I Hate Football Players 3 | 18+

Chapter 56: Ellie

While I wished I'd prepared romantic stuff like chocolate-covered strawberries and champagne, college-student budget dictated we just ate leftovers. I'd made pulled chicken and veggie wraps, two for him and one for me, a spinach and walnut salad, and fruit-based smoothies.

"Not cauliflower, right?" He teased while one of the wraps hovered outside his mouth.

"No." I scowled at that failed recipe. "Sometimes, okay a lot of times, recipes don't work out. You lived though."

"I do really appreciate your cooking, Ellie." He lowered his wrap and looked intently at me, flickers of the sunset reflected in his pupils. "I even feel better."

"That's the idea." I smiled before we fell into a comfortable silence. We just ate and traded looks between the incredible view and side glances at each other.

"You're really happy here," he mused to me at one point and bumped his knee against mine.

I threw him a lazy grin behind the last bites of my wrap and nodded. "That obvious, huh?"

"I'm glad." He nudged again, so I nudged him back.

"If I can be forward..." I popped in the last bites of my wrap and looked up at him. The sunset brushed over his skin, highlighted his sharp facial features, the bridge of his nose, and cast a few golden highlights over his short hair. "I'm glad that you're here too."

"I like forward Ellie." He shifted slightly in his seat but threw me a half-grin and looked at me out of the corner of his eye. "But me too... Happier than I'd hoped I'd be."

His gaze intensified the longer he looked at me but I was determined that I told him the words that ran through my head over the past few days. I dropped my eyes down to my salad and softly admitted, "Sorry I've been such an emotional hot mess, the thing with James... but... Thanks for letting me apologize."

His low-toned laugh drew my eyes back up, but behind the spark in his eyes sat a tenderness that melted away my apprehension. "Only you would thank me for hearing your apology, Ellie. I'm sorry you were upset but hope you feel better."

"I do." I shoved his arm playfully since we both shoved in our last salad bites. "I appreciate you listening and hearing me out, plus your patience. You said you wanted to talk, somewhere private."

"What?" He threw me an amused smirk and sipped at his smoothie. Based on his lack of reaction, I'd successfully hidden the cauliflower within the strawberries, almond milk, Greek yogurt, honey, and eurythritol. "Like twenty questions?"

"How about twenty confessions," I teased back at him.

He sat for a moment in silent reflection, then his smirk widened upwards into his cheeks. "Let's make it more interesting, twenty embarrassing confessions," he offered.

My eyebrows lifted at the suggestion. "Like generally embarrassing things?"

"Not like you walked into a wall, Ellie," he clarified.

"I don't walk into walls." A hint of indignance slipped into my voice. "They jump out at me. And hey, you haven't had to catch me, so I think I'm doing better in the clumsy department."

"You say that like I mind..." he admitted quietly and held his gaze on me.

"Can't be worse than you hearing me finger myself in the shower," I murmured and ran my hands over my face.

"Let's start with that." His smirk widened into a wicked grin but the unspoken challenge in his eyes definitely grabbed my interest.

"Let's end on that," I compromised. "You can ask me the first question though."