My Ellie (The Perfectly Paired #1)

Chapter 31

Ellie

We take the long route back towards the stables. I would have stayed on that hillside until the stars came out, but the winds began to pick up and we decided to call it a day after one of my new sketch pads almost flew away.

Colton’s gift had been so unexpected, but so very welcome. Buying art supplies for myself is something I never would have thought to do. My mother all but banned me from wasting my time with useless nonsense like sketching and painting, and it’s become harder to hide things from her over the years.

But it felt amazing to draw again, I’d even experimented with some of the watercolor pencils, delighting in the way they glided over the paper while Colton told me more stories about his home.

The way he speaks about his family is so enchanting, there’s something so wholesome about the light in his eyes when he recalls a story or describes the ranch in great detail.

I find myself asking him question after question on our ride home, gleaning more intricate details about his life on the other side of the world, about the people he loves so dearly.

We finally reach the stables as the sun in beginning to make its way to the edge of the sky. The yard is mostly quiet and there’s only a handful of grooms milling about between certain stalls. From the looks of the empty outdoor arenas, everyone is finished with practice for the day.

Colton and I head in our separate directions to stable Sweetie and Remi and I’m not sure if it’s the cooling afternoon temperature, but I feel markedly colder as I untack Remi and run a brush over his coat.

One of the grooms calls out to me as she exits the storage room, letting me know that she heard something about an emergency meeting being held in the coach house. I didn’t bring my phone on the ride, so if anyone’s been frantically trying to contact me, I’ve been blissfully unaware.

Dread replaces the light, fluffy feeling in my chest and I give her my thanks before wandering through the stables to find Colton.

He’s grooming Sweetie when I approach her stable, an empty wheelbarrow sits outside the stall.

“Hey,” I smile as he turns his head towards me, “I’ve got to get to the coach house, something about an emergency meeting. I’ll see you after?”

“You know it.” He beams, “I’ll clean Remi’s stall, so you don’t have to do it in the morning.”

“Ugh, you’re the best.” I close the gap between us and stand on my tip toes to press a kiss to his lips.

It’s an effort to leave him in the quiet stable block—to not enact some of the wild, risqué things I’ve been dreaming about for the past few days.

The walk over to the coach house has my anxiety spiking—with each step, my mood declines, and I know that nothing good can come of this meeting.

Everyone is gathered in the common room as I enter, and I see my mother pacing at the front of the room. She’s glaring down at her phone, fingers typing furiously as Coach clears his throat.

Her head shoots up, “Jesus Christ , there you are!” She shakes her head before tucking her phone away. I mumble an apology for being late, keeping my head down as I make my way for the seat next to Sanya.

“So,” Coach stands, a serious expression on his face, “I called this meeting because there’s been a slight change in plans. The Olympic Scout was set to return in the next few weeks, but he’s actually going to be back on Monday.” A few gasps echo throughout the room before excited conversations break out. “I know, I know.” He waits for the conversations to die down, “This could mean he’s keen to see more so he can announce the new additions to the Olympic squad sooner rather than later, so we need to spend the entire weekend preparing.” He scans the crowd, eyes landing on Sanya just as my best friend tenses beside me. “I’m going to ask that none of you leave the premises over the next two days. Sorry San—I know you had a family thing tonight, but I really need us all to lock in and focus for Monday. ”

I turn to see Sanya nod in agreement, her jaw clenches as coach goes on to talk about everything he wants us to do this weekend. I take her hand in mine, holding it for the remainder of the meeting until we’re finally dismissed.

We’ve all been tasked with watching tape until the early hours of the morning, the only silver lining being that we’re allowed to do it in our own rooms.

I lead Sanya up the stairs, her hand feels cold in mine, and she doesn’t lift her eyes to look at me even as I sit her down on my bed.

As soon as I open my mouth to comfort her, the tears begin to stream down her cheeks.

“Oh, San.” I take a step towards her and run my hand over her sleek, black hair. She reaches for me, hooking her arm around my middle before weeping into my sweater.

Sanya’s family are incredibly important to her. There were some weeks at boarding school where she would go home two or three times to attend events and family gatherings. She would often take me with her, the Shah family have always been so welcoming, so kind. I would look forward to the days when one of her siblings would have a birthday or earn a promotion at work.

“I told her I would be coming, she’s turning sixteen. I haven’t been home in weeks.” She sobs as she presses her face into my abdomen. I continue to stroke her hair, to mutter weak words of condolence as a steady rage grows within me.

This isn’t right.

Yes , the team is important. Yes, we all made commitments to follow directions and devote our time to our sport, but this is crossing a line.

Why would it matter if we attended this prior obligation? This sixteen-year old’s birthday party ?

The more I think about it, the more absurd it becomes.

And for what? So we can glue ourselves to a screen for half the weekend and watch prior training sessions until our eyes bleed?

I’ve had just about enough, and I see only one way to remedy this situation.

“Hey,” I loosen her grip on my waist, holding her hands in mine before kneeling in front of where she sits on my bed. She looks at me with bloodshot eyes, her bottom lip wobbling. “Do you still want to go? To your sister’s birthday dinner?” I ask, gripping her hands.

She nods, blinking through the steady stream of tears.

“Then we’re going.” I smile, letting go of one of her hands to dry her face with one of my sleeves. “And if anyone asks—we were in my room watching tape all night.” I rush over to one of the notebooks I use during tape analysis sessions and scribble out a message before holding the page up for her to read.

“ Watching tape, do not disturb .” She says aloud before the corners of her lips quirk upwards.

“The rest of the plan stays relatively the same,” I fish through my desk, hissing triumphantly as I find a tiny roll of washi tape. I rip off a small piece before continuing, “It’s almost dark already, but we’ll need to sneak ourselves out to Rory’s car.”

“Your mum will probably check that we’re really watching tape, won’t she?” Sanya presses a sleeve covered hand to her under eyes.

“I heard her going on about another dinner in the big house tonight, hopefully Peter’s mum will get her so drunk that she’ll forget all about me.”

Sanya stands from the bed and we exchange excited smiles. “Thank you, Ellie.” She says quietly before sucking in a deep breath, “I’ll go and get ready then, meet you back here in twenty minutes?”

“Meet me in Colton’s room, I’ll make sure he and Rory are ready to go.”

Sanya nods before racing off to her room, being careful to open and close my door quietly as she leaves. I take a quick shower before throwing my hair up and pulling on some jeans and a long-sleeved t-shirt.

In Pakistani culture, it’s best to dress as modestly as possible when visiting someone’s home—not that the Shahs would mind at all if I turned up in a pair of shorts, I just prefer to be as respectful as possible .

I gently place my gift for Sanya’s sister—Zara—in my purse before slinging it across my shoulder.

I call Rory and confirm that we are, in fact, still on for tonight—despite what he’s heard around the estate. He’s excited and agrees to the slight changes in our travel plans.

Once we hang up, I text Colton and warn him that I’m coming to his room before I slip out of my own and stick the note to my door.

His door opens before I can knock and he stands there with his phone in hand, an amused look on his face.

“Hello, stranger.” He muses, his damp hair curling around his temples. He ushers me into the room, and I make my way towards the bed I’ve slept so well in for the past week and a half.

“Are you ready to head out?” I ask as he comes up behind me. His large arms wrap around my body, his mouth presses soft kisses into the crook of my neck.

“Not yet,” He manages to say between kisses, “There’s a few other things I want to do first.”

“We only have two minutes.” I rasp.

“I can make a lot of things happen in two minutes...” He breathes into my skin.

A light knock comes from his bedroom door and we both turn as Sanya enters.

“Thank you for being fully clothed.” She mutters under her breath, “Are we ready to go? ”

“Yes,” I nod as she approaches. Colton’s arms retreat slowly, and he moves to my side as I begin to describe how, exactly, we’re going to sneak out of the coach house.

“We take the fire escape exit, the one at the opposite end of the hall. It’s not actually alarmed like it says it is, I’ve used it to sneak out of the building when I know my mother is milling about downstairs somewhere. Rory is waiting for us on the road nearest to the courtyard garden. We’ll just have to make our way through the little bit of woodland that separates the two.”

Colton and Sanya are both nodding and neither of them seem to have any questions, which makes me feel like I might have come up with a pretty solid plan.

“I hate that we even have to do this...” Sanya whispers as we head for Colton’s door, “We’re adults, sneaking about like fourteen-year-olds.”

Colton pulls a baseball cap over his damp hair, “Just think of it like a little adventure, it’ll be fun.” He smiles and I can’t help but mirror it as we all creep into the hallway.

The fire escape door creaks open before we all filter in. The light bulbs flicker as we make our way down the staircase that Lord Chamberlain decided not to renovate.

The door at the bottom leads us out to a corner of the courtyard garden. The kitchen window is open, and I can hear people eating and discussing tape as we scurry over to the courtyard gate .

Once we’re on the other side of the walled garden, it’s a straight shot to the country road.

We hop over errant tree limbs and help each other through tricky, overgrown spots. The headlights of Rory’s car are like a beacon, and by the time we make it to him we’re all giggles and smiles.

Colton was right, this was fun—and we haven’t even made it to the dinner party yet!

Rory exits the car and lets Colton and I hop into the back. It’s a squeeze, but he just about fits with a little room to spare.

I haven’t had time to appreciate how good he looks tonight, but he’s wearing the hell out of a dark pair of jeans and a thin sweatshirt—and of course, the backwards baseball cap.

He links his hand with mine as Rory and Sanya climb into their seats, and my head comes to rest on his shoulder as we drive away from the estate.

I wonder if I would have made this decision if this had happened last year.

I want to say I would, but I think that meeting this man—becoming so close to him over the past few weeks has changed the way I look at things, the way I react to certain situations.

I can only hope that the changes will be permanent, that they won’t fade and disappear when the summer comes to an end.