His Naughty Lessons-Chapter 205: A Match Made in Heaven

** Harper **

"I mean, I think that’s a good move considering." Tyler was still talking. "The stomach is not a bad place to start if you want to eventually move on to— Ouch!"

Harper picked up a pebble and threw it at him, making the idiot shut up with a startled gasp.

"That’s just plain judgemental and mean, Tyler," she chided. "Hobbies are hobbies, they don’t have to serve a purpose! Especially not obnoxious ones like that!"

"Huh? What’s obnoxious about it?" Tyler rubbed the side of his arm where he was hit and returned her a confused look. "Don’t get me wrong, I really think that’s a good change for him. Now that he’s moved back to Davenshire with a new net worth, impressing rich single ladies with a handful of marketable skills is naturally a required mission, and culinary arts is a better approach than so many others."

Objectively speaking, what her brother said was indeed reasonable and even mostly fair ... But Harper didn’t like it. She threw a glare back, and a retort was already on her tongue when Eli suddenly said, "I already have a girlfriend."

"..." Oh shit.

Two pairs of eyes instantly snapped in his direction. Both shocked and incredulous, for completely different reasons.

"What? For real?" Tyler was the first to speak. "That’s not a title you give out to just any of them. Must be an important one this time."

"She is different. And important," Eli agreed. His voice was casual, not giving away the slightest clue as he reapplied the spices that were spilled earlier. "Not because she’s a rich heiress though ... But either way, I may or may not have indeed seduced her with a dinner or two."

Harper choked when he stressed the word "dinner" a little too scandalously.

"Oops, is the smoke from the mesquite too much for you?" Tyler asked with thoughtful concern when he heard her cough. "Let’s get that done faster then. Eli, is the meat ready for the grill?"

Thus, her clueless brother helpfully ended the risky conversation, remaining blissfully unaware of the real truth he already got so close to.

~ ~

Eli successfully proved himself, yet again, that he was capable of seducing men and women alike with his perfect gourmet creations. Impossible as Tyler was to please, he had nothing to complain about the grilled steak — no requests for more tender insides or more charred outsides or less salt or more spices — and Harper felt as if she could see Tyler’s favorability bar growing faster and faster as they devoured the meal.

Hopefully that was a good sign.

She still felt uncertain about all those earlier comments though. After all the warnings that Eli and Chelsea had given her ahead of time, she was finally starting to see with her own eyes why Tyler might not react pleasantly to the surprise news waiting for him. Did he truly hold Eli in such a low regard when it came to his personal life? How could anyone judge their best friend so harshly and think that he wanted only "club pickups" or relationships that came with status benefits?

When they finished up the day with a short hike in the afternoon, Harper decided that she should have a little chat about this. So when Tyler was walking at the head of the group like always, she snuck up to Eli’s side, carefully nudging him on the elbow.

"Sorry about what Tyler said earlier." She leaned in to whisper in his ear. "You were totally right, he does get so judgy on certain topics. I had no idea."

Eli snorted lightly. "You mean, about the topic of food?"

Harper bit back an audible chuckle. Good, at least her boyfriend still remained in high enough spirits to joke.

"So ... When are you planning to actually introduce your girlfriend to him, if he’s so opinionated?" she asked, squeezing his arm. "She can’t wait to meet him, but she doesn’t want him to think that you guys aren’t a good match."

Eli smiled at her half playful, half serious tone. "Maybe tomorrow. I don’t want to ruin the whole mini vacation for him too soon." He looped an arm behind her, and she sighed instantly at the familiar touch they had both been deprived of for the past few days. "Besides, if he really ends up continuing to believe that we aren’t a good match—"

"Hey, is that a bald eagle up there?"

Harper was listening intently to what Eli was about to say, when Tyler suddenly turned back to them, pointing at the sky. "Pretty sure I just saw a big bird with a white head ..."

Crap. There was no time for her to pull away! He was going to see them as soon as he looked down! Which he was about to do any second now—

"... Oh! Ouch! My ankle!" In that moment of crisis, Harper acted on pure instinct and let her body fall dramatically to the side. "Argh!" She added another cry of pain on top as she clutched blindly at Eli’s shoulder, trying to grab him to help regain her "lost balance".

She was grateful that she had read enough web novels to know the best tropes to use for close physical contact with the love interest. Also grateful that Eli immediately caught up with her improvised idea, smoothly turning his earlier hug into a steadying embrace as she "fell".

"Harper! Are you alright?" he asked with a perfect amount of surprise and worry in his voice.

"Shit, what happened?" Tyler asked at the same time, astounded to see such a scene the first thing he turned back. "Your ankle ok? Did you trip on a tree stump?"

"Ugh, p-probably something like that ..." Harper lied guiltlessly through her teeth. Later, she’d apologize for playing her brother like a fool all weekend, but for now, she was proud of herself for becoming such a good actress after a mere few days. "Grrr. Eli, can you help me go sit down at that rock over there? I think I’m fine, but I’ll just take a couple of minutes and make sure it’s not sprained or anything ..."

Eli obliged immediately, wrapping his arms even tighter around her as they stumbled together toward the rock.

"My girlfriend is a true little devil," he whispered in her ears once they were far enough away. "Wait until Tyler finds out about that ... and then he might just change his mind and start thinking we are a match made in heaven."

With their backs facing Tyler, Harper didn’t hide a wide grin spreading across her face.