Page 51 of Racing Hearts

In a move that shocked Ellie, Sierra closed the space between them and put a hand on her cheek. “Seeing this face. In case you didn’t know, it’s kind of irresistible.” Sierra placed a quick, light kiss on Ellie’s lips, then sighed and rested her head on Ellie’s shoulder. “You really scare me.”

Ellie wrapped her arms around Sierra’s back and held her tight. “There’s nothing to be afraid of. I promise.”

“There is, though.” Sierra kept her head resting on Ellie’s shoulder and took a deep breath as if she was breathing herin. “I told myself I would take things slow this weekend. That I wouldn’t let anything happen until we really talked this out and figured out what made sense and if it even makes any sense at all. Then I get here, and you have this super cheesy note waiting for me and a huge-ass adorable smile on your face, and all I can think about is kissing you senseless.”

“Well, just for the record, I’m more than okay with you doing that.” Ellie laughed, but her body was on edge. Hearing Sierra talk about kissing her caused her body to ache for it. That one kiss wasn’t enough. She needed more. She also understood how important it was to respect Sierra’s boundaries, though, so nothing was going to happen unless Sierra initiated it.

“Of course you are.” Sierra’s stomach growled, causing the slightest bit of sexual tension to float away, but not enough. “Maybe we should eat before we do anything else. I was so nervous about coming here, I didn’t eat anything before I left, and now I’m starving.”

“Perfect. The way I see it, we have two choices.” Ellie held up two fingers to emphasize what she was saying. “We can either go out to eat or we can order pizza and eat in bed.”

“Going out to eat sounds like the much safer option,” Sierra said as she finally lifted her head to bring her eyes to Ellie’s.

“Maybe.” Ellie ran a finger down Sierra’s cheek because she couldn’t help herself. She needed to touch her in one way or another. “But the other option sounds like much more fun. Don’t you agree?”

Now Sierra put her hand onto Ellie’s cheek as well. “It does, which is why I think we should save that for later.”

There was a sultry tone to her voice that made Ellie’s breathing pick up. She had no idea where this was going, but she had a feeling she wasreallygoing to enjoy the ride.

Chapter 24

Sierra

Ellie had been completely respectful toward Sierra all day, and if Sierra was being honest, it was kind of driving her insane. She knew Ellie wasn’t trying anything because she wanted to leave it up to Sierra, but Sierra wished she would stop being so damn chivalrous and kiss the hell out of her already.

She had already thought about doing it herself about a million times, but each time, a voice in her head told her to slow down. She wanted to shut that voice up, but she knew the only thing that could do that was Ellie’s lips, and those lips were waiting on Sierra. What a fucking cycle.

“Are you getting hungry again?” Ellie asked Sierra from where she was sitting on the opposite end of the couch from her as they watched TV.

Seriously, couldn’t this girl be just alittlebit less considerate?

“I am, but I think we should talk first,” Sierra said before she could convince herself not to.

Ellie scooted the tiniest bit closer to her (but still not close enough). “Okay. What do you want to talk about?”

“I’m… well…. I think I might be ready to hop in.”

Ellie’s eyes went wide, and she moved even closer, so they were now inches apart but still not touching. “Cool. And what doeshopping inlook like to you?”

“I’m not sure. It’s not like any of our former problems have gone away. I still have my ex to deal with, and you have your best friend.”

Ellie shook her head and grabbed Sierra’s hand, causing a spark to ignite inside of her. “I’ll tell her, don’t worry. I’m notgoing to lie, it might be a little awkward at first, but she’ll get over it eventually.” Ellie squeezed Sierra’s hand and looked deep into her eyes, her expression so sincere that Sierra had no doubt that she meant whatever was about to come out of her mouth. “I know how much it hurt you that you had to be your ex’s secret, and I don’t want to do that to you. I don’t ever want to make you feel like I’m ashamed of you, or this, because I’m not.”

“I really appreciate that, but,”I can’t believe I’m about to say this.“Maybe weshouldkeep this between us for a little bit. I’m only out to a handful of people so far and as much as I don’t care if anyone knows I’m gay, I don’t know if it’s necessary for me to leap out of the closet right now. Plus, we don’t actually know where this is going. I really like you already, so I’m sure this isn’t the case, but I haven’t been single forthatlong. What if…?” Sierra couldn’t say the words because nothing about them felt true.

“You’re afraid that I’m just a rebound.” It wasn’t hard to miss the disappointment in Ellie’s voice, no matter how hard she was trying to cover it up.

Sierra hated that she had caused the slight downturn of Ellie’s lips, which was even more of a reason to take things slow between them. “It doesn’t feel that way. Trust me. I don’t think that's the case at all. I wasn’t looking for this, and I definitely didn’t expect it, but I can’t get you out of my head, no matter how hard I try. I thought once I left after Christmas, some of the magic would wear off, but I started to like you even more when we were apart. My heart skipped a beat every time I saw your name pop up on my phone. I was constantly waiting for your calls at night, and every time we hung up, I would just stare at my phone wondering where the hell you came from. So, no, I don’t actually think you’re a rebound, but I also want to take things slow, because I would never want you to feel the way I did these past few months.”

The smile returned to Ellie’s face and her dark eyes shined as bright as the sun. “I’ll take things as slow as you need to. And don’t worry, I’m a big girl. You’ve been very honest with me about where you’re at emotionally. If you realize this isn’t what you want, I’ll bow out gracefully. I don’t need to tell anyone about this, but as soon as you want to, we can. Okay? Let’s just keep talking. As long as we keep talking and make sure we’re always on the same page, we’ll be okay.”

“Okay.” Sierra’s heart beat fast, but it wasn’t from nerves. It was excitement. She trusted Ellie, and she wanted to see where this could go, even if the unknown freaked her out. “But for now, maybe weshouldn’ttalk.”

Ellie lifted an eyebrow and smirked. “Oh yeah? What did you have in mind instead?”

“I figured I could kiss you senseless now.”

Without overthinking it, Sierra leaned in and kissed Ellie, and it was like nothing she had ever experienced before. Sierra used to think that kissing Teresa was the greatest thing in the world, but it didn’t even come close to how it felt to kiss Ellie. Kissing Ellie was like coming home to a place you didn’t know existed. It was like being swept away by an ocean wave, but not worrying about where you’d end up. It was everything.

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