Chapter 16
Sierra
“Why the hell would you tell everyone you felt more comfortable staying with your doctor?” Sierra whispered to Sienna once they were back in the car on their way to Ellie’s house.
“You’re welcome,” her sister said with a smirk as if she had actually done Sierra a favor.
Sierra didn’t want to stay at a hotel, and she definitely didn’t want to stay at Ellie Finch’s house. She just wanted to be at home in her own bed where she could forget about everything that happened this semester.
She understood why they couldn’t drive there now, but it still didn’t make it any less hard.
The only good part about going to Ellie’s house was that she definitely didn’t have to worry about old memories of Teresa coming up there.
As much as she loved being home over Thanksgiving, she had to admit that it was hard being back in her old room in the bed where she lost her virginity to the girl she thought would be in her life forever.
But, really, Ellie Finch’s house? She was still trying to get a read on Ellie, and being forced to live with her was not the way she wanted to figure her out.
Clearly, it was Ellie’s idea. That had to be why she asked her moms to go to the back to talk.
Why would she want Sierra to stay? Was she really that desperate to talk to her and try to make things right between them?
Sierra had to hand it to her. She was dedicated. She definitely didn’t give up.
After a few minutes, they pulled up in front of a modest two-story house that appeared to be about the same size as Sierra’s house.
Sierra got out of the car so she could help Sienna out.
By the time Sienna was out of the car and leaning all of her body weight against Sierra, Ellie was standing beside them.
“Do you two have bags I can grab?” Ellie asked.
Sienna pointed toward the trunk. “They’re back there. Thank god my moms picked me up from school on the way to the meet, so I actually have clothes with me.”
Sierra hadn’t even thought of that. Thank god she had enough clothes with her to last at least a week or two. Although, she really hoped she wouldn’t have to utilize two weeks’ worth of clothes, because two weeks spent in close quarters with Ellie sounded like absolute torture.
Ellie pulled a bunch of bags from the back of the car and walked to the house as if it was nothing.
She was covered right now, but Sierra had to guess the muscles that she had taken notice of multiple times during the meet, were flexed underneath her layers of clothes.
She inadvertently licked her lips, which was ridiculous.
She shouldn’t be licking her lips while thinking about any part of Ellie’s body.
She might be hot, but Sierra had no interest in putting her heart on the line again, especially for someone like Ellie.
Her sister leaned even closer to her and snickered. “I’ll say it again—you’re welcome.”
“I wasn’t checking her out,” Sierra hissed at her.
Her sister laughed even harder now. “That’s funny. I don’t remember saying that you were.”
“I…” Sierra growled. Sienna was so infuriating and had no idea what she was talking about. “Just shut up. Okay?”
“Fine. I’ll shut up if you help me into the house,” Sienna said smugly.
Sierra wrapped her arm even more tightly around her sister and led her into the house.
The house was adorable and gave a feeling of home immediately upon entering.
Pictures lined the walls of Ellie and a boy who Sierra assumed must be her brother.
Sierra couldn’t stop herself from gawking at young Ellie.
She couldn’t help it. She was so fucking cute.
There was a wedding picture of Ellie’s moms that made Sierra do a double take, because Ellie’s mom, Brinley, looked exactly Iike Ellie.
Right next to that was a picture that appeared to be from Brinley’s graduation from medical school and that picture looked even more like Ellie.
“Good sign for the future, huh?” her sister whispered to her as she nodded toward the pictures Sierra was looking at.
“What happened to shutting up?” Sierra asked her.
“We’re inside now, so I don’t need your help anymore. Plus, I can’t help myself. It’s too much fun getting you rattled.”
“Can I show you two to your room?” Ellie asked from the top of the stairs. “Sienna, will you be okay to get upstairs or would you rather I set you up with some blankets on the couch?”
“I can hop up the steps. Don’t worry.”
Sierra followed behind her sister to make sure she didn’t miss a step while hopping and topple down the stairs. Luckily, they both made it up the steps in one piece. They followed Ellie down a long hallway until there were only two doors left.
Ellie pointed to the door to the right. “This is my room. Right across the hall here will be yours.”
Ellie opened the door to reveal a very plain room that didn’t have much left in it at this point.
There was a bookshelf with a few trophies, a queen-size bed with a blue comforter, and a dresser.
The walls were white, but the paint was chipped in multiple places, most likely from things being taken down that were once hanging on it.
“Sorry, I know it’s not much,” Ellie said as she followed them into the room. “But the bed is really comfortable, and my brother has been out of the house long enough that it no longer has his stench, so it’s better than nothing.”
Sienna sat down on the bed and looked around. “Definitely better than a hotel. Do you know where our moms went?”
“I think my moms are giving them a tour of the downstairs right now. They might be showing off the bar in the basement. My mom was apparently a bartender before she went to medical school, so she’s very proud of it.
She normally takes guests down there and makes them a drink to prove she’s still good at it,” Ellie explained with a laugh.
“Did anyone else think our moms were acting strange earlier?” Sienna asked.
Sierra thought she had noticed some weird tension, but she figured she was just imagining it as a way to not think about the tension between her and Ellie.
“Yes!” Ellie shouted. “I’m so glad I’m not the only one who noticed that. It was so weird.”
“Do you think one of our moms hooked up with one of your moms?” Sienna asked with a chuckle.
Ew. Why would she even suggest that? Sierra sat on the bed and hit her sister with a pillow. “I don’t want to think about that at all.”
“I bet it was Mama,” Sienna said as if she hadn’t noticed Sierra’s obvious disgust over this topic. “She was the wild one.”
Sierra rolled her eyes at her sister. “We don’t actually know that. You always just assumed it was the case since they don’t keep any of her books in the house.”
Ellie leaned against the dresser and stared at Sierra and Sienna. “Your mama is a writer?”
“ Was a writer,” Sienna told her. “She wrote two or three books, but then put her time into trying to improve the foster care system.”
Ellie’s eyes went wide, and she stood a little taller. “That’s amazing. Is she a social worker or something?”
Sienna shook her head and answered before Sierra had a chance. “No. She created an app to help find the right match for kids and foster parents.”
Sierra was filled with pride when she saw the way Ellie’s face lit up in response to learning that about her mama. Sierra was able to watch firsthand as her moms gave love to kids who needed it the most, including her and her siblings.
“That’s so cool!” Ellie said.
“Our moms are both super passionate about foster care since they both grew up in the system. Our mom was eventually adopted, but our mama never was.” Sierra wanted to keep talking about it, because Ellie was hanging on her every word.
Even though she shouldn’t, she liked the feeling of having Ellie’s undivided attention.
Unfortunately, her sister cut in, stealing Ellie’s attention away.
“Which brings me back to how I know for a fact that mama was wild.” Sienna broke into full theatrical mode, the same way she always did when she told a story.
Her eyes were wide, and her hands moved all around as she spoke.
“I bought a copy of the memoir she wrote about her life, because I was curious. Once I got to her twenties, I had to stop. It was even too much for me to handle, which you know is saying a lot. She—”
Sierra put up a hand to stop her sister. “Don’t tell me. I don’t want to know.”
“Aw, come on. Really?” Sienna asked. “Don’t ruin the fun.”
“Sometimes it’s better to let stuff be,” Ellie said. “I think it’s for the best not to know some stuff about our parents. I learned that the hard way.”
Sienna sat up straighter. “Oh, tell me more.”
Much to Sierra’s surprise, Ellie walked over to the bed and sat down close beside her, making it hard for Sierra to breathe. “When I was in middle school, I thought it would be fun to snoop through my moms’ room. I was wrong. I found these lists…”
Ellie’s voice drifted off, but Sierra could tell by the intrigue written all over her sister’s face that Sienna wouldn’t let her get away with not giving them more details. She wasn’t wrong. “And…” Sienna prompted after a few seconds.
Ellie cringed. “The first one was a sex syllabus, all about having sex with women. My mom’s name was listed as the professor. ” Ellie made a gagging motion. “As if that wasn’t bad enough, the other one was a fucket list. ”
“A fucket list?” Sienna laughed. “Like a bucket list of sex?”
Ellie nodded, her face twisting into a look of disgust. “Yep. I dropped those papers like they were on fire and never snooped around again. I could barely look at my moms for the next week.”
Sienna wiggled back and forth on the bed as she broke into a fit of giggles. “Okay. You’re right. That’s awful. Maybe I should set the book on fire. Just to be safe.”
Ellie laughed along with Sienna. “It’s probably for the best, honestly.”
Sierra watched the women on both sides of her and wondered why it was so easy for them.
Every conversation between Sierra and Ellie was charged and awkward and normally went to shit within a few minutes.
Sienna and Ellie barely knew each other, and they were already talking as if they were old friends.
Sienna caught Sierra’s eye and studied her for a moment before doing a dramatic stretch and yawn. “You know what? I could use a little rest. Do you two mind going somewhere else to talk so I can take a nap? My ankle is killing me.”
It was obvious to Sierra what Sienna was up to, but the way Ellie looked down toward Sienna’s ankle with concern written all over her face, told Sierra she hadn’t caught on. “Are you okay? Do you need my mom to come take another look at it?”
Sienna waved her hand. “I’m fine. I just need some peace and quiet.”
“Of course.” Ellie nodded and stood from the bed. As soon as she was standing, her eyes moved right to Sierra. “Do you want to rest too? If not, I can give you a tour of the house.”
For some reason, getting a tour of Ellie’s house that was led by Ellie seemed like the greatest thing in the world at that moment.
There was nothing Sierra wanted to do more.
But, that sent warning bells off in her head.
She needed to be careful. Ellie seemed harmless, and it was obvious she wanted to make things right between them, but no one had made Sierra feel this way since Teresa.
She and Teresa had a much better start, and everything still went to complete shit for them.
Sierra couldn’t let another pretty face tear her world apart.
“I think I could actually use a nap, too. Thank you, though.”
The disappointment was obvious on Ellie’s face, and it made Sierra want to tell her she had changed her mind. Instead, she let Ellie leave without another word.
Sienna didn’t say anything as she crawled underneath the comforter and Sierra did the same. Sienna rolled onto her side, and after a minute of complete silence, Sierra figured she must have actually fallen asleep.
Sierra figured Sienna was having a dream when she heard her mumble something under her breath. That was until she registered the words her sister had said. “You’re a fucking idiot.”
Instead of actually napping, Sierra stared up at the ceiling and wondered if her sister was right.