate Sterling Prep." Harry swung his arm around my neck bringing me into his chest.

"Yeah, sure." I smiled, pushing him off of me.

"You're too modest for your own good. You heard coach, you've got to keep your head up. None of that pussy, shit." Harry pointed at me as he hurried up to walk with a few of the guys in front of me.

I hated when he quoted my Dad at me. My Dad was awful and I didn't need constant reminders of him even when he wasn't around.

Tonight he let me go out with the team. He said because my practice was half-decent I could go and join the team for pizza for morale. I think he just wanted the house to himself so he could have one of his "friends" over so he could get black-out drunk. Looks like I'll be sneaking into my room tonight. I breathed out a heavy breath.

"Hey, you good?" My one friend Logan caught up to me. He was a decent guy out of the rest of them. I've been friends with him since the beginning of high school. He was funny and only made a few offensive jokes from time to time compared to the others who were constant. Made my skin crawl.

"Yeah, I uh- just didn't want to go to this restaurant tonight."

"You never want to go to The Pizza Junction. Do you have something against pizza?" He laughed, nudging me on the shoulder.

I smiled. "Nah, I just...you know what? It's fine. Let's just do this." I stuffed my hands in my pants pockets.

"Woah, don't sound too excited." Logan laughed. We rounded the corner and headed to the restaurant. I couldn't help but feel uneasy.

If there's a chance of seeing Elijah, I'm always a little bit...nervous. Excited? No, nervous.

It's just I spent so much time with him growing up. No one on this planet knows more about me than him. Now, imagine not talking to that person after they know everything about you. You'd feel vulnerable...naked...exposed. That's how he makes me feel. Seen.

I'm usually comfortable not being the center of attention but the way Elijah makes me feel is the exact opposite. I feel center stage. I shook my head to try and rid the thoughts. This wasn't helping.

We finally got to the restaurant and I took in a big breath of air. This was it.

Walking in, I immediately took in the fact that the restaurant looked amazing. I haven't been here in years so it was obvious all the changes they've made. I took a moment to look over all the black and red leather booths that lined the walls of the restaurant, wooden tables throughout the middle, dimmed lights to give it a cozy feel, and neon signs on the wall. This place looked so cool.

That's when my eyes locked on the one and only. Elijah sat there staring right back at me from a booth not too far from us.

"Hey, come on. Let's sit over here." Harry called out leading the way. He guided all of us team members to the center of the restaurant and started shuffling tables to connect. I felt uncomfortable that they were just going at it as they pleased.

"Shouldn't we ask to do this?" I whispered in Logan's ear.

"Man, all I know is that I'm starving. Let's eat!" Logan smiled before taking a seat.

I swallowed harshly looking around me. Elijah was gone somewhere else, so I thought maybe we were in the clear. Taking a seat, I got comfortable beside Logan and another teammate of mine.

"This place has the best pizzas. You'll like it, I promise." Harry smiled.

I couldn't help but roll my eyes. How would he know? I grew up with Elijah's Dad. If anyone knew how amazing of a chef he was, it's me.