Chapter 28
Sierra
I won’t be back until Monday afternoon, but is there anything you need me to grab from your house and bring back for you?
Sierra had been staring at the text she received from Teresa for the past ten minutes. It was almost as if Teresa knew this was a huge weekend for Sierra and wanted to mess with her head by suddenly being nice out of nowhere.
She was about to take a screenshot and send it to Ellie (who was sitting three rows ahead of her on the bus) when another text came through from Teresa.
My dad told me to send that text, then watched over my shoulder to make sure I did.
I couldn’t tell him we don’t talk anymore because you’re weirdly obsessed with me, so I had no choice but to send it.
You can ignore it (which I’m sure is what you were planning to do anyway).
Weirdly obsessed with her? Sierra scoffed. If Teresa had been paying any attention this semester, she would have noticed that none of Sierra’s focus was on her. Thank god. She sent a screenshot of those two texts to Ellie, who immediately responded with two texts of her own.
Aw man. I thought you were obsessed with ME :( it’s a shame since I happen to be pretty obsessed with you…
In all seriousness, she’s a bitch. I’m sorry you still have to put up with her. Are you okay?
Sierra typed her reply as their bus pulled into the parking lot of the hotel they would be staying at for the weekend. I’m good. I have more important things to focus on this weekend.
Like me? ;)
Sierra smirked when she thought of the perfect response. Exactly. Like how I’m going to kick your ass in all of these races and be conference champ in the 400.
In your dreams, Rookie.
After getting off of the bus and filing into the hotel lobby, Coach Kraemer started to read off their room assignments.
By now, it was pretty evident who they would all be rooming with.
Ellie and Juniper were always together and there were two other freshman sprinters who Sierra switched between, when all three of them weren’t shoved in a room together.
She knew Coach would only put her with one of them for this meet so they could each have their own bed since it was the conference championship.
She was happy when she found out she was sharing a room with her bus buddy, Avery.
They grabbed their keys from Coach and headed up to their room, but Sierra had barely gotten her bags down before another text came through from Ellie. Juniper is going to Chris’s room for a little bit. I’m in room 336. Come give me a kiss before we have to morph into mortal enemies.
Sierra let Avery know she would be right back, then rode the elevator up a floor to get to Ellie’s room. Seconds after knocking, Ellie opened the door and pulled her into the room. Before Sierra could even comprehend what was happening, she was lying on the bed with Ellie on top of her.
Ellie kissed Sierra’s neck while her hands ran up and down her sides. “Do you know how fucking turned on it makes me when we shit-talk each other?”
Sierra had trouble getting words out since she could hardly breathe. “I think I’m… starting to realize that.” Shit, this feels good.
Sierra couldn’t remember Ellie’s hands ever touching her as much as they were at this moment, and she wanted to feel them everywhere.
She wanted them on her skin. She wanted those fingers buried deep inside of her.
Fuuuck. Why was Sierra having this realization when they only had a few minutes together?
She focused her attention on kissing Ellie since she knew they couldn’t go farther than that.
Not tonight. She hadn’t waited just to have a quickie in a hotel room where they had to be worried about someone walking in on them.
No. For now, kissing had to be enough. Luckily, the kissing was pretty damn great, and when Sierra and Ellie were finally able to force themselves apart a few minutes later, they both had swollen lips and messy hair.
“Do I look as disheveled as you right now?” Ellie asked with a laugh.
Sierra laughed along with her. “That depends. Do I look like I just fought a war? If so, we’re in the same boat.”
Ellie sat up and ran her fingers through her hair, then took Sierra’s hand.
“Good luck tomorrow. I have no doubt that you’re going to do fucking amazing and exceed every single one of coach’s expectations.
You’re also going to look ridiculously sexy standing on the second-place podium after the 400 finals on Sunday. ”
Sierra let go of Ellie’s hand so she could playfully shove her. “Funny. I was just going to say the exact same thing to you.”
Ellie laughed with Sierra for a few seconds before her face became serious and she grabbed Sierra’s hand once again. “Sierra, I…” Ellie shook her head as if she had changed her mind about what she was going to say. “I’m really proud of you.”
Had Ellie almost told her she loved her?
The possibility both terrified and excited Sierra.
It had barely been over two months since they shared their first kiss, but Sierra’s feelings for Ellie were also bordering on love.
It wasn’t something she was ready to admit out loud, and even thinking it made her want to throw up, but she couldn’t deny it.
“I’m really proud of you too,” Sierra choked out.
That night, as she fell asleep, her mind wasn’t on the big weekend ahead of her. All she could focus on was the possibility that Ellie Finch might be in love with her.
***
The first day of the conference championship went by in a blur.
After qualifying, Sierra was ranked above Ellie in both the 200 and the 400.
Ellie had been sure to reassure her it was only because she was saving her energy for the next day, and even though Sierra knew it was just playful banter, she also had no question that Ellie would do everything in her power to make sure Sierra didn’t beat her in the finals.
When they got back to the hotel, Coach gave them a speech about how they were in the perfect position to win the meet.
After his speech, Sierra went right up to her hotel room.
There was an unspoken understanding between her and Ellie that their focus needed to be on the meet and not each other, so they sent each other one goodnight text before both drifting off to sleep.
The next day, Sierra’s nerves were so bad, her whole body was tingly.
The only thing that was able to ease her anxiety the slightest bit was the smile and wink Ellie gave her every time they passed each other.
When it was time for the 400, Ellie high-fived both Sierra and their other teammate who had made finals, but her hand held on to Sierra’s after they high-fived and she gave it a squeeze before dropping it.
They took their spots on the track, Sierra in lane four while Ellie was staggered behind her in lane three.
The whole gym was filled with cheers as they took their positions in the starting blocks.
Just run your race, Sierra reminded herself as she waited for the gun to sound.
Give it your best. That’s all you can do.
As soon as she heard the gun, Sierra shot from her starting blocks.
She shut out the voices telling her and the other competitors how to run the race and focused on the person in front of her.
She easily passed that person, and when it was time to cut in, she was in front of everyone aside from Ellie who was right beside her.
She slipped in behind Ellie to go around the turn to keep from running more than she had to.
By the time they got to the final turn, they were way too close for Sierra to stay behind.
She moved into the second lane and inched closer to Ellie.
At this moment, Ellie wasn’t the girl she was falling in love with.
She was the person Sierra had to beat to be a conference champion.
By the last straightaway, they were side by side.
Sierra wasn’t giving up, but neither was Ellie.
Every time Sierra tried to push ahead, Ellie matched her stride for stride.
As they closed in on the finish line, Sierra kicked into high gear.
All of her muscles burned as she attempted to get ahead.
She leaned across the finish line, but so did Ellie, so it was impossible to know who won.
After exerting all of her energy, she could barely stand. She tried to stumble to the side of the track, but could barely stay on her feet. Two strong, but shaky, hands grabbed her, and the shockwave it sent through her body told her exactly who it was.
“You did amazing,” Ellie whispered. “No matter what happens, I’m so proud of you.
” Before they broke apart, Ellie leaned against Sierra as if she needed Sierra to hold her up.
That was clearly an act to sneak the kiss to Sierra’s neck that made her mind go to one thing only, and it was not the race.
Ellie kept her arm around Sierra as they walked off the track, both of them watching the marquee to see the results.
A moment later, they did, and it was revealed that Ellie beat her by 0.
005 of a second. Sierra didn’t care about that as much as the times they had both run, that blew her expectations out of the water.
Sierra subtly squeezed Ellie’s side. “You did it, baby,” she whispered. “You won.”
Ellie smiled over at her and there was an extra sparkle in her eyes. “I sure did.”
The way Ellie stared at her as she said the words told Sierra she wasn’t referring to the race.