His Naughty Lessons-Chapter 261: Unexpected Lovely Match

** Harper **

"I still can’t figure out how Chelsea knew about the web novel thing," Harper mumbled as she set down her phone, looking up at Eli from where she lay in his lap. "I just told Tyler that we’re gonna go get dinner together this weekend, and I’m bringing my friend Chelsea along. He clearly didn’t recognize the name at all. So if that’s not who she got the news from, how did it happen?"

Eli’s hand, which had been lazily tousling her hair all evening while they watched whatever random midweek entertainment show it was on TV, paused. "So he really is coming this weekend?" he asked. "Damn. I think I have more to worry about in a couple of days than catching the mysterious whistleblower. Since when has this guy gotten so efficient?"

Oops. Right, she had forgotten that her boyfriend still needed time to fully recover from the brotherly trauma that hadn’t quite resolved yet.

Speaking of efficiency, Tyler was undeniably impressive indeed. It had only been two weekends ago that they heard about his interview success. For something as important as a life-changing job offer from a different city, ten days should probably be barely enough time for most people to even make a decision. But for him, it was somehow more than he needed to accept the offer, quit his current job, pack up his things, arrange a mover, and book a flight to his brand new home right away.

What was he in such a rush for? Was he that eager to move over and start pestering his little sister about her unwise relationship choice again? No wonder Eli was wearing such a gloomy look on his face.

"Have you talked to him since the last time he was here? Or told him that me not talking to you in college was for a completely different reason than what he thought?" Harper asked. "I mean, he hasn’t nagged me to break up with you this whole time, so I assume whatever objections he has against us isn’t as dire as it was at the beginning anymore. If we clear up with him on that wrong assumption, then I’m guessing he won’t have many reasons left to still be so adamant about it." freeweɓnovel.cѳm

Eli shook his head. Before she could suggest that they do so right away, his hand was stroking her hair again, brushing her loose curls with a tender fondness that she found hypnotizing. "I don’t want to tell him," he said slowly. "I want to be selfish on this for once, Harper. What you told me that day was such a beautiful fairytale unlike anything I’ve ever heard, and I don’t want to share it with anyone else. I want it to stay a little secret, between only the two of us."

... Aww. Just how did this guy manage to turn such a matter-of-fact statement into something so sweet and romantic that it almost melted her heart?

"Alright, not telling anyone it is." Harper agreed in a heartbeat. "Tyler can live with it and learn to eventually trust my decisions. Besides, we aren’t going to be alone with him this time when we go out for dinner. If he dares get unreasonable again about these personal matters, I’m sure Chelsea will be the voice of reason and make him shut up on his nonsense."

A handsome eyebrow shot up. "Chelsea? The voice of reason?"

Oof. Apparently for someone as perceptive as Eli, it didn’t take more than two meetings to see through Chelsea’s true colors, which was the very opposite of the voice of reason ...

"Ugh, or she can at least help us distract the target by simply being there?" Harper made another attempt. "After all, our original plan was to—"

Hang on.

Their original plan ... didn’t that involve setting up Tyler for a date of some sort to distract his attention? Wasn’t this the perfect opportunity to do exactly that?

As if reading the thought on her face, Eli chuckled. "I was wondering how long it’d take you to think of a double date. Or at least a one-and-a-half date, if you count a blind one as a half."

"Hang on hang on," Harper gasped. "Give me a sec. Tyler and Chelsea ... I’ve simply never thought about a match like that before! They are just so different, don’t you think? I mean, Chelsea is my favorite girl, but she’s totally nuts eighty percent of the time. And Tyler is just ... well, Tyler. You’ve seen how inflexibly opinionated he is when it comes to us. Honestly, it never even occurred to me that I could possibly put these two together on the same dinner table, until Chelsea mentioned it out of the blue the other day."

The hand brushing her hair changed course as she spoke, casually twirling a strand between two fingers. "So? Don’t people say opposites attract and make the strongest bond together?"

"Yeah but ..." There were much more complicated nuances here though. "Did you know Chelsea has been the relationship guru in my friend circle ever since college? She’s totally the frat girl type that’s super good with people and knows how to have fun. Imagine someone like Tyler trying to handle a girl like that—"

Abruptly, Harper paused, turning her own words in her head and trying to reprocess what she had just said.

A playgirl and an old-fashioned guy. Opposites with different lifestyles that seemingly had so little in common. In a way, wasn’t this exactly why Tyler had been objecting to the relationship between his sister and his old friend? Was she herself subconsciously making the same mistake just now by putting a label on two people before they even had a chance to meet?

She looked up at Eli again, wondering if his quietness was a silent judgment along that same thought. But he seemed to still be casually focusing on her hair. His fingers were moving nimbly now, gently twisting the thin strands in his grasp, and it seemed like he was ... weaving a braid?

"Sometimes it’s not a bad idea to try something completely unexpected," he said softly as he tucked the end of that strand he was playing with behind her ear. "Like you wearing that red mermaid dress last weekend, for example ... Who knew that something you’ve always assumed to be a terrible match and tried to avoid could turn out so beautiful like magic?"

He reached for his phone, switched the camera to selfie mode, and passed it to her. Harper’s eyes went wide at the image of herself on the screen wearing a delicate braid he had just made, twisting around the top of her head like an ornate crown perched atop a waterfall of tumbling curls.

"I’ve collected a whole pinterest board of hairstyles," Eli chuckled when she looked over to him in utter shock. "We’ll try them one by one and find a good candidate to go with your new dress. But see? You rarely ever try braids like this, and who knew it could be such a lovely match for you?"

Hmm. He was one hundred percent right there.

Maybe it was time to start planning for this weekend ... and make more unexpected lovely matches.