I Hate Football Players 3 | 18+

Chapter 30: Logan

"That was fun." Ellie's shoulder's bounced as she giggled into the side of my arm while we stood at their door to leave. Wes grumbled something about going to sleep early the night before a game, then walked into their bedroom with a slight hand wave. Even though I wasn't a starter, I was pretty tired from practice and Ellie looked like once she hit that awful air mattress then she'd pass out pretty quickly.

I leaned over and my nose twitched at the strong wine smell on her lips. "Are you okay?"

"Peachy." She giggled but swayed a little bit and grabbed onto my closest forearm.

"She's a bit of a lightweight." Charlie offered me an apologetic look and handed Ellie the empty food containers.

My aversion to alcohol flared a slight annoyance inside me. "Then why give her so much? Or... any?"

"She's been a bit... tense lately," was her shrugged response but her eyes were serious when they lifted to mine. "She's also a bit more open when she's buzzed."

I stood for a moment while my mouth twitched sideways at that information because knowing it had done nothing for the annoyance that I still felt inside. "Let me get her to bed, thanks for dinner."

Wes nodded at me, then Ellie and I exited into the hallway. Charlie slipped out behind me, where Ellie wrapped one of her arms around her in a big hug.

"Love you," Ellie whispered softly but her head was tilted back far enough that I heard every word. "See ya tomorrow, Charlie."

"You too, Ellie." Charlie squeezed Ellie's shoulders once, then shifted her attention to me. Right when I turned and placed one hand on Ellie's lower back, Charlie's softly spoken words hit me from behind.

"Don't hurt her."

I turned back slightly and saw Charlie's face was full of concern while she hugged her elbows across her stomach. The candid statement caught me slightly by surprise but I appreciated her forwardness and replied, "That's the last thing I want."

"Good." She leaned against her doorway frame. "She needs you more than you think."

She already has me.

I wasn't ready to admit that to anyone past Ellie though, so I just said, "Thanks," over my shoulder, then heard the soft door click behind us.

Thankfully we only had one hallway to walk through and we did silently. Ellie leaned one shoulder against the wall, her eyes were dark and full of some unreadable expression while she gazed up at me as I unlocked the apartment. She took a couple of unsteady steps into the apartment and my hand found its spot at her lower back before I locked the door behind us and flicked on the living room light.

"Okay, I might be slightly buzzed." She giggled quietly and looked up at me with slightly glassed over eyes. "Might be the liquid courage but I'm glad you're here. Despite how I now know what devious you are, LT Hightower."

"Logan." I chuckled quietly at her interesting choice of a name for me, then steered her towards the bathroom and took the containers from her hands. "Devious, huh?"

Only Ellie still has perfect English while buzzed.

"The kissing booth stunt." She crossed her arms over her chest and leaned against the bathroom door opening. An obvious pretend pout played on her full lips because her eyes stared up at me with twinkles of amusement. "I never knew that."

"I'm sure there's a few things I never knew," I assured her from the kitchen, where I set the food containers on the counter.

"You're not going to kiss me now, are you?" Her dark eyes tracked my movements as I stepped closer. "You tried earlier."