Then I drove us out of the shopping center and made a left onto the highway.
“I thought the apartment was that way?”Ellie asked, pointing to the right.
“It is, but I wanted to bring you somewhere else first.”
She watched out the window as King Bowl came into view and she held her hand over her mouth, screeching with excitement.“Aww, it’s where we met!”
“The place where all the magic started.”I grinned.
“Oh my gosh, can we play?”she asked.
“Only if you let me pick you up and swing you down the lane like before?”
“Hah, no way!”She laughed, wagging her finger at me.“Besides, you’d need Chris here to reenact that scene.”
“Yeah, well, we’ll leave him out of this.Seeing how he still has the hots for you and all.”
“Oh, he does not.”She slaps my arm, playfully and I pull into a parking spot.I took the keys out of the ignition and looked over at her.“What?!”she laughs.
“Ellie, you just really don’t know, do you?”I shake my head in disbelief, marveling at her obliviousness, becausehow could she not realize.
“What?What don’t I know?”she asked, her smile fading slightly like she thinks I’m about to tell her something bad.
“You don’t know just how beautiful you are.”I said softly, trying to convey the depth of my emotional connection to her.“Everywhere I’ve taken you, guys turn their heads and watch you; they stare at me like I don’t deserve to be holding your hand.And I’m not entirely sure that I do.You could have your pick of literally any guy in the world.”
She blinked, processing my words, her expression caught somewhere between surprise and uncertainty.“Lee, I…” she began to respond, but I cut her off gently.“It’s true, though.You have this way about you, this amazing style and grace that draws people in.You’re not just crazy beautiful on the outside, but you’re smart, and kind and so … you … it’s captivating.”
She shifts herself sideways in the passenger seat so that she’s facing me, with one leg pulled up under the other and her fingers pulled at the hem of her shirt as she absorbed my words.“I never really saw myself that way.”She admitted quietly.
“Well start seeing it,” I reached over and squeezed her knee.“Because it's true, and you deserve to know it the way everyone else does.You didn’t see the way Chris stared at you when we were at their place or the way the guys at the beach turned and watched you walk by them.I honestly don’t know why you chose me, I’m not as good as you…”
She reaches up and takes my face in her hands so that I can’t look away and stops me from saying anything else.“I don’t want justanyguy, Lee.I only want you, and I don’t care if they’re looking at us, let them look.Let them see how insanely in love I am with you.”
I dropped the keys to the floorboard and pulled her toward me for a kiss that lingered on my lips like a sweet memory for the rest of the afternoon.I’m literally the luckiest guy in the world.
Chapter Twenty
ELLIE
18 years earlier
The last month-and-a -half has been nothing short of amazing.I have loved every second of every day that I have spent with Lee by my side: playing the tourist, playing house while Steff is at work, being the adoring girlfriend while he introduces me to his co-workers and when we hang out with his friends, all of it.
We watched the fireworks on the fourth of July, staring up at the sky while laying out in the grass – on the hill by the lake where the frog jumped on him years earlier.I went shopping with his mom while he had a work meeting and I helped her pick out a dress for her sister’s wedding that was coming up.And he took me dancing at a nightclub on the beach where we got sweaty and were crammed into a large mosh pit of people that were bouncing to the beat of loud techno music.I have loved being a part of his life and I really don’t want to go home soon.
* * *
Dane and Ezra came over to the apartment one afternoon toward the end of July and asked if they could take Lee away from me for a night out with the guys.They promised me it would just be the three of them, shooting pool and hanging out.I laughed at their attempt to persuade me and told them they didn’t have to convince me that he needed a night out.
“I’m actually not feeling well, so it’s perfect timing anyways, my stomach has been bothering me all day.”I wave them on and out the door.Lee looks at me, concerned and stops me from closing the door behind them.“Are you okay?”he asks.
“Yes, I’m fine.It’s just cramps, probably nearing that time.”I tell him, laughing it off.
“Maybe I should stay home with you since Steff’s not here.”He tries to come back into the apartment, and I push him out again.
“No, you go have fun with the guys.I swear I’m okay.You need a break from me anyways.”
“I don’t need a break from you.”He’s still trying to push himself inside.
