Page 57 of Racing Hearts

It was sweet that Sierra had already figured that out about Ellie without her explicitly stating it. It made her like Sierra even more, which meant she had no interest in this date coming to an end. “I’m sure. I made my schedule so I’m done by twelve on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday but don’t start until twelve on Tuesday and Thursday.”

“That’s an interesting way to do it.”

Ellie shrugged. “It seemed like a good balance.”

Sierra squeezed Ellie’s hand and her whole body warmed, making her forget that it was the middle of winter in Pennsylvania. “Well, since you can sleep in tomorrow, I wouldloveto go to the playground with you.”

Ellie had to stop herself from skipping across the street. She was so excited to be with Sierra, her energy level was extra high. She decided to lead Sierra to the swings first, so she didn’t think Ellie brought her to the playgroundonlyto make out.

“So, it turns out Juniper and Chris are dating,” Ellie told Sierra as they slowly swung back and forth, hand-in-hand.

“Oh yeah?” Sierra turned toward Ellie and studied her face. “How do you feel about that?”

“I’m excited for them. If I’m being completely honest, I’m also very excited for us.”

“For us? What do we have to do with Chris and Juniper?”

“I’ve been friends with Juniper long enough to know how she acts when she starts dating someone. She gets obsessed and wants to spend all of her time with them.” Ellie put her feet on the ground to maneuver her swing closer to Sierra so she could give her a kiss. “Since she’s going to be preoccupied, that means more time for us.”

Sierra’s whole face lit up when she smiled. “That’s good, because I happen to really like us.”

“I happen to really like us too.”

The need to be closer to Sierra overtook Ellie, and she averted her gaze from Sierra over to the merry-go-round. “Should we move on to the next part of our playground date?”

Sierra smiled even wider now. She must have known exactly what Ellie was thinking about. “The swing part was very short-lived.”

“That’s because I was trying to be a gentlewoman, but I can’t stop thinking about how much I want to kiss you.”

“It has been way too long since we’ve done that, right?” Sierra asked flirtatiously.

Ellie nodded. “It’s been over twenty-four hours, which iswaytoo long if you ask me.”

Sierra tilted her head, the wide grin still ever-present on her face. “Didn’t you just kiss me a second ago?”

“I think we both know that’s not the kind of kissing I’m talking about.”

Sierra’s face became serious, and her throat moved up and down as she swallowed hard. “I know,” she said.

Her voice was much huskier than usual, and it turned Ellie on even more. If she didn’t have this girl’s tongue in her mouth soon, she might actually explode. Without saying anotherword, she stood from the swing and pulled Sierra toward the merry-go-round. They were both giggling as they tripped into it and stumbled over each other, their bodies naturally intertwining as Ellie’s back hit the hard metal. Ellie put her hands in Sierra’s hair and pulled their faces together. Sierra gasped right before her mouth closed over Ellie’s, and it was one of the sexiest sounds Ellie had ever heard in her entire life.

She didn’t know how long they stayed on that merry-go-round making out, but she knew by the time they forced themselves to stop, her lips were tingling and her heart was more full than it had ever been before.

On their whole walk back to the car, Sierra kept staring at Ellie like she wanted to say something. When she couldn’t take it anymore, Ellie spoke up. “Whatever you want to say to me, go ahead. I can tell there’s something.”

Sierra opened her mouth as if she was about to argue, but then closed it and smirked. After a few seconds, she finally said what she had clearly been thinking about. “I know the rest of this week will probably be busy with classes and preparing for our next meet, but are you free on Sunday? I thought I could plan our next date.”

“Sunday sounds great.”

The truth was, Sierra could have asked about any day, and Ellie would have found a way to make it work. There was nothing she wanted more in life than to go on a million dates with Sierra Finnegan.

Chapter 26

Sierra

Sierra couldn’t believe it was finally Sunday and time for her date with Ellie. She really hoped Ellie liked what she had planned. She had to get help from her momsandSienna to come up with the perfect idea. Of course, none of them were surprised when Sierra let them know she was planning a date for Ellie. Without her saying it out loud, there was a clear unspoken understanding of what had developed while they were staying with the Finches.

Sierra groaned as she bent over to put on her shoes. She was so sore from their meet yesterday, but it was all worth it. They were competing against harder teams this time, so she had finished fifth in the 400, seventh in the 200, and her relay team had finished sixth. Ellie beat her in both races, but that didn’t bother Sierra. All she cared about was her times had improved from December. She was pretty certain there was no chance Ellie would ever let her win the 400 after losing to Sierra in the time trial. At this point, even though they were rivals once a race started, Sierra had no question they would both be happy for each other’s victories, even though they came at the other’s expense.

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