Page 28 of All I Need

Pride swells in my chest when I think about him on the mat. “Works hard at it, too. Works out before school. Practices after. He’s not undefeated but he’s good. Learns from his losses the same as his wins.”

“I love that. I can imagine it’s a fairly humbling sport.”

“It is. He’s learned a lot about himself being on the wrestling team.”

“Huh. Maybe I need to start wrestling,” she teases.

My mind immediately drifts to us on a wrestling mat, no singlets needed. I would let her pin me. Then I could help her learn how to lose by pinning her. Only, I don’t see either of us losing in that situation.

And now I’ll never be able to watch one of Grayson’s matches without my thoughts shifting to Ellie and me doing a bit of wrestling of our own.

“You mentioned no siblings or cousins?”

“Nope. None.”

“I’m sorry. I didn’t have a lot of family either, but I can’t imagine not having Willow to lean on.”

“Or Miss Polly.”

“Right. She’s kind of an honorary mom to us. Your parents?”

“Not worth talking about,” she says quietly. I don’t push, just wait until she’s ready to continue and I’m grateful that she does. “They’re divorced. My mom made it clear that it was my fault Dad left. The last words she said to me were hoping that she never saw me again.”

I want to track down her parents and make them walk across a bed of Legos. I try my best to not show the anger boiling up inside me but it’s difficult.

“You didn’t deserve that,” I say, grateful that I steadied my voice.

“No kid does,” she says and shrugs her shoulders. “But her wish was exactly what I wanted as well. The best thing to happen to me was them walking away.”

I want to make it all go away… the horrible parts of her past, the pain she still carries. My parents might not have been supportive of Willow’s pregnancy but they never fully turned their backs on her.

“I’m glad you’re here,” I tell her, not knowing what else to say.

“So am I. It feels… good.”

Good. That’s how it feels for her to be around people who don’t suck.

Knowing where my head is at, I figure now’s the time to make my exit before I do something neither of us are ready for.

“I’d better get going. I have a new potential employee coming into the clinic tomorrow and I need to be well rested.”

She laughs, standing from her place beside Brutus. Ellie rubs her butt and laughs. “I think I’m getting too old to sit on the hard ground for that long.”

I should have insisted she move but after her reaction to my job offer, I figure she’s perfectly capable of knowing where she wants to sit. Brutus groans his displeasure and I do my best not to roll my eyes at him. He stretches, his long pink tongue hanging out when he yawns. I roll my eyes. He’s so lazy.

Ellie and I clean up the table together then she walks me to the front door.

“Thank you. Dinner was excellent and the conversation was even better,” I tell her honestly. She gave me a gift tonight. She opened up a lot more than I expected her to. A little nibble of what makes Ellie, Ellie.

Her cheeks pink and she bites her bottom lip. My eyes zero in, the simple movement so freaking sexy, I have to shove my hands into my pockets to stop myself from reaching out and using my thumb to free her plump lip.

“You’re welcome,” she says at last.

“I’ll see you tomorrow. “

“You will.”

I pat my leg for Brutus to follow and we make our way down the front porch steps. When I get to my pickup, I look back to the house to see Ellie standing in the doorway, watching us. The porch light illuminates around her. I open the door and wave, my hand resting on the door frame. She lifts a hand to return my wave and I hop in the pickup, knowing if I don’t leave now I’ll march back inside, press her against the door and probably embarrass us both when Miss Polly comes out to see what the commotion is.

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