Chapter 21 Ellie
Ellie
Iinstantly stop and spin around. I cup my hands over my mouth and let out a muffled, “Oh my god!”
He lets out a flustered laugh. His cheeks are bright red. “It’s all good.”
“Sorry, I’ve had a lot to drink, so I wasn’t really paying attention.”
He clears his throat and glances down, then back up at me. “It’s fine now.”
I bite my lip, feeling mortified. For a moment, we just stand there and stare at each other.
“Last song of the night!” the DJ booms.
A different song plays right as everyone crowds the dance floor. Camden gets pulled away by his teammates right as Dakota pulls me to join her and Sophie and the rest of the girls dancing.
When the reception ends, we all gather at the front of the winery and wave goodbye to Sophie and Xander as they drive off in a classic car to their honeymoon suite.
The rest of us hop onto the shuttle and head back to the hotel, which is twenty minutes away. The whole time, I’m quiet as I sit next to Camden. I can’t believe I was grinding my ass against his dick and made him hard.
When I glance at him, he’s staring out the window, an easy, unbothered look on his face.
I wonder if he’s freaking out about this like I am. Probably not. He doesn’t look like he is.
When we’re back at our hotel, Theo asks if anyone wants to have a drink at the hotel bar. A handful of people say yes.
“What about you, Connors? Wanna join us for a nightcap?” Theo asks.
“Sure.”
I turn to Camden. “I’m tired. I’m going to head to the room.”
His mouth lifts in a gentle smile. “I’ll be quiet when I walk in so I don’t wake you.”
I tell him thanks and head up to the hotel room. I kick off my heels and head straight for the shower. The hot water feels like heaven, melting away all my makeup and sweat from dancing.
I’m sitting on top of one of the two queen beds in our room, eating a bag of dried mango strips. Camden offered to get me my own hotel room, but I told him I was fine with us sharing a room with two beds. I didn’t want anyone suspecting why we, a married couple, would want separate rooms.
A few minutes later, Camden walks in with a six-pack of beer.
“Is that for the after party?” I joke.
“It’s for you, actually. Theo brought some gluten-free beer in case you wanted to join us, but since you went to the room, he wanted me to give it to you.”
I smile, heartened at how thoughtful Camden’s teammates are to go the extra mile to include me.
“That’s so sweet of him. Now I feel bad for not joining.”
Camden waves a hand as he kicks off his shoes and loosens his tie. “It’s totally fine. Everyone understands. Half of them went up to their rooms after one drink. We were all getting pretty tired. Theo could only shotgun one beer before he had to call it a night.”
I burst out laughing. “Wow, people actually shotgun beers? I thought that’s something that only happened in movies and TV shows.”
Camden sheds his suit jacket and drapes it over the armchair in the corner. “Wait, you’ve never seen someone shotgun a beer?”
I shake my head. “I didn’t have much of a social life, being sick or in the hospital or working most of the time.”
His smile falters. “Oh. Right. Sorry.”
“It’s okay. I made up for it tonight with the four glasses of wine and shot of vodka I had.”
He sits down on his bed, facing me. “How are you feeling?”
“Good. The buzz is wearing off. Now I’m hungry.”
I gesture to the empty food wrappers on my bed, and he laughs.
He sets the six pack on the nightstand between our beds. “If you get thirsty, have a beer.”
I grab one of the cans. “Should I shotgun it?”
His head falls back as he laughs.
“I’m serious. I could.”
He tilts his head at me. “Ellie, you don’t drink beer. You’ve never shotgunned one before.”
“So then teach me.” I sit up and face him.
He shakes his head, chuckling. He grabs a can and a pen from the nightstand between our beds.
“How do I do it?” I ask.
He holds up the pen and the beer can. “Puncture the can, then block the hole with your thumb. When you’re ready to chug, move your thumb and drink. It comes out like a geyser though, so be ready. After a few seconds, it’ll slow down, and that’s when you pop the top. Then just suck the rest down.”
I burst out laughing. “Oh my god, that’s so dirty.”
He smirks. “Get your mind out of the gutter, Michaelson.”
He gets up and sits next to me. “Watch how I do it.”
With the pen, Camden pokes a hole in the side of the beer can, plugs it with his thumb, then brings it to his mouth and chugs. He pulls the tab, then chugs the rest. When he finishes, he takes a breath and coughs.
My eyes are wide as I stare at him. “Wow. That was impressive.”
“Now you try.”
I poke a hole in the can I’m holding, plug it, and hold it up to my mouth. I take a breath, then let go and immediately start chugging. I only manage two gulps before beer shoots up my nose. I cough against the can. Beer goes everywhere.
I pull away the can, which shoots all over Camden’s chest.
I cover my mouth to keep from coughing up more beer on him.
“Oh my god,” I say when I finally stop coughing. My eyes are watering as I hop up and scurry to the bathroom. I drop the beer can in the sink and grab a towel, then rush back out to Camden.
“I’m so sorry…”
My voice trails off when I see Camden standing shirtless in front of me, his chest soaking wet.