His Naughty Lessons

** Eli **

"This is probably the twentieth time you’ve fiddled with that bowtie today." Tyler glanced into the mirror and commented a bit helplessly. "I promise you, it looks perfectly fine. Not crooked at all. Just relax and leave it alone."

Eli breathed in sharply, lowering his restless hands. "Alright, alright. I’m just trying to find something to do while we sit around and wait."

"Well, before you decide that the next thing you’ll find is to ask me whether I still have the wedding rings, yes, I have them. They are sitting safely right here." Tyler patted his breast pocket. "So now, relax. That is what you really should be doing while you wait."

"Ugh. Just wait until your own wedding day. It’s too much easier said than done."

Eli paced around the room back and forth as his best man stared up at him from the comfortable lounge chair. It was tempting to sit down as well and enjoy the view outside the window, and Eli knew that he could totally use a short rest right now to calm his mind. But he didn’t want to risk putting creases in his trousers ... and it wasn’t like he could make himself sit still for more than ten seconds before he’d start pacing again anyway.

The thought must’ve been written all too clearly on his face, as Tyler let out a resigned chuckle. "I feel like the photographer should be here with you now instead of the bride. It would make much more dramatic photos, with great stories to tell."

"... Yeah, because knowing her, she’s probably so chill that she’s still checking her web novel notifications like it’s just another normal day." Eli sighed, envious of the ease anyone could possibly feel on the biggest day of their life. "But I guess I can’t complain if I am the one doing all the stressing for both of us. She should be the focus today anyway ... I just hope the photographer and the makeup team and all that aren’t tiring her out."

The casual tease on Tyler’s face faded a little at that, slowly replaced by a look of thoughtful seriousness.

"Harper did get that right," he commented. "You really do care. Maybe even a little too much sometimes, though not in a bad way. Just completely beyond my expectation."

Eli’s footsteps halted in the middle of his pacing, caught off guard by the sudden appraisal out of the blue.

"I know I probably should’ve said this long ago, but hey, better late than never." Tyler got up, patting Eli in a brotherly way on the shoulder. "I’m sorry for how I reacted at the beginning when you two first started dating. It took me a long time to realize how things really are, and I’m glad that I was wrong. Have to admit, I’ve never seen you care so much about another soul in this world."

This admittance was so surprising that Eli even forgot to fidget anxiously for a moment.

For the past ten months, his relationship with Tyler had been steadily improving. After the theatrical showdown at the gala last summer, the two had started building quite a close business connection between their companies, which had seen great success that brought benefits to more than just Miracles. And as the two worked together to help Harper with her project, their broken personal friendship seemed to have slowly healed as well ... to the point that the three of them — sometimes four, including Chelsea — could go on weekend trips again without anyone feeling awkward.

Eli had been thankful for the change. They had never talked about it though, as if the dramatic fight they’d had a year ago was too embarrassing to bring up again, so he had simply assumed that Tyler’s friendliness was his sign of giving them his blessing already. Until now.

"She truly knows you better than I ever did." While Eli stayed silent, head reeling in a bit of a daze, Tyler continued wistfully. "You aren’t the type of person I thought you were, and I shouldn’t have questioned you like that. You make her happy, too, in a way I haven’t seen anyone else bring out in her. So keep it that way, alright?"

Unexpectedly, the simple yet completely honest speech made a heavy weight in Eli’s mind disappear. freeweɓnovēl.coɱ

The acceptance from Tyler was huge. Not that anything in this world could change Eli’s mind on his girl, or that he’d ever stop trying to prove himself even if the acknowledgement never came, but this meant something. Something that made him reassess himself ... and feel even more blessed on this wedding day in a precious and peaceful way.

Then it dawned on him, and realization hit like a flash. "Were you saying all that just now to calm me down?" Eli looked back at his best man, suspicious.

"Well ... did it work? It seems like you haven’t fidgeted with your bowtie — which, again, is completely perfect — for at least five minutes. And that starry look was back in your eyes the instant I mentioned Harper." Tyler laughed when Eli blinked at that last sentence. "But anyway, everything I said was true. I’m just not sentimental enough of a person to want to say it out loud on a normal day ... But what can you do, weddings are one of those things that tend to make people hopelessly sentimental."

Yeah, definitely. And emotional, and nervous, and many other things too.

"So, just keep that starry look on your face and relax. Focus on imagining how beautiful she’ll look in her dress and how happy she’ll be to see you when she walks down the aisle." His best man patted his shoulder one last time. "There’s nothing to be anxious about. Everything will turn out perfectly, because this is your perfect day, brother-in-law."

Oh, those were definitely the best things in the world to imagine ... and Eli liked how soon that title at the end was about to become real.