4. Elliot
ELLIOT
E lliot couldn’t stop thinking about kissing Lucy.
He’d kissed plenty of girls before. Elliot made no secret of that.
But kissing Lucy had been like nothing he’d ever experienced, even though their lips had barely brushed.
Holding her in his arms had felt right in a way he couldn’t quite describe.
After that first kiss in the gazebo, he’d vowed to keep his distance, but he hadn’t been able to resist giving her a second kiss on her cheek outside her dorm.
The more Elliot thought about it as he speed-walked back to his dorm and got started on his paper, the more he wondered if it was worth keeping his distance.
He didn’t want to upset Dominic, and he certainly didn’t want to hurt Lucy, but there was a real, undeniable connection between them.
Elliot had never felt anything like it before.
So, perhaps it was worth risking something to explore what was between them. If, that is, Lucy felt the same way.
Elliot finished his paper in the middle of the night and caught a few hours of sleep before his mid-morning classes.
He had a long break in the middle of the afternoon for lunch, which, he remembered from his conversation with Lucy last night, she did, too.
So, Elliot swung around the far side of campus to see if Lucy was leaving her statistics class.
She was.
Lucy wore her usual leggings. Today, they were bright purple and paired with a white sweater.
Her hair was up in a ponytail, and she was chatting with a girl from her class.
She waved to the girl before veering off in a different direction — and spotting Elliot.
In an instant, her face lit up, and she made a beeline towards him.
Elliot grinned. She seemed just as excited to see him as he was to see her.
“Wow, you offer a full statistics tutoring service, don’t you?” Lucy joked. “You even follow up after class to see how it went.”
“How did it go?”
“Great. We don’t have our grades back yet, but the professor showed us an example of what the reports should look like, and mine was on point. Thanks again.”
“No problem.” Elliot hesitated, then threw caution to the wind. “Do you have lunch plans? I know a great Thai place off campus, although it’s a bit of a drive.”
“You have a car?”
“I do.” Elliot had almost forgotten that most freshmen didn’t — and Dominic never had, so Lucy probably wouldn’t either. “I can drive us.”
Lucy glanced up at him, her eyes dancing. “I think I could make a little time for that.”
“Wonderful. This way.” Elliot led them both toward the campus parking lot.
In the car, Lucy put on the radio and flipped through stations until she found one playing classical music.
She then hummed along as though the decades-old composers were modern pop stars, her hands conducting invisible orchestras in the air in front of her.
Elliot grinned. The more time he spent with Lucy, the more he liked her.
It took all his willpower not to stop the car and kiss her again.
They arrived at the Thai restaurant after about fifteen minutes. It was nestled into the small main street of a nearby city, and Lucy immediately spotted a park across the street.
“Do you want to walk a little before we eat?”
“Sure.”
So, they got out of the car and went to the park.
“There isn’t much here,” Elliot said. It was true: the park was small, with just a few trees, a little fountain, and a modest collection of seesaws for children to play on.
“You’re right.” Lucy shook her head as she stopped and turned to Elliot. “No gazebos here.”
“Are you looking for one?” Elliot asked, his voice dropping.
“Maybe.” Lucy shrugged, then looked shyly up at Elliot. “Are you?”
“Well, we don’t need a gazebo to experience the wonders of a gazebo,” Elliot pointed out.
Looking back, he wasn’t sure who had made the first move, but in a heartbeat, they were kissing again.
This wasn’t a soft, tentative kiss like yesterday; it was more intense than that.
Lucy wrapped her arms around Elliot’s shoulders as he drew her closer, both tilting their heads to deepen the kiss.
Elliot didn’t care that they were in a public park.
He only cared about Lucy, in his arms, smelling faintly like roses and tasting like mint.
Warmth rushed through him as he drew her closer, feeling her soft curves against his firm chest. Her lips were soft, too, and her soft gasp as he deepened the kiss made Elliot gather her even closer.
It took all his resolve to end the kiss after a few minutes, and even then, when he looked down at Lucy with her flushed cheeks and reddened lips, it was all he could do not to kiss her again.
“We can’t tell Dominic,” Lucy said. The mention of her brother brought Elliot back into the real world, and he nodded.
“You’re right. Although, for there to be a question of whether we tell Dominic, there must be something to tell.”
Lucy smiled slightly. “Is there something?”
By way of reply, Elliot bent his head and kissed her again, thoroughly and sweetly. Then he smiled at Lucy. “I think there is.”
They spent lunch smiling at each other across the table, followed by a short walk around the nearby town punctuated by plenty of kisses.
“Would you like to play a game?” Lucy asked as they strolled, hand in hand.
Elliot chuckled. “What do you have in mind?”
“It’s one of the Winter family classics,” Lucy explained. “I tell you something — an animal, a class, an activity, a place, anything — and you rate it from one to ten, with one being the worst and ten being the best.”
“All right.” It didn’t sound like the world’s most interesting game to Elliot, but he would happily have done anything Lucy suggested at that point.
“First up…” Lucy seemed to consider. “Statistics.”
“Ten,” Elliot replied immediately.
“Three for me,” Lucy replied with a giggle. “I would go lower, but statistics brought us together, so it can’t be all bad. Now you try.”
“Drawing,” Elliot suggested.
“Ten.”
“Two.”
They both laughed. “I’m surprised we get along at all,” Lucy said. “Drawing is one of my favorite things. Whenever I’m on vacation, I sketch some of the things I see to help me remember the trip. And I loved art class in school.”
“See, when I’m on vacation, I take pictures,” Elliot teased. “They always look like what they’re supposed to look like, and they take five seconds.”
“Sure, but that’s not always a good thing,” Lucy countered. “When you draw something, you really look at it, which helps you remember it better. Taking a picture takes a few seconds, and then you forget about it. How about cherries?”
“Ten.”
“Ten.” Lucy beamed. “Finally, we agree on something.”
“How about pizza?” Elliot asked. “It’s a ten for me, of course.”
“Oh, definitely.” Lucy grinned. “But I suspect you picked pizza because you know that everyone loves pizza.”
“That’s possible.” Elliot winked. He had chosen pizza for just that reason.
“I’m braver,” Lucy said, tapping his shoulder with her own. “So, I’ll go for something more controversial. How do you feel about… olives?”
“They’re an eight,” Elliot replied.
“I’d say a six.” Lucy considered. “I’ll eat them if they’re there, but I don’t love them.”
“I saw a sitcom episode about how the perfect couple always has one partner who loves olives and one who hates them,” Elliot said. “What does it mean if we both like them pretty well?”
“I don’t know.” Lucy made big eyes. “We might be on thin ice.”
“Oh no.” Elliot paused in front of a small bookstore and swept Lucy into his arms. He kissed her, just once, but deeply and slowly.
“I think the ice will hold,” Lucy said as he pulled back, and they continued their walk. She was blushing in a way that Elliot found adorable. “Now. How about… pandas?”
The game turned out surprisingly fun, and it was only with a heavy heart that Elliot drove them back to campus in time for their next classes.
The next few weeks took on a new focus. Elliot still went to class.
He still spent time with Dominic, Sunil, and Mike, often with Lucy and Karin as well.
He still practiced basketball and played a few games.
But mostly, he thought only of when he could see Lucy alone again.
She seemed equally interested in spending time with Elliot.
They’d meet between classes or in the library to study together — Lucy was very serious about her studies — take a walk or grab dinner off campus.
Elliot lived in fear that Dominic would find out about them, but his affection for Lucy far outweighed his apprehension.
One morning in late October, Elliot picked Lucy up outside her dorm. He carried two lidded cups — espresso for him and tea with milk and honey for Lucy — and two bagels with cream cheese wrapped in brown paper.
“What’s this?” Lucy asked, already smiling. “I thought you were busy this morning.”
“I was supposed to have practice, but it got canceled, so I thought I’d take you for a breakfast picnic by the lake.”
“Wonderful.” Lucy took the cup of tea and one of the bagels.
They walked across campus toward the lake, chatting about the previous day and smiling at each other.
Just as they were about to step onto the lake path, though, Elliot spotted Dominic striding towards them from the direction of the sports center.
His stomach lurched as Lucy’s eyes widened.
They veered off the path and into the chemistry building to avoid Lucy’s brother.
From inside the building, they watched out the small glass patch at the top of the door until Dominic disappeared from view.
“My heart’s beating so fast that I feel like I’ve just swum a race,” Lucy said, pressing one hand to her chest.
“Same here.” Elliot shook his head. “I feel like we’ve been so careful, but Dominic does go to the same college as us. There’s always a chance he’ll see us.” Their eyes met, with their gazes full of shared concern.
“I know.” Lucy’s pretty face pinched with worry. “But I don’t feel like we can tell him, either. He’d be furious.”
“I agree.” Elliot sighed. “Come on, he’s gone now. Let’s enjoy our morning.”
As they walked toward the lake again, though, Elliot began to wonder if they should tell Dominic.
It would be an incredibly awkward conversation, of course.
Elliot could already imagine Dominic chewing Elliot out for going after his sister out of all the girls in the world.
But Elliot also knew that Lucy was special.
He glanced down at her. She was looking over the lake, her expression thoughtful.
Given the October chill, she was wearing a winter coat, a scarf, and a light pink knit headband that covered her ears.
No matter what she wore, though, Elliot found her gorgeous.
More importantly, the chemistry he felt with her was unparalleled.
When they kissed, or when he simply held her hand, he felt both passionate and at ease in a way he’d never known was possible.
Lucy was special enough that telling Dominic about their relationship would be worth it.
After all, they were already in a relationship.
They were together almost every day and kissed often, though they hadn’t actually defined what they were to each other.
Elliot could explain to Dominic how much he cared about Lucy and how different she was from anyone he’d ever known.
He could reassure Dominic that he would never hurt her.
Elliot knew he should say some of that to Lucy, too.
The last few weeks with her had been some of the best of his life.
He’d never felt such a connection with anyone.
Yet he was hesitant to tell her the depth of how he felt.
After all, he wasn’t sure how Lucy felt about him.
Worse, he cared about her enough that a deep conversation could easily hurt him, which had never been the case with any of his flings.
In a few weeks, Elliot and his friends would go on their annual Thanksgiving break beach trip.
This year, Lucy was coming, too. Although her roommate, Karin, was also invited, Karin was going home to meet her boyfriend and family.
Elliot resolved that he would sit down with Lucy after the trip and share how he felt.
If she felt the same way, they’d make a plan about how to tell Dominic about their relationship.
“What are you thinking about?” Lucy asked, cutting through Elliot’s train of thought. “You look so serious.”
“It’s nothing serious.” Elliot grinned at her. “I’m just thinking about how much fun we have together.”
“We do have a lot of fun.” Lucy smiled. “How about this bench for our picnic?”
“Excellent.” They sat, sipping their drinks and eating their bagels, while Lucy talked about the upcoming midterms.
“I’ve been studying for weeks, as you know, but I’m still worried. It’s my first semester, and I want to do well.” She looked up at Elliot with those big blue eyes. “Do you have any advice?”
“Honestly, you could stop studying right now and you’d still do great,” Elliot told her. “You’re very smart.”
“Not in statistics.” Lucy wrinkled her nose. “I work so hard, and I’m doing okay, but it’s definitely a struggle. Math always has been.”
“How about we have another look at your stats midterm material this evening?” Elliot suggested. “If you answer correctly, I’ll give you a reward.”
“You can watch Big Hero 6 with me,” Lucy suggested.
Elliot chuckled. “Sorry, but animated movies are a big no for me. I never liked them, even as a kid. How about a kiss instead?”
“I suppose,” Lucy said, giving an exaggerated sigh.
“If you insist.” But her grin gave away that she was more than happy with her suggested reward.
Elliot’s heart warmed, and he slung his arm around Lucy’s shoulders, hugging her close against his side.
He’d never felt this way about any of his flings.
It wasn’t worth living in the shadows forever. Elliot would choose the right time and place, and then he would tell Lucy what she meant to him and inform Dominic about their relationship. It might not be easy, but it would be worth it.