Page 38 of Racing Hearts

“Decided against the nap?” Ellie asked, the wide grin on her face giving away how happy she was about Sierra’s decision.

Sierra pointed to Sienna. “She convinced me.”

“Yeah, I told her she needs to stop being such an anti-social asshole.” Sienna walked over to Ellie’s bed and claimed the spot all the way to the left.

Sienna had clearly done that on purpose, so Sierra had no choice but to sit next to Ellie. Sierra took the spot next to hersister in the hopes that maybe Ellie would end up sitting in her desk chair or on the floor, but she wasn’t going to get that lucky. Without hesitation, Ellie filled the empty spot next to Sierra.

When Ellie picked up the controller to choose a movie, her arm brushed Sierra’s, which in turn, caused Sierra’s skin to tingle. She tried to focus on the discussion Ellie and Sienna were having about movie choices, but it was no use. With each movement and every slight touch, Sierra lost her mind. She closed her eyes and focused on her breathing. She shouldn’t andcouldn’tbe having this type of reaction.

Sierra’s eyes startled awake when she was elbowed in the side. “Don’t tell me you’re falling asleep already,” Ellie said playfully. “The movie hasn’t even started.”

“Sorry. Definitely not.”

Sienna snorted a laugh, but luckily, didn’t say anything. As the movie played, the more Sierra tried to avoid thinking about Ellie’s close proximity, the more frequent these thoughts became. Partway through the movie, Ellie smiled over at Sierra and scooted even closer to her. This time, instead of freaking out, Sierra’s whole body relaxed. When she sunk lower into the bed, Ellie did the same, but it wasn’t unwelcome. For the first time in a very long time, Sierra felt safe, as if this was exactly where she belonged—lying beside Ellie Finch on her bed, watching Christmas movies. It made her wonder why she had been fighting it so hard.

She decided to let her body have complete control, and when her eyes started to close, she didn’t give in to the urge to force them open. When Sierra’s eyes finally did open, the TV was no longer on, and her sister was gone. She tried to sit up, but couldn’t. That was when she realized what was holding her down—Ellie had fallen asleep too and her arm was draped over Sierra’s stomach. It was suffocating and intoxicating all at once. She wanted to lean into it, but she also wanted to run away.

Before she could decide what to do, Ellie started to stir and rolled away from her. A minute later, she stretched and sat up. “Shoot. I must’ve fallen asleep. I’m sorry.”

God, her sleepy voice is adorable. Why the fuck does it have to be so adorable?

“All good. I actually fell asleep too.”

Ellie laughed. “In your defense, you did tell me that you were tired.” She patted the empty spot on the other side of the bed. “It looks like we lost your sister.”

“Yeah. I guess I better go find her.” Sierra hopped out of the bed as if it were on fire and speed-walked toward the door.

She had just started to turn the handle when Ellie’s voice interrupted her. “Wait.”

Don’t turn around. Don’t turn around.

Despite her better judgment, Sierra did, indeed, turn around.

Now Ellie patted the spot where Sierra had just been. “Could you stay for a little bit? I want to talk to you.”

Run away. Run the fuck away.

“What do you want to talk about?” Sierra took one step away from the door and closer to Ellie.

Stop.

Ellie shrugged. “Anything. Like I said before, I just want to get to know you better.”

“And how do you plan on getting to know me better?” Against her better judgment, Sierra took a few more steps in Ellie’s direction.

“I don’t know.” Ellie stared at the ceiling as if she was considering the question. “How ’bout two truths and a lie?”

Sierra couldn’t help but laugh as she closed the distance between them even more. “Seriously? Are we in middle school?”

“Humor me.”

There was no way Sierra was going to be able to say no to that smile, so she took the last few steps and sat down on the bed beside Ellie. “You first.”

“Fine. I’ve been out since I was in 6th grade, I’ve had three girlfriends, and I lost my virginity when I was fifteen.”

Wow.She was really jumping right in there, wasn’t she? Sierra was sure she couldn’t bring up sex without her face turning bright red, plus fifteen sounded like a logical time for someone to lose their virginity, so she eliminated that one. “I’m going to say you didn’t come out in sixth grade.”

Ellie raised both eyebrows and smirked. “I did, actually. Benefit of having two moms. I realized I liked a girl and thought, ‘hey, that’s cool.’ I asked her out and she rejected me, because she was straight, but that was that.”

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