Chapter 21
Ellie
You should probably kiss me before I change my mind.
Ellie tried to process those words as she moved closer to Sierra.
Sierra wanted to kiss her. Sierra was asking to kiss her.
There was so much that needed to be figured out between them, but that didn’t matter right now.
If Ellie didn’t feel Sierra’s lips on hers soon, she might explode.
When their lips touched, it was as if an electrical current had been sent through Ellie’s body, and she was alive for the first time.
If Sierra hadn’t just told her she only kissed one other person, Ellie would have assumed she had much more experience.
Her kisses were soft, yet firm. There was a confidence in Sierra as she opened her mouth to Ellie’s that Ellie had never seen from her before.
As their tongues battled for dominance in the most sensual way possible, two strong hands came to rest on Ellie’s arms. Soon, Sierra gently pushed her back and crawled on top of her. Who the hell was this girl? It definitely wasn’t the shy, closed-off freshman she had come to know.
Ellie wrapped her arms around Sierra, and they moaned into each other’s mouths as their bodies came even closer together. So fucking sexy.
Ellie slowed down to catch her breath and get some semblance of control over her hormones, but that turned out to be a terrible idea.
Sierra pulled back and stared down at Ellie like a deer caught in the headlights (or a girl caught making out with someone she shouldn’t).
She rolled off of Ellie and they lay side by side for who knows how long, the only sound in the room the sound of their heavy breathing.
“I think we need to talk,” Sierra said finally. “I… There’s something I need to tell you.”
Ellie rolled over onto her side and propped her body up on her elbow. She had a feeling whatever Sierra needed to say was important, so she wanted to make sure she knew she had Ellie’s full attention. “You can tell me anything.”
“The reason I got so upset about Teresa wasn’t because I’m homophobic.
We were together for about a year before college.
We kept it a secret because that’s what Teresa wanted, but the plan was to be out once we got to school.
Instead, she dumped me. Apparently, she decided men were the easier option, and it wasn’t worth coming out as bisexual.
That’s why I was such a bitch the first few times you tried to talk to me.
It seemed better to blow you off than to let you see me cry. ”
A searing pain went right through Ellie’s heart when tears started to fall from Sierra’s eyes.
She couldn’t believe how wrong she had been about her and didn’t want to imagine how much harder her actions had made things for Sierra.
“I didn’t know,” Ellie whispered as she brought her thumb to Sierra’s cheek to wipe away her tears.
“God, if I had known, I wouldn’t have done and said those things about her.
I’m so sorry. I never wanted to hurt you. Not like this.”
Sierra put her hand on top of Ellie’s hand that was still wiping her tears. “You weren’t the one who hurt me. Teresa broke my heart. You…”
“I did what?”
Sierra shook her head. “I can’t say it. It’s too scary.”
“Please?” The emotions in the room were so high, Ellie was worried she might start to cry too.
“You’re kind of the one putting it back together.”
Ellie’s heart exploded. This was much more than just a crush. It was… Well, she wasn’t sure what it was, but she liked it.
More tears came to Sierra’s eyes. “I’m not really sure what’s happening though. It’s too soon to have feelings for someone else. I’m not even sure if I’m fully over Teresa yet. A few weeks ago, I would’ve said I definitely wasn’t, but lying here with you makes me forget about everything.”
“Nothing needs to be decided right now. Why don’t we just let ourselves enjoy being lost in this moment?” Especially if being lost in the moment means less tears and more kissing.
Sierra’s lips pulled up into a gentle smile. “I think I’d like that.”
After a few more minutes of kissing, Ellie forced herself to pull away.
She knew this was a lot for Sierra after everything she had been through, so she didn’t want to push things.
“Could you stay in here tonight? We don’t have to do anything you’re not comfortable with.
We don’t even have to kiss anymore. I just really want to hold you as I fall asleep and still be holding you when I wake up. ”
“That sounds great. I actually am getting tired though.”
“Then let’s go to sleep.” Ellie gave Sierra a kiss on the forehead then snuck a peek at her phone so she could check what time it was. 12:01 A.M. “Merry Christmas Eve, Sierra No-Middle-Name.”
“Merry Christmas Eve, Eleanor Patricia.” Sierra snickered as she said Ellie’s name. “I never thought I’d say this, but I’m glad I get to spend this day with you.”
Ellie was so happy about that too, and as she drifted to sleep, she couldn’t stop herself from thinking about what it would be like to spend the holidays with the girl she was already falling for.
***
Ellie was spooked away by the sound of knocking, not on her door but on the door across the hall.
“Sienna! Sierra! Wake up. We need to leave before it’s too late.”
Leave? No, they couldn’t be leaving. Not after such a perfect night. Not when things had finally clicked into place for her and Sierra.
Sierra stirred beside her and slowly opened her eyes. “Did they say we were leaving?”
Ellie’s heart dropped. It appeared she hadn’t misheard what was said. “I think so. I guess we shouldn’t have done such a good job of shoveling the driveway.”
Sierra grabbed onto Ellie’s shirt and wrinkled it in her hands, as if she was holding on to her for dear life. “What if I’m not ready to leave?”
Ellie smiled despite her sadness. This was a far cry from the girl who was begging to go home not that long ago. “I’m not ready for you to leave either.”
“Hey, where’s your sister?” Brooke’s voice floated into the room from out in the hallway and Sierra’s eyes went wide.
“Shit. What the hell am I supposed to do? If I walk out of your room, they’re gonna know… well, I don’t know what they’ll know exactly, but they could make some assumptions. I don’t—”
Ellie stopped Sierra’s rambling by putting a hand on each cheek and placing a soft, quick kiss on her lips. She still couldn’t believe that was something she could do. “It’s okay. We’ll say we fell asleep watching a movie. They have no reason not to believe that.”
Sierra nodded a bunch of times as if she was an anxious bobble head doll. “Yeah, that could work. I think that’ll work.”
Ellie tried not to smile at Sierra's internal crisis, but she looked so damn cute, she couldn’t help it. “It’ll work.” Ellie kissed Sierra once again, because why not? Her lips were perfect. “Maybe let me do the talking, though.”
Her joke finally made Sierra crack a smile. “Probably a good plan.”
Ellie squeezed Sierra’s hand and forced herself to get out of bed as Sierra did the same.
They walked to the door together, and when Ellie opened it, she found both of her moms, Sierra’s moms, and Sienna all standing in the hall.
Sienna was very passionately speaking about something, but Ellie only caught the tail-end of it.
“We can’t. Trust me, now is not the time. ”
“Now is not the time for what?” Ellie asked.
Sienna looked at Ellie and gave her a knowing smile and subtle wink. “It’s not the right time to go home. I mean, really, who wants to spend over four hours in the car on Christmas Eve? Not me!”
Tiffany rubbed her temples as if her daughter was giving her a headache. “So, you’d rather drive four hours on Christmas Day ?”
Sienna put her hands on her hips as if to show she meant business, but the shit-eating grin on her face said she was simply up to something. “No. I think we should wait until the day after.”
Brooke shook her head. “But what about your brother and Mel? If we’re not home, we won’t be able to spend Christmas with them.”
Sienna sighed. “They live in the same town as us. We can spend the day after Christmas with them.”
“I don’t know,” Brooke said, but it sounded like her resolve might be breaking. “This isn’t only your decision. Your sister really wanted to get home, and the Finnegans probably have plans with their family.”
“We don’t,” Ellie answered quickly. “My brother and his girlfriend aren’t coming until the weekend after New Year’s, so that’s when we’re celebrating with the rest of our family. It’s just the three of us.”
Brooke put her focus on Sierra, who immediately got the deer-in-the-headlights look back. “I fell asleep in Ellie’s room watching a movie, and I was so tired I didn’t wake up until just now,” Sierra blurted out without her mom even saying anything.
Sienna chuckled, but Brooke just furrowed her eyebrows and continued to stare at Sierra. “Okay. But what do you think about staying through Christmas?”
Sierra nodded multiple times, doing the complete opposite of playing it cool. “Yes. I think we should.”
Tiffany clapped her hands together. “It looks like it’s settled then. Let’s make the Yuletide gay.”
Excitement bubbled inside Ellie, and it wasn’t just because Sierra was staying (even if that was a big part of it).
Ellie really liked Sierra’s whole family, and she was excited to have more time with them.
She looked over at her moms, who looked weirdly just as excited as her.
“After Sierra and I do our workout, we’ll run out to the store since it’s safe to drive now. Text me what we need.”
*
After doing a workout that turned out to be much more fun when kisses were added in as rewards, Ellie and Sierra both took showers before meeting downstairs to go to the store. Sierra was wearing a pair of jeans and a West End Track and Field hoodie that she looked unfairly cute in.
Ellie had chosen wide leg pants and an ugly Christmas sweater that said “All I want for Christmas is a new PR.”
Sierra pointed to the sweater and chuckled. “I fucking love that.”
“You can borrow it sometime if you want.” Honestly, Ellie loved the idea of Sierra wrapped up in something that belonged to her.
“It does look very warm.” Sierra looked around as if she was checking to see if they were truly alone, then closed the space between them and rested her hand against Ellie’s stomach. “But then again, I don’t need the sweater to keep me warm if I have you.”
There was something so sexy about confident Sierra, especially since that side of her didn’t come out as often. Ellie leaned in and placed a quick kiss on Sierra’s ear before whispering into it. “We really need to get out of here.”
Once they were in the car, Ellie reached out her hand and was happy when Sierra accepted it. She brought their hands up to her lips and kissed Sierra’s knuckles. “If it’s okay, I thought I could show you around town before we go to the store.”
“I would love that.”
Ellie showed Sierra each of her schools, starting with her elementary school.
She took her to the track, which they couldn’t see much of since it was covered by snow.
To finish off the tour, she took Sierra to the barn where her parents got married.
Even though Ellie obviously wasn’t there that day, her parents had taken her to see the venue multiple times growing up.
“This is where my parents got married,” she said while parking the car in the snow-covered parking lot. “I figured it was an important part of the town tour since this barn is the whole reason we ended up in this town.”
Sierra’s eyes were wide as she looked around. “It’s gorgeous.”
Ellie shut off the car and turned to face her. “Want to get out and take a look around?”
“Are we allowed?”
Ellie shrugged. “It doesn’t look like the owners are around, but even if they were, they know me by now, so I doubt they’d care.”
Ellie didn’t wait for Sierra’s answer. Instead, she got out of the car and ran to the other side to open Sierra’s door for her. Ellie reached her hand down toward her, but Sierra just stared at her.
“What’s wrong?” Ellie asked.
Sierra gawked at Ellie’s hand for a moment before gazing up at her. “No one’s ever opened my car door for me.”
“Then it looks like you’ve been kissing the wrong people.” Ellie grabbed Sierra’s hand and pulled her up to her feet, then wrapped her arm around Sierra’s back to bring their bodies flush up against each other. “Speaking of which…” Ellie placed a tender kiss on Sierra’s lips before pulling away.
For a few seconds, Sierra remained frozen in place with her eyes closed and lips still puckered. When she opened her eyes, the sunlight hit them, causing them to sparkle in the most magnificent way. The sight made Ellie weak in the knees, but she somehow found the strength to get herself to walk.
“What kind of wedding do you want?” she asked Sierra as they walked. It seemed like a strange question for the girl she had kissed for the first time last night, but she had just asked about Sierra’s wedding. It’s not like she was making plans for the two of them.
“I haven’t really thought about it, have you?”
“Nah. I kind of always figured I’d end up doing whatever my future fiancée wanted. I’m not picky.”
“What about kids? Do you want them?” Sierra asked.
“Yes. I want a bunch of kids.”
“Birth or adopt?”
Ellie had to think about that one. With how young they were, it wasn’t something she had really thought about. “Maybe both? I think I’d like to know what it feels like to carry a child inside of me, but there’s also so many kids who need homes.”
Sierra blew out a long breath. “I know. I was definitely one of the lucky ones. I don’t know who I’d be or where I’d be if it wasn’t for my moms.”
Ellie stopped walking so she could turn to look at Sierra. “I guess I’ll have to thank them, because I like who you are, and I’m also very happy about where you are right now.”
“I’m very happy about where I am too. I think this might end up being the best Christmas I’ve ever had.”
Ellie had no doubt it would be, because she was going to make sure it was.