"I just think you should tell him."

"Yea, but why would I do that? So he could kill us?"

"He wouldn't kill you."

"No, he wouldn't kill ELI only because he physically cannot. Me, however? 100%."

Kendall and I had been arguing for about twenty minutes about whether or not I should tell Jesse about me and Eli's relationship.

"Leyla, you two have been together for seven months now, and neither your brother nor your mother know about it, but you've met both of his parents within the first three weeks."

"Wait, what's today's date?" I asked.

"Uhhh...July 2nd."

"ELI'S BIRTHDAY IS TOMORROW!" I cheered.

"Great, I have the perfect idea for a gift." she claimed.

"Which is?"

"Dinner. We'll all go, I'll pay. It'll be cute. Like a little party. You two can have brunch together or whatever because I know he'll definitely want alone time with you for his birthday."

"Yea and by 'we'll all' who are you referring to?" I asked with a cocked brow.

"You, Eli, me, and...Jesse." she mumbled on Jesse's name but I still heard her.

"Kendaalll, nooo."

"Leyla, he has to find out at some point, come on. If it goes downhill and he blows a fuse then I'll just kick his ass."

Ken and Jesse had been dating for six months now and I'm actually convinced she wears the pants in the relationship. Not that it's a bad thing, it certainly is not, but if I ever tried what she does to Jesse on Eli...I'd probably be paralyzed from the waist down and missing my tongue.

"Okay, fine."

"Plus, I'm pretty sure even if he disagrees, I couldn't pay you two to keep away from each other. Not just because your boyfriend is worth a million dollars and anything I offer him out of my bank account is probably just loose change to him but also because you two are inseparable."

She wasn't wrong, we'd even gotten out of the honeymoon stage and had a few intense arguments, but we didn't let the other leave the room until it was resolved.

____________________________________

"Happy birthdaaayyy!" I told Eli over the phone as I got ready.

I heard his little sleepy laugh (I may have woken him up early just to make sure I was first to say it...and I may have also done it just to hear his morning voice...shut up.).

"Thank you, baby."

There it is. Music to my ears. It was enough to make a grown woman giggle.

"I have three surprises for you today but only two are gifts from me." I stated.

"Mm. Are you gonna tell me what they are?" I could hear the slight groan he does when he exhaustedly gets out of bed, also music to my ears.

"Well, first, you and I are going to go have breakfast together. Then I have someone I want you to meet, and after that we go for dinner with...some friends."

"Why did you pause before saying 'some friends'?" I heard the water to his bathroom faucet turn on.

"Huh? I didn't pause." I lied.

"You definitely paused."

"No, I didn't."

"Yes, you did."

"No, I didn't."

"Yes, you did."

"I think you're hearing things."

"Sure, let's go with that." He'd begun brushing his teeth.

"But doesn't that sound exciting?!"

"Mhm, sounsh greh..." he said with his toothbrush still in his mouth.

"Yay, okay so get ready and I'll be there in 15-20mins."

"Okay." he answered and I hung up.

"Did you tell him?" Ken asked.

"I told him we were going to dinner. I didn't specify with who..."

"I told Jesse...he thinks it's a double date with a work friend..."

"God, when did we become compulsive liars?" I joked and she laughed.

____________________________________

"So where are we going?" Eli asked as he buckled his seatbelt.

"Shhhh." I said and kissed him gently. "You'll see." I reversed out of his driveway and took us on our way.

...

"Isn't it cute?!" I asked as we walked in.

It was a cute breakfast restaurant only open in the beginning half of the day. It was on the top floor of a tall building with a large balcony that held the dining tables and a nice view. It was pristine, had a gourmet menu, and they allowed smoking.

I did my research.

"It's beautiful." he agreed.

We were seated and had our orders taken.

"How do you feel?" I asked as I took a sip of my orange juice.

"What do you mean?"

"It's your birthday, you should feel something, older? Wiser? Happier? Sadder? Hopefully not."

"Happier." he answered.

"Good." I smiled.

The waiter brought out our food.

We ate and talked about everything. He tried to get the answers as to who the friends we were eating with were and he tried to guess his surprise after this one.

"Is it someone I know?"

"For which surprise?"

"The next one."

"I would hope so..."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Nothing." I snickered and took a bite of food.

After a little while, the waiter came and got our plates so we waited for our bill.

"I'm gonna go to the bathroom." he said and got up to go.

...

"Hello...um...are you here alone?" asked some man in khaki pants and a pastel sweater over a collared shirt.

"No actually, he just went to the bathroom."

"I see, well I just wanted to tell you that you are so beautiful."

"Um...Thank you." I looked down at the table.

"Please don't look away, you're captivating."

I don't do well with strange men.

"Can I help you?"

Finally, a familiar and beautiful voice.

I looked up at them both and saw that the man had to look up at Eli.

"So you're her..."

"Yea." Eli answered before the guy could finish.

"I see, well you're very lucky, she's stunning."

"I know." Eli was giving short answers to everything this guy said. He looked down at him like his presence was bothersome.

"I'm uhh...Sean, by the way." he said and held his hand out.

"I don't care." Eli responded. "Let's go, Leyla."

I stood out of my seat and was about to walk to follow Eli when Sean grabbed my wrist.

"What th-..." I turned around.

"Are you okay? Does he hurt you?" Sean asked.

Eli had already walked a good distance away.

"No, he doesn't hurt me."

"Are you sure?"

"Why would you ask that?"

"He's a bit...aggressive, and I mean look at him...can you blame me?" he said and let go of my wrist.

Sean looked like the most violent he'd ever gotten was during a tennis match. Eli clearly wasn't something he was used to. I've grown to realize that Eli's not even that intimidating, he looks like a pretty NFL quarterback. Maybe it's his build.

"No, he doesn't hurt me, but thank you for your concern. He's just overprotective of me."

Which he had the right, I'd been sexually harassed in front of him at least three times. I'm not surprised he becomes on edge when an unknown man comes around me.

"Okay." Sean nodded and I went on my way.

____________________________________

"Wait, Eli!" I said to him.

"Hm?"

"We didn't pay."

"Yes, we did."

"No, we didn't."

"Yes, we did."

"Eli, no, we did not."

"Leyla, yes, we did. I paid when I went to the restroom."

"Whyyy??" I groaned.

"I see a bill, I pay it. What do you mean 'why'?"

"Eli, it's your birthday you aren't supposed to pay for anything." I explained.

"If I didn't pay I think I'd get hives. I'm fine with paying for things. I ENJOY paying for things. Don't take away my joy on my birthday." he said.

'Did this man just uno reverse me into letting him pay for stuff?'

"All I need on my birthday is you. You can make me pay for the entire thing for the rest of the day and it won't bother me, I'll actually be happy." he said and kissed my head.