"Care to explain?" Josh's eyes pointed to his wrapped-up arm. "I've got time."
Huh, my donation time crept up. Having to babysit my team made it pass quickly, but each look at Ellie lurched me to a stop. The way she never looked at me, I wasn't here. I deserved her disinterest, which stung.
"Poor baby," Ava teased. "Should've taken my offer to help with the car wash."
On the drive over, Ava asked me for help reaching the roofs. From a head smash, my elbow knocking the window, and kneeing my chest, I felt every bump and pothole her tiny clown car ran over. Her eyes flicked back to mine with the same interest shining in them now. A small line of cars was surrounded by a bunch of half-dressed girls ready with hoses and buckets, I did what every teenage guy in this country probably wouldn't have done.
I looked away.
The last thing I wanted was other girls giggling at me, bikinis or not. My early morning workout ache sagged my arms and legs useless. All I wanted today was for no one to harass Ellie, I gave my donation and crashed into a nap at home.
Correction: That was what I wanted until I saw Ellie. Ava didn't deserve my Ellie rejection bitterness, but I couldn't help it. Nothing like spilling my feelings and then choking on them.
Ellie's physical presence held a weird power over me. She shifted my mood more than anyone else. Like now, my idiotic thoughts that she meant to say goodbye and I needed to respect that decision vanished at the sight of her. Her thin, delicate fingers, the same ones entwined with mine yesterday, passed out clipboards and snacks for hours. Her red sweater accentuated the curve where her neck met her shoulders, and black leggings hugged her tiny legs. Her long dark brown hair was pulled back in a braid, with a few strands framing her face.
Beautiful, with two exceptions. Her posture slumped and she leaned against the desk for strength to hold herself up. Her eyes were red at the corners, puffy, and underlined with dark circles. And, with a harsh glare aimed at me, she also looked anything but happy to see me again.
Silent treatment. That's new.
Can't say I like it.
Her soft, sweet tone stayed polite but cold and distant and she refused to look at me. She probably perfected that tone at her shitty job. Josh had time, so I'd told him what happened. The only details I left out were Ellie's past. I'd given her enough ammunition to hate me without it, including telling Alex I was her boyfriend.
"I don't care."
She had every right to be mad at me, but I winced at those words.
"Babe?" Josh trailed his fingers down Ava's cheek. "Can I have a few minutes with Logan? I'll meet you outside."
"Of course." She leaned over and pressed her lips to his. "Love you, babe."
Gross. Josh's eyes tracked Ava's exit, and his expression was serious when he said, "I see why you like Eleanor. Like, genuinely care for her."
The irony of when I realized that myself, the moment I fucked up, wasn't lost on me. "Doesn't matter."
"Of course, it matters." His eyes shifted his eyes to the clock on the opposite wall. "Every minute your pathetic pansy ass wasted here with me was one you could've used to win her over."
"She's volunteering," I reminded him with a pointed look. "Not a word, Josh."
His smirk wasn't appreciated. "If anyone knows, it won't be from me saying anything."
Subtle. I shook my head and found Bryce on the lobby sofa, staring at me with so much disappointment, I'd have thought I'd clubbed his baby seal. Why was he still here? His donation was done hours ago. Before I asked, he punched my arm. "Bro, why did you cock-block me? I was going to ask out Eleanor."
A weird sound, halfway between a strangled laugh and snort, choked up the back of my throat. What planet was he living on? He would've asked Ellie to go to the back bed of his truck. That predatory look in his eye and shit-eating grin meant that he wanted to get in a girl's pants. Normally, I didn't care, but not today, and not this girl. "No, you weren't."
"A girl that small, that tight?" He crossed his arms and leaned back. "Why haven't you smashed her sweet little ass yet?"
This conversation needed to end. "Don't talk about her ass like that."
He paused but, like all of Bryce's thoughts, little time passed before one came out of his mouth. "There's only one reason a girl that hot wouldn't have sex with you. Your game isn't that terrible. She must be a prude."
Was he asking me to knock out his teeth? "Elli-Elle is not like that. Don't go there." How could I explain the concept of getting to know a girl in a way that his sex-driven, pea-sized brain understood?
His eyes widened like he had an epiphany. "Broski! She is a trifecta. V-card certified."
Not that shit again. I clenched his shirt and moved my face closer. My breathing pattern resembled that of an angry ape, but I would've done anything to make my point: Big fucking no.
"Chill, bro." He looked down at my fists and back to my most likely enraged eyes.
"Everything okay here?" the desk lady asked. I loosened my grip on Bryce's shirt, then smoothed the wrinkles on his chest.
"We're cool," Bryce said.
"Sure." Her eyes traveled between us. "If you need to, then take whatever this isn't outside, please."
"Sorry," I mumbled and glared with every ounce of negativity I had in me at Bryce.
"Not cool, bro." His gaze darkened, and his eyes narrowed. I had six inches and twenty pounds over him, so after a few seconds of a stare-off, he scoffed and lowered his eyes. Maybe he would finally fucking listen.
"Bryce." I spat out through gritted teeth. Each word came out with more anger as I emphasized, "Stop. That. Fucking. Game."
He shrugged as if a game that illegally exploited and took advantage of girls shouldn't bother me. "The rest of us have fun."
These fuckers weren't listening to me. Tension ran from my wrists to my shoulders, and an internal pressure built up like my veins threatened to burst. Heat, then dampness built up in my fists, which strained the skin over my knuckles. "Bryce." My nostrils twitched with every word. "You have until Monday. No more game shit."
"Or what?"
One look from me was enough to inform his thick head that I threatened how much he played football. Like every guy on the team, even Bryce's idiot brain knew that his ass got benched for one of two things off the field: poor academic performance, for our standards, or misconduct. "Only a list of names of guys playing the game would be enough for Coach," I warned him in a low enough voice that only he heard me.
Before he opened his mouth, I glared at him. "I mean it. Quit it yourselves, or I'll make you on Monday. It'd be a real shame to miss game six against Santa Cruz. All those recruiters coming." I wasn't one to make empty threats, but my guys cared about football the most. The last thing I wanted was to be a captain who threatened his team off the field, but if they needed their asses chewed harder, I had no choice.
"She's got you wound so tight around her little pus-"
I clamped a palm over his mouth. "I normally let this shit coming out of your mouth slide because we're friends. But I don't want to hear you talk about girls like that. None of those girls deserve to be in the game." I held my hand and gaze before he rolled his eyes, then pressed harder over his mouth until he nodded.
"Fine," he muttered and dipped down his chin. "One more weekend. We'll announce the winner and be done."
Fucking idiot. "Go home, Bryce."
"Do you need anything?" Ellie's tired, strained voice asked. Her shoulders and back slumped, her eyes were half-closed, and her head hung low. In addition to being exhausted, I'd also seen what Brody meant by Ellie's clumsiness. A few times she cut the corners too tight on doorways and banged her shoulder or elbow. A smile threatened my mouth at her short legs running around. Based on my teammates' adoring smiles, the big babies appreciated her attention.
Can't say I blame them.
My turn, finally.
Except for Jackson and Bryce, my team was well-behaved. Every look she attracted grated my patience, but either she was too tired or polite, and showed no reactions. The gawking bothered me, more than I was comfortable admitting. I didn't like when girls stared and giggled at me, and it wasn't any better when guys did it.
My mood soured when one particular girl's eyes met mine. Kendall smirked during her blood draw, so I sat in the lobby. She suggestively stroked her fingers on my forearm and asked if I wanted to do anything together later tonight. What she implied turned my stomach. Hard pass and easy decline. Fortunately, to my relief, Ellie waved me back and spared me further moments of Kendall's toxicity.
I tried not to think about or look at the stinging sensations in my left arm. While I gladly donated platelets, there was no way I subjected my throwing arm to this. "Do I need anything? Honestly?" I winced at my poor choice of words, and the scowl they put on Ellie's face.
She sounded more tired than irritated. "Enlighten me."
"Josh had the right idea."
"Take a nap?" Her face finally cracked a smile. "He drooled all over himself. It was cute."
"Not that." I laughed since I saw him in the same position before I walked in on him sucking Ava's face off. "Watching a movie."
"I think there's a DVD player and some movies here, but Jen said they were pretty bad. I'll go check," she said from the end of my bed. "Do you need anything to eat?"
"Yeah." My empty stomach gurgled. "I texted my mom to drop off lunch. Hopefully, she'll be here in the next few minutes." At least, I hoped she picked food up.
Before Ellie turned to leave, an excited and familiar voice cried out. "Eleanor!" Of course, Mom was more excited to see Ellie. She wrapped Ellie up in a tight hug and almost lifted her off the ground.
"Oof," Ellie muttered, but she masked her surprise with a smile and hugged Mom back. "Hi, Grace."
"I didn't know you'd be here, Eleanor." Mom released Ellie, dropped a white paper bag on the end of my bed, and ignored me. "Otherwise, I would've brought double."
"I have something in the break room," Ellie confessed with a polite smile. "I'll let you two talk."
"Nonsense, I insist you stay. Go get your lunch and come back." Could Mom be any more obvious? She needed to dial it down.
"Umm, okay then." Ellie's flat voice didn't sound like she'd come back.
Mom's eyes traced the tubes in my arm. "Are you that desperate to impress her? This looks like a medieval torture machine."
"Mom, it's for platelets and plasma," I reminded her. "Did the same thing last year. You should too. We have the same blood type."
"Only if you want to pick me up off the floor." She shuddered and examined my face. "Are you feeling okay? You look a little pale."
"I'm fine." I relaxed against the back of the bed and frowned since she put the lunch bag down by my feet, out of my reach. "Hungry. Are you staying for lunch?"
"That was the plan, but..." Her voice trailed off and she pointed out the empty door. "Plans change."
"They sure do." I slid my eyes closed. "Ellie's putting on a polite front. She's blocking my calls now and wants nothing to do with me."
"Did you deserve it?" Mom clicked her tongue.
"Yeah," I admitted with a sigh and raked a hand through my hair. "This is exhausting."
"Real relationships take effort, Logan Alexander." She leaned over and patted my leg. "If Ellie's worth it, apologize for whatever you did."
Technically, Ellie and I weren't in a relationship, but I wouldn't put it past Mom to ask Ellie herself to be my girlfriend. "Did you do me that favor?"
"Yes." Her hand cupped her smile. "I forgot it in my car."
"Leave it. I'll give it to her next weekend." I would see Ellie at the fifth event, although it was our last shared one. No pressure.
"Fine. Text me when you're unplugged." Her eyes narrowed at me. "If I make myself scarce, will you not trip over your own-"
"Yeah, stupidity."
"I was going to say these tubes." She leaned over and kissed the top of my head. I stared at the lunch she left beyond my feet.
"Hey." Ellie returned with a brown lunch bag, a portable DVD player, and a handful of videos. Her eyes darted around the room. "Where did your Mom go?"
"She left." I smiled at her disappearing act. "But I can call her back if you'd like to be mauled like a tiger again."
Her lips flashed me a genuine smile this time. "Your mom's adorable, but I'm so tired."
"You've been on your feet for hours. Want to sit with me and watch a movie? You can rest as long as you need to, and I'll tell whoever comes in that I want the company." That was mostly true. I wanted her company, but not as my blood drive volunteer.
"I, umm... sure." She looked anything but enthusiastic. I slid over to the left side of the bed and smiled as she sat as far as possible on the right. Since it was narrow, she was only an inch away. She handed me the DVD player. I set it on my lap and frowned at the movie choices.
"I swear it's all they had." She grinned and held up Disney Princess movies. "Which one?"
"I honestly don't care." At this point, I would watch anything if she stayed with me. I pulled out my phone's earbuds, handed her one, and slipped the other into my right ear. "You pick."
"Let's go with... Beauty and the Beast." She sounded less than excited about that choice. "I think it's the least offensive in the stack."
"Fine." Her thin fingers slipped that movie into the DVD player. In the blank screen's reflection, she slid the other earbud into her left ear and sat back against the bed. I shifted on my numb ass and waited, but she didn't move.
After a minute, Ellie still hadn't moved. Was she ignoring me? I angled the screen to see her long lashes had fluttered closed, and she'd fallen asleep. Gray circles ringed her eyes. Poor Ellie.
I removed our earbuds, then set them and the DVD player on the bedside table. After another look at her, I grabbed the Sports Illustrated I snagged from the lobby. Her lips parted, and her thick lashes rested on her cheeks. A few pieces of her hair slipped out of her braid and fell across her forehead, which I smoothed behind her ear. She leaned into the bed rail with her slender neck and collarbones arched and exposed. Her chest rose and fell with slow, calm breaths. Every worry line had dissolved.
My phone rang, and Ellie stirred with a soft sound, so I turned it off. A few more hairs fell into her eyes, which I swept across her forehead. That warm, soft skin was addictive, but she mumbled and straightened up. Her eyes closed, she leaned over and rested her head against my arm. Her chin dug into my bicep, so I wrapped my arm over her shoulder. She tucked herself in, put her cheek on my chest, and pulled up the corners of her mouth. I was surprised my painful heartbeats didn't wake her up.
Fuck, I didn't deserve this, but I'd take it. I picked up my phone and checked for a message. Mom found solo lunch plans. Rather than reply, I extended my arm and took a picture of Ellie. No matter what happened, or didn't happen, I wanted to remember her like this.
Ellie, snuggled up against me, was adorable. Her mouth twitched, her hand found my chest, and her fingers stroked my shirt. Under her soft movements, my heart thumped faster. The likely possibility that she pushed me away couldn't happen. It just couldn't. Her laying curled against me was right, even if subconsciously on her end. Ellie might have been ready to walk away, but I wasn't.
Ellie snuggled up against me as she snored, drooled out the side of her mouth, and twitched violently was less adorable. I chuckled. She was spent. Unfortunately, my stomach growled with pain, and my mouth was a desert, but I didn't want to wake her up. Why did Mom leave my food so far away? I stretched my left leg to hook the lunch bag with my foot, but I couldn't reach it without moving my left arm.
A jolt in my side froze me. Ellie thrashed so much, I worried that she accidentally ripped out one of my blood tubes. Her eyes fluttered, and she murmured, "No. I don't want this."
"Ellie?" I touched her arm.
Her small body spasmed into stiffness, her whole face scrunched with lines of tension, and she groaned. If she hadn't been close to me then I wouldn't have heard, "No, no, no..."
"Ellie."
She groaned into my chest, then said, "Ryder, no..."
Oh, shit. My ass froze where it sat. Those two words were a lot to process, so much that I couldn't. She needed to wake up. I moved my arm from behind her waist. The needles pinching under the skin in my left arm made me light-headed, but I turned her to me and hugged her close. "Ellie, wake up."
"Logan?" She sighed a warm breath into my chest. "What are you doing here?"
Was she awake or not? Her eyes squeezed shut, and her lower lip trembled. I hugged her tighter. A horrible, sickening feeling crept up from my stomach as I remembered Mason's words, 'He'd stick anything in any hole that wouldn't get a girl pregnant, whether she wanted it or not.'
Whatever that asshole did to Ellie, it was 'something bad.' "Ellie." I probably suffocated her from how hard I squeezed. "I'm right here. Wake up."
By the clock's time, I had a half hour left but an hour on the blood separator machine. My stomach howled and gurgled, but Ellie needed out of her nightmare. Time to get Sleeping Beauty up. "Hey. Wake up, weirdo." I shook Ellie rougher until her eyes blinked open.
She lifted her head and exposed her neck as she stretched. "What time is it?"
"I have a little more than an hour left, sleepyhead." I smoothed a few strands of hair off her forehead. Her skin was sweaty, so I ran my palm over it and wiped the moisture on my pants. "Rise and shine. Time for lunch."
"Did I fall asleep?" She cupped her pink cheeks.
"Sure did. You also snored in my ear and drooled on my shirt." I pointed to my chest, where her head had laid, and left a wet spot. "Very attractive, baby."
She gasped, then smiled. "Well, now you can say I'm finally drooling over you." Her eyes were red at the corners, and residual panic enlarged her pupils.
"You must have been dreaming about me then. Can you grab that please, Nurse Ellie?" Should I say more about her dream? No, I'll let her bring it up.
I pointed at my lunch bag. She grabbed it and plopped my lunch on my lap. "Don't call me that! You... don't need me to feed you, do you?" she asked with a wary frown.
Her expression wasn't enough to squish a personal nurse fantasy from popping into my head. Bryce was a terrible influence. "I'm okay." I smiled and pulled out two turkey sandwiches and salads. "Hungry?"
She smiled and took the salad. "Your Mom brought me lunch?"
"This is how much I normally eat." That wasn't true. While I turned into a human garbage disposal during the season, Matchmaker Mom left her lunch. "But since I'm such a gentleman." I nudged Ellie's shoulder with my elbow. "I'll give you half now, and you can buy me dinner later."
"Me... buy you dinner?" She lifted her eyebrows, and those dark, doe-shaped eyes blinked. "I don't think so. Your ass is blocked again."
I hadn't forgotten, but the reminder was bitter. "Consider it an olive branch to the Salesian football team for the amazing blood donation. Like a booster gift."
She rolled her eyes, picked up a plastic container from her brown bag, and shoved it at me. "Have some meatballs."
"The famous Ellie hand-rolled ones?" I opened the lid and scooped one out with my fingers. She nodded, so I palmed it in. A burst of fresh tomatoes and juicy meat filled my mouth, so I gave her a sauce-covered thumbs up.
I offered her some, but she held up her hand. "Keep them. Olive branch."
That was kind, but I had to tease her. "That's a start, baby, but not enough." I pretended to be hurt and pouted. "You forced me onto enemy territory yesterday, then ghosted me after I vomited my feelings for you."
"Logan." She frowned, so I leaned closer and wiped tomato sauce onto her lower lip. The soft contact made my heart plummet. Her nose wrinkled then she wiped her mouth. "I said -"
"Shh." I couldn't help but tease. "Give me one freaking thing. I'm a wounded man here. You stomped off on me."
Her shoulders wrenched up, and she sucked in a sharp breath. "You're lucky I'm talking to you after what you admitted." Her frown deepened. "Why do you want me to unblock you? Wounded ego?"
I swallowed a bit of my sandwich. I needed to stick up for her so she was treated with decency, but it struck me with a weird sense of pride. Like I'd done the right thing. "It's personal now. Eat up, drooly."
"Your mother is right." She held up a water bottle. "You have no manners."
"Coming from you, that's a compliment." I pretended to glare at her as I took the damp, cold bottle. The water hit my tongue, and I downed the whole bottle in loud chugs. "You never say anything nice to me."
"Are we going to spend the rest of the time talking like this?" she asked in a quiet voice. "Teasing around the issue? If so, then I can go eat in the break room."
Anything but that. "Please don't." I swallowed. "What do you want to talk about, Ellie?"
"You." I turned at her choice of words and caught a soft smile on her lips. "I don't know you that well. I mean."
"What do you want to know?" This was such a welcomed surprise from this girl. She deserved to hate me. Maybe she noticed my effort to keep the guys off her today. I hoped she wasn't just tired. Those guys kept me busy.
"How did you get here?" she started with an odd question.
"Ellie," I started sarcastically and shifted my hips. "When a man and woman -"
"Not that! When you moved here." She pretended to glare at me and took a few bites of salad.
Oh, that. I felt myself deflate. "My dad's job got transferred. He's a software company consultant in Silicon Valley. We moved from Ontario a year after their divorce. Mom followed so we could have the family together... physically."
"That must've been an adjustment," she replied.
"It was. I started middle school as a new kid from another country, but I had football. We got teased for our accents for a long time. Mom's still got hers."
"Canadian. Your mom is adorable." Ellie set aside her salad at the same time that I did. My earlier conversation with Mom pulled a smile on my face. "What?"
"Pretty sure she feels the same about you."
"I am happy to come over and hang out any Saturday night." A teasing sparkle appeared in her eyes, thank fuck. "With her."
"Wounded man, Ellie." I palmed my right hand over my heart. "You said we'd have a nice conversation."
"Sorry, you're an easy target." I was all over her teasing if it meant she wasn't done with me. Besides the cute satisfaction she got from it, her shoulders were more relaxed. "What's the real story with your Dad?"
She was digging deep, which was uncomfortable, but I couldn't hide anything from her. "I wasn't sure how the arrangement worked, but Dad took Brody with him." I sighed and ran my free hand through my hair. Fuck, this was hard to admit. My throat tightened and strained my voice. "At twelve, I was old enough to see the real him, a terrible drunk, and I hated him. Their marriage was over, but Dad's move broke Mom. I refused to connect with Dad, and Mom moved us too."
I squeezed my hand into a fist. Back then, Mom cried daily. "Whenever they argued over Dad's drinking, I shielded Brody the best I could. Dad hit rock bottom, finally sobering up after he walked away from an accident. It was the wake-up call we needed, but his drinking shouldn't have gotten that bad for him to sober up. He had primary custody of Brody, and they didn't want him to be in my shadow." I took a few sips of water and raised my eyebrows. "You can relate, I assume."
"I can, sadly." She swallowed some water as well. I held the other sandwich to her, but she shook her head. A chill slipped into her voice, "Since my only worth is a means to screw over Jake's season."
I flinched, deserving that. Didn't make it feel less of a personal jab into a fresh wound. She had every right to be upset, and 'I don't feel that way anymore' wasn't enough to salvage whatever feeling twisted my heart in knots. "Ellie," I sighed and squeezed my hands into fists. "I am so sorry about that."
"What did you do?" Her voice shifted to a soft, wistful tone, and her eyes rounded. "Why does my brother hate you? Why do you hate him?"
I sighed and finished my second sandwich. "I don't know. From our first game, he's hated me and stuck with that sentiment. Honest truth. When I first saw you, you were some cute, clumsy girl who didn't spare me a glance."
My smile faded. How could I word this? "Your brother is... not innocent, Ellie. But I shouldn't have involved you in our petty shit."
She sat silent for a full minute, during which my heart beat faster. If I had a tangible moment to point my finger at, then I'd tell her, but I didn't have one. It was petty shit back and forth that escalated into property damage.
"If I'm being honest too." Her fingers brushed mine as she took the trash. "You're the only quarterback he's ever mentioned."
Lucky me.
It doesn't change how I feel about you.
The thought clenched my stomach. Fuck, where had that come from? I had it so bad for this girl, but puking more of my feelings onto her didn't feel right at this moment. "Despite my stellar insider, I don't know as much as I'd like about you, Ellie."
"That's fair." She leaned back into the bed. "What do you want to know?"
We fell into a long, simple conversation. To no surprise, her reading list was thirty books long. But she sparkled when talking about books like they were close friends, not stories. She was also interested in similar universities, all out of state. Getting into college was most important to her, why she worked that shitty job, and why she was doing the school program. It was the most chill, genuine conversation. Ellie's interests were beyond the daily high school shit, and there wasn't an ounce of superficiality in them.
I wasn't sure how long we talked, but weighted exhaustion dragged me down. I found myself shifted over and returned the napping favor. With my head on her tiny shoulder, I nuzzled my forehead against the soft skin of her neck and closed my eyes. She laughed and bounced her shoulders. "No laughing," I mumbled. "Your bony shoulder is uncomfortable enough."
"No drooling." She shifted under me, removed her sweater, and placed it under my head. "Better?"
Much. I also had a slight view down the front of her shirt, but unfortunately, my eyes were too tired to enjoy that view. "Pulling your shirt collar a little lower would be better." I closed my eyes and smiled.
I wasn't out of it when soft fingers brushed my forehead, tickling my hair. "What am I supposed to do with you, Logan?"
Give me a chance. I blinked and pried my eyes open to a blurry Ellie. My mouth moved, but my voice muffled in my ears. Tugs on my arm forced open my heavy eyelids. A swaying sensation pitched me around, so I planted my feet. My pounding head weighed twice as much as the rest of me. I swayed on my feet, pitched down, and fell into a warm, soft body. A soft squeak was all I heard before I slipped back into sleep.
There are 20 chapters left! 😱 Lots of the story is still left, but that includes 2 Epilogues.