Chapter 25
Ellie
Ellie was so excited for her date with Sierra, she couldn’t stay still. She paced her room and she checked the time on her phone over and over again. Getting ready had taken surprisingly less time than expected, so now there was nothing left to do but wait.
Track practice tonight had been fun with all of the secret smiles and discreet touches between her and Sierra. It was a tough workout, and she didn’t even register that she was tired, because there was so much adrenaline pumping through her veins just from being close to Sierra.
Ellie jumped when there was a knock at her bedroom door.
When she opened the door, she found Juniper standing there.
Juniper didn’t look like herself. She looked less confident than usual, and it put Ellie on edge.
As far as she knew, there was no reason for Juniper to be anything other than extremely excited right now.
She had killed their workout, after all.
She kept up with the front group the entire time.
Ellie stepped to the side to allow Juniper to walk in. “Everything okay?”
Juniper paced in the same way Ellie had been doing a moment prior. “Yes.” She stopped, shook her head, then continued pacing. “No. I mean, I guess so. We need to talk.”
A lump formed in Ellie’s throat. She assumed Juniper must have noticed something at practice and was here to call Ellie out about her and Sierra.
“What’s up?” she asked as calmly as possible.
Juniper sat down on the bed and wrung her hands together. “I’ve been lying to you.”
Ellie had no idea where Juniper was going with this, but she had a bad feeling it was somehow going to lead back to her and Sierra. “Okay…”
Juniper looked up at Ellie, her eyes wide with fear. “I’ve been, kind of, dating someone.”
“Okay.” Ellie still had no clue why Juniper was making such a big deal out of this.
“It’s Chris. We didn’t mean for it to happen, but after the track meet, we both stayed back at school for a few days, and it was just the two of us, and things kind of just happened.
I think we’ve both felt something for a while, but didn’t realize it went beyond friendship.
I wanted to tell you as soon as everything happened, but I didn’t know how you would feel about it since we’re your best friends on the team.
We didn’t want you to feel like a third wheel or anything. ”
Relief swept through Ellie, and she started to laugh. “Dude, that’s it? You scared the shit out of me.”
Juniper’s shoulders dropped as she noticeably relaxed as well. “What the hell did you think I was going to say?”
“That’s a great question. I’m not sure,” she lied.
Juniper blew out a breath. “I’m so happy you’re okay with this. I should have just told you from the beginning.”
Ellie sat down beside Juniper and took her hand. “Of course I’m okay with it. Like you said, you’re two of my best friends. All I want is for both of you to be happy and if you can find that together, that’s great.”
“There is one other thing.”
Ellie’s heartbeat picked back up. Maybe she wasn’t out of the woods yet. “What is it?”
“When I ditched you to go skiing, Chris is the one I went with. I’m so sorry. I know it’s supposed to be chicks before dicks, but I—”
Ellie put her hand up to motion for Juniper to stop. “It’s no big deal. This is all new. You’re excited. You want to spend all of your time together.” Ellie understood all of those feelings much more than Juniper realized.
Juniper wrapped her arms around Ellie and squeezed her tight. “Thank you so much for being so cool about this.” After letting go of Ellie, Juniper jumped from the bed. “I made plans to get dinner with Chris tonight, but if you want me to cancel, I can.”
“Of course not. You two have fun.”
Juniper looked like she was going to leave but then she hesitated for a moment. “Do you have something to do? If not, you can come with us.”
“I’m good. I actually have plans with some girls from the team.” It wasn’t totally a lie. She was hanging out with one girl from the team.
Juniper scrunched up her nose. “Is Sierra going?”
Ellie nodded slowly and tried her best to keep her face neutral so she didn’t give anything away. “She is. We’re kind of friends now.” The kind of had to do with the fact that they were so much more than that.
“Good for you, I guess. I’ll try my best to get along with her, but I’m going to tread lightly for a while.”
“That’s fine.” Ellie was just relieved to find that her and Sierra’s secret was still safe.
Juniper waved a hand as she walked away. “Have a good night. Don’t have too much fun without me.”
“Wouldn’t dream of it!” Ellie shouted after her.
That talk had actually been good, because it wasted time, and she could finally leave to pick up Sierra. Ellie checked herself in the bathroom mirror one more time before leaving the house. When she pulled up to Sierra’s dorm, Sierra was already waiting outside.
She was wearing a tight-fitting cream V-neck sweater and black pants.
Ellie had to bring a hand to her face just to make sure there wasn’t any drool, because damn, Sierra was so hot.
She looked nervous, which only served to make her even hotter to Ellie.
Confidence was definitely sexy, but there was something very endearing about a person being nervous around you.
Ellie jumped out of her car and ran around the front so she could open Sierra’s door for her. “Your chariot,” she said with a slight bow as Sierra slipped into the car.
Ellie closed Sierra’s door and went back to her side of the car. She reached out her hand and was happy when Sierra intertwined their fingers. “We are going to a little Italian restaurant that is about forty-five minutes away. I hope that’s okay.”
“That sounds great,” Sierra said, her body relaxing slightly when Ellie ran her thumb along Sierra’s.
“Okay. Most important question. What music should I put on? I was thinking either Taylor Swift, Sabrina Carpenter, or Renee Rapp.”
“It’s a long drive. Why don’t we do all three? I’m a big fan of all of them.”
Ellie put the hand that wasn’t holding Sierra’s on her chest. “Girl after my own heart. I think all three of them are so hot.”
Sierra smirked at her. “Got a thing for blondes, huh?”
“I really do,” Ellie admitted.
“Lucky me.”
Ellie squeezed Sierra’s hand. “I’d say I’m the lucky one.”
“Maybe we’re both lucky,” Sierra said shyly, the cutest blush touching her cheeks.
“I think we are.”
Ellie turned her car back on and started to drive.
The forty-five minute trip went by so quickly, the time being filled by Ellie trying to get Sierra to sing louder when she caught her singing under her breath, and the two of them laughing and talking together.
The date was already perfect, and it hadn’t even really started yet.
Ellie wasn’t sure how Sierra felt about public displays of affection since she wasn’t technically out, but when Ellie grabbed her hand to help her out of the car, Sierra didn’t let go, so Ellie figured that must mean she was okay with it.
They continued to touch in one way or another throughout the whole dinner, whether it was a squeeze of the hand or fingers tickled along a leg. Ellie was a very tactile person, so she was so happy to find that Sierra was the same way, even in a public setting.
“Want to split a dessert?” Ellie asked when they had both finished their main dishes. “Coach can’t get mad at us if we’re not eating a whole dessert, right?”
“What Coach doesn’t know won’t hurt him,” Sierra said with a conspiratorial smile. “Plus, did you see that tray go by with the peanut butter cheesecake? Come on. Even I have my weaknesses.”
Ellie rested her chin in her hand as she stared across the table at Sierra.
She couldn’t believe this girl was actually hers.
Every moment they spent together was so much better than the last, and things had just started.
She couldn’t imagine how amazing things would be months from now.
Or years from now. She ignored the thought that popped into her head, because it was way too early to be thinking like that.
They were supposed to be taking this slow.
Imagining their wedding day definitely wasn’t slow.
“Peanut butter cheesecake sounds perfect,” Ellie said once she remembered what they had been talking about.
It turned out, the peanut butter cheesecake really was perfect, so when they left the restaurant, Ellie had a full belly and a full heart. The only problem was she really didn’t want this night to end. Right as she had that thought, she noticed a playground across the street.
“Any interest in making this date last a little longer?” Ellie pointed at the playground. “I know it’s frigid out here, but I thought we could maybe hold hands on the swings or make out on the merry-go-round.”
“Both of those things sound pretty great, but are you sure? I know you’re serious about the amount of sleep you get and it’s already late.”
It was sweet that Sierra had already figured that out about Ellie without her explicitly stating it.
It made her like Sierra even more, which meant she had no interest in this date coming to an end.
“I’m sure. I made my schedule so I’m done by twelve on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday but don’t start until twelve on Tuesday and Thursday. ”
“That’s an interesting way to do it.”
Ellie shrugged. “It seemed like a good balance.”
Sierra squeezed Ellie’s hand and her whole body warmed, making her forget that it was the middle of winter in Pennsylvania. “Well, since you can sleep in tomorrow, I would love to go to the playground with you.”
Ellie had to stop herself from skipping across the street. She was so excited to be with Sierra, her energy level was extra high. She decided to lead Sierra to the swings first, so she didn’t think Ellie brought her to the playground only to make out.
“So, it turns out Juniper and Chris are dating,” Ellie told Sierra as they slowly swung back and forth, hand-in-hand.
“Oh yeah?” Sierra turned toward Ellie and studied her face. “How do you feel about that?”
“I’m excited for them. If I’m being completely honest, I’m also very excited for us.”
“For us? What do we have to do with Chris and Juniper?”
“I’ve been friends with Juniper long enough to know how she acts when she starts dating someone.
She gets obsessed and wants to spend all of her time with them.
” Ellie put her feet on the ground to maneuver her swing closer to Sierra so she could give her a kiss.
“Since she’s going to be preoccupied, that means more time for us. ”
Sierra’s whole face lit up when she smiled. “That’s good, because I happen to really like us.”
“I happen to really like us too.”
The need to be closer to Sierra overtook Ellie, and she averted her gaze from Sierra over to the merry-go-round. “Should we move on to the next part of our playground date?”
Sierra smiled even wider now. She must have known exactly what Ellie was thinking about. “The swing part was very short-lived.”
“That’s because I was trying to be a gentlewoman, but I can’t stop thinking about how much I want to kiss you.”
“It has been way too long since we’ve done that, right?” Sierra asked flirtatiously.
Ellie nodded. “It’s been over twenty-four hours, which is way too long if you ask me.”
Sierra tilted her head, the wide grin still ever-present on her face. “Didn’t you just kiss me a second ago?”
“I think we both know that’s not the kind of kissing I’m talking about.”
Sierra’s face became serious, and her throat moved up and down as she swallowed hard. “I know,” she said.
Her voice was much huskier than usual, and it turned Ellie on even more.
If she didn’t have this girl’s tongue in her mouth soon, she might actually explode.
Without saying another word, she stood from the swing and pulled Sierra toward the merry-go-round.
They were both giggling as they tripped into it and stumbled over each other, their bodies naturally intertwining as Ellie’s back hit the hard metal.
Ellie put her hands in Sierra’s hair and pulled their faces together.
Sierra gasped right before her mouth closed over Ellie’s, and it was one of the sexiest sounds Ellie had ever heard in her entire life.
She didn’t know how long they stayed on that merry-go-round making out, but she knew by the time they forced themselves to stop, her lips were tingling and her heart was more full than it had ever been before.
On their whole walk back to the car, Sierra kept staring at Ellie like she wanted to say something. When she couldn’t take it anymore, Ellie spoke up. “Whatever you want to say to me, go ahead. I can tell there’s something.”
Sierra opened her mouth as if she was about to argue, but then closed it and smirked.
After a few seconds, she finally said what she had clearly been thinking about.
“I know the rest of this week will probably be busy with classes and preparing for our next meet, but are you free on Sunday? I thought I could plan our next date.”
“Sunday sounds great.”
The truth was, Sierra could have asked about any day, and Ellie would have found a way to make it work. There was nothing she wanted more in life than to go on a million dates with Sierra Finnegan.