Page 54 of Racing Hearts

When she walked in, she found Teresa snuggled in bed next to some guy Sierra had never seen before. A feeling of jealousy overtook her as she looked over at them, but it had nothing to do with the fact that Teresa was close to someone else and everything to do with the fact that she missed Ellie and wanted to be doing that with her.

“Oh, I’m sorry,” the guy said as he sat up slightly. “Teresa didn’t think you’d be back so soon. I can go if you two want to hang out or something.”

“She’sjustmy roommate,” Teresa said. “We don’thang out.”

Her words didn’t hurt as much as they pissed Sierra off. How dare she act like Sierra was no one? That would be rude even if they really had always beenjust roommates.

The guy looked between the two of them, his whole body strained as if he could feel the tension in the room. Eventually, his eyes stopped on Sierra. “If you want to go to sleep, you can tell me. It’s really no big deal.”

“It actuallyisa big deal. The movie has barely started,” Teresa said, her voice sounding more and more annoyed every time she spoke.

“I was actually just coming to grab my shower tote and a change of clothes. I have things to do, so I won’t be back for at least another two hours.”

Sierra quickly grabbed her things, then rushed out of the room and into the bathroom. She wasn’t planning on showering, but she might as well since she wasn’t welcome in herown room.

After spending much longer than necessary in the shower, Sierra brushed her teeth and got dressed. When shechecked her phone, she realized there was no way the movie was over yet, plus she didn’t really want to be in there anyway.

Without overthinking it, she clicked on Ellie’s name to call her. She wasn’t even sure if the phone rang once when Ellie picked up.

“Hey, you! How are you?”

“I’m fine,” Sierra said, trying to make it sound as believable as possible.

“Okay. Cool. Here’s what I’m going to do. I’m going to ask you that question one more time andthis time,I want you to be honest with me. Hey, you! How are you?”

For the first time since moving back into her dorm room, a sincere smile spread across Sierra’s face. “I’d be better if my ex wasn’t such a bitch.”

“Uh-oh. What happened?”

Sierra explained everything that had happened since she left Ellie’s apartment, down to the fact that Teresa was still in their dorm room, that Sierra apparently wasn’t welcome in, watching a movie with some random guy, who honestly seemed way too nice for her.

Ellie let out a low whistle. “That’s really rough. I’m so sorry. Do you want me to pick you up, and we can go for a drive somewhere?”

“I can’t make you do that. It’s late. I’m sure you already started getting ready for bed.” One of the things Sierra had learned about Ellie was that she was very serious about getting at least eight hours of sleep. She knew Ellie had an 8 a.m. class, so she was sure she had to have started her nighttime routine by now.

“It’s seriously no big deal. I don’t want you to be by yourself.”

It was quiet, but Sierra caught a small yawn coming from Ellie’s side of the phone. Ellie had clearly tried to cover it up, so Sierra didn’t realize how tired she was.

“Don’t worry about it. I mean it. The movie is going to be over soon, and then I’m going right to bed.” She let out an exaggerated yawn to make her point to Ellie.

“Only if you’re sure.” Ellie lowered her voice to a whisper. “All I’ve been able to think about all day is how good it feels to kiss you. My bed feels so empty without you tonight.”

Sierra’s heart felt empty without Ellie, but she wasn’t going to admit that out loud. Hell, she didn’t even like admitting it to herself. “I’m sure. I miss you too, Ellie. I miss you so much.”

She almost thought she might start to cry as she said the words, which was pathetic as it hadn’t been long since they last saw each other. She knew it went beyond that, though. She missed the special little world they had created where nothing could hurt Sierra. Just thinking about going back to her room and dealing with Teresa made her heart hurt.

“Do you want to stay up and talk more?”

“No. I’m okay. Thanks for talking to me, though. It helped a lot.”

“Goodnight, Sierra. I’ll see you tomorrow at practice and then again for ourdate.”

“See you tomorrow, Ellie.”

As soon as Ellie hung up, Sierra felt the loss. She would have talked to Ellie all night if she could have. When her phone vibrated, she expected a text from Ellie, but unfortunately, it was Teresa.

That was so awkward. There’s no way I’m going to see that guy again. Did you purposely ruin things for me because you’re jealous? That’s so unfair. You need to get over me.

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