His Naughty Lessons-Chapter 206: Not Innocent

** Eli **

By the end of the hike, Eli came to three important revelations:

Number one, Harper is a demon. She should grow some cute little horns on the top of her pretty head. Between the fake fall and a series of other impromptu acts that followed — such as "accidentally" spilling water all over him and having to pat him dry — she made great use of almost every standard novel trope to throw herself in his arms every chance she’d got. And succeeded in stealthily groping him half of the time.

Not that he was complaining. If he were, it’d only be to protest that she didn’t succeed in doing it a hundred percent of the time.

Revelation number two: Tyler is hopelessly clueless. He must not have read a single romcom in his life. If there was anything he had picked up from Harper’s show, it was the fact that his sister was apparently getting along just fine with his friend, which apparently gave him great relief and made the aura of brotherly protectiveness drop visibly around them.

That part wouldn’t help with the impending judgment day looming right above Eli’s head though, since he knew that their game of lies would only make Tyler angrier once the truth was out. But every moment that he got to steal to hold Harper close was priceless, and it was worth every bit of it.

Revelation number three: Eli himself is getting jealous of a teddy bear.

Yes, the same teddy bear he had sent Harper three nights ago and told her to hug in his stead. The same one she had brought on this trip so that she could follow his instructions closely ... Maybe a bit too closely.

He pretended not to have noticed how adoringly she hugged and kissed the stuffed animal every time she went into her tent. Tyler certainly hadn’t noticed it — his tent opened on the opposite side, and he was too constantly distracted by grilling or trying to spot more wildlife hunting at dusk — but Eli’s tent had been intentionally set up by a certain demoness to open right across from her own, and every time he looked up, he’d see the devil herself cuddling that teddy bear and winking at him, tempting him with delicious treats that he couldn’t have.

The temptations got so much worse at night ... when they all went back into their own sleeping spaces to catch some rest before the next day of hiking.

Eli had set his phone on silent, careful not to raise suspicions with any sudden noises it might make in the middle of the night. He left the notification displays on a dim setting though, and it wasn’t long after they all zipped up their covers that he saw the faint flash light up the pocket of his sleeping bag.

[ Harper: Kissing you a good night’s sleep <3 ]

[ Harper: <photo attachment> ]

Eli could feel his pupils abruptly contract at the sight of his girl in a silky spaghetti strap, with a haphazard braid falling over her left shoulder and a teddy bear pressed against her right. She was pouting her lips and giving that teddy bear a real kiss ... right on the snout!

[ Harper: <photo attachment> ]

His mind hadn’t yet recovered from the shock of the first photo when the second one already came through. This time, the wicked devil buried her face into the bear’s fuzzy shoulder, pressing her boobs snuggly against it. Even her legs were wrapped around its back, like she was draping her whole weight over its huge body.

"..." How was he supposed to go to sleep after seeing pictures like this? How was he supposed to not get jealous over that goddamn stuffed animal?

A rustling sound came from her tent, and Eli knew that the devil must be posing for new shots already. He gripped his phone and quickly typed: [ Stop tarnishing the innocent bear. ]

The rustle paused.

[ Harper: Hmm? ] freewebnøvel.coɱ

[ Harper: The bear is not innocent. I named it Little Eli. ]

"..."

Demon! Where are your horns? And where is my Little Harper for both emotional and physical support?

Thankfully, the rustle didn’t resume again after that. A few blinks of the typing bubbles replaced the sound before it said:

[ Harper: Anyway. So I brought my power bank, but sadly I think the lighting is too dim for video. I had to turn the iso to max for those pictures, and I don’t think the setting goes up that high in video mode. ]

[ Harper: What do I do? <teary face> ]

Eli was about to gloat that the devil got repaid with disappointment for the teases she was inflicting on him. But then the teary face she sent broke his heart. He immediately softened and typed instead: [ Is Tyler snoring yet? ]

He was going to suggest that she could quietly call him. Something that he wouldn’t mind for himself. But when the replies came back ... it was obvious that she had misunderstood his intentions:

[ Harper: Oh, yes he is! ]

[ Harper: Should I come see you? ]

[ Harper: Hold on, just in case he wakes up later ... How about I can meet you at the firewood shop? There’s a little clearing behind the cabin there, with a small bench. We might even be able to see some stars from there! ]

[ Harper: I can go first and pretend that I need to go to the bathroom. Then maybe you can come later, in like a minute? No one would suspect anything even if they are awake. ]

[ ... ]

Eli stared at the typing bubbles that were still blinking, and he let out a quiet chuckle.

His little demoness really missed him. Even with a bear to hug and tarnish, she still wanted the real him so badly. The longing that he could almost feel across the phone screen made his heart swell, and although it wasn’t his original intention, he could never say no to a chance to hug her back, tarnish her back.

Tyler wasn’t a light sleeper, based on how dead he looked for the past two nights at the apartment. Surely Harper’s idea could work out just fine ...

Eli found himself already typing before the logical part of his brain could stop him. [ Alright, go ahead. I’ll be there in a minute. ]

It was barely seconds before he heard the careful unzipping of her tent, followed by soft footsteps tiptoeing toward the bathhouse.