Page 33 of Racing Hearts

Ellie pulled a bunch of bags from the back of the car and walked to the house as if it was nothing. She was covered right now, but Sierra had to guess the muscles that she had taken notice of multiple times during the meet, were flexed underneath her layers of clothes. She inadvertently licked her lips, which was ridiculous. She shouldn’t be licking her lips while thinking about any part of Ellie’s body. She might be hot, but Sierra had no interest in putting her heart on the line again, especially for someone like Ellie.

Her sister leaned even closer to her and snickered. “I’ll say it again—you’re welcome.”

“I wasn’t checking her out,” Sierra hissed at her.

Her sister laughed even harder now. “That’s funny. I don’t remember saying that you were.”

“I…” Sierra growled. Sienna was so infuriating and had no idea what she was talking about. “Just shut up. Okay?”

“Fine. I’ll shut up if you help me into the house,” Sienna said smugly.

Sierra wrapped her arm even more tightly around her sister and led her into the house. The house was adorable and gave a feeling of home immediately upon entering. Pictures lined the walls of Ellie and a boy who Sierra assumed mustbe her brother. Sierra couldn’t stop herself from gawking at young Ellie. She couldn’t help it. She was so fucking cute. There was a wedding picture of Ellie’s moms that made Sierra do a double take, because Ellie’s mom, Brinley, looked exactly Iike Ellie. Right next to that was a picture that appeared to be from Brinley’s graduation from medical school and that picture looked even more like Ellie.

“Good sign for the future, huh?” her sister whispered to her as she nodded toward the pictures Sierra was looking at.

“What happened to shutting up?” Sierra asked her.

“We’re inside now, so I don’t need your help anymore. Plus, I can’t help myself. It’s too much fun getting you rattled.”

“Can I show you two to your room?” Ellie asked from the top of the stairs. “Sienna, will you be okay to get upstairs or would you rather I set you up with some blankets on the couch?”

“I can hop up the steps. Don’t worry.”

Sierra followed behind her sister to make sure she didn’t miss a step while hopping and topple down the stairs. Luckily, they both made it up the steps in one piece. They followed Ellie down a long hallway until there were only two doors left.

Ellie pointed to the door to the right. “This is my room. Right across the hall here will be yours.”

Ellie opened the door to reveal a very plain room that didn’t have much left in it at this point. There was a bookshelf with a few trophies, a queen-size bed with a blue comforter, and a dresser. The walls were white, but the paint was chipped in multiple places, most likely from things being taken down that were once hanging on it.

“Sorry, I know it’s not much,” Ellie said as she followed them into the room. “But the bed is really comfortable, and my brother has been out of the house long enough that it no longer has his stench, so it’s better than nothing.”

Sienna sat down on the bed and looked around. “Definitely better than a hotel. Do you know where our moms went?”

“I think my moms are giving them a tour of the downstairs right now. They might be showing off the bar in the basement. My mom was apparently a bartender before she went to medical school, so she’s very proud of it. She normally takes guests down there and makes them a drink to prove she’s still good at it,” Ellie explained with a laugh.

“Did anyone else think our moms were acting strange earlier?” Sienna asked.

Sierra thought she had noticed some weird tension, but she figured she was just imagining it as a way to not think about the tension between her and Ellie.

“Yes!” Ellie shouted. “I’m so glad I’m not the only one who noticed that. It was so weird.”

“Do you think one of our moms hooked up with one of your moms?” Sienna asked with a chuckle.

Ew. Why would she even suggest that? Sierra sat on the bed and hit her sister with a pillow. “I don’t want to think about that at all.”

“I bet it was Mama,” Sienna said as if she hadn’t noticed Sierra’s obvious disgust over this topic. “She was the wild one.”

Sierra rolled her eyes at her sister. “We don’t actually know that. You always just assumed it was the case since they don’t keep any of her books in the house.”

Ellie leaned against the dresser and stared at Sierra and Sienna. “Your mama is a writer?”

“Wasa writer,” Sienna told her. “She wrote two or three books, but then put her time into trying to improve the foster care system.”

Ellie’s eyes went wide, and she stood a little taller. “That’s amazing. Is she a social worker or something?”

Sienna shook her head and answered before Sierra had a chance. “No. She created an app to help find the right match for kids and foster parents.”

Sierra was filled with pride when she saw the way Ellie’s face lit up in response to learning that about her mama. Sierra was able to watch firsthand as her moms gave love to kids who needed it the most, including her and her siblings.

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