Ella's Twisted Senior Year(31)

“I think it’s awesome,” Ella says, completely sucking up to my mother. She’s gone rogue, I see.

“You’re supposed to be on my side,” I say, sticking out my tongue.

Her cheeks flush and she rolls her eyes.

I’m the only man at the table tonight. Dad is taking an international conference call in his home office and Ella’s dad is working a forty-eight-hour shift at the station. So it’s just me, Mom and Dakota with Ella and her mom at the dinner table.

Ella taps my foot under the table. “I am on your side, you dork. It’s still good pizza.”

Mrs. Lockhart peers at me over the rim of her wine glass. “Is there something going on with you two?”

Ella chokes on the fake pizza. “God, Mom. No.”

My own mom makes that grin like when she’s talking about our birthday presents in a sneaky way so we won’t find out what they are. “You just got home, so you haven’t even heard about the drama yet,” Mom tells her.

Dakota looks up from her cell phone. We may eat dinner together as a family, but my parents quit complaining about her phone a long time ago. I guess they’ll take what they can get and having their kids at the table is good enough for them.

“What kind of drama?” my sister says. She looks from Ella to me. “Wait, are you two dating?”

“No,” I say quickly, but like a normal person.

“No!” Ella sputters, holding up both hands as if someone’s got a gun aimed at her. “No, nothing is going on. Can we please not talk about it at the dinner table?”

Mom gives me a knowing look and it’s kind of awkward. It’s almost like she knows exactly how much I care about Ella, and the idea of Mom being privy to my private thoughts makes me shudder.

Mrs. Lockhart laughs. “Okay, now I have to know.” She looks at my mom. “Did you catch them making out? We always knew it’d happen eventually.”

“Even better,” Mom says. I put a palm to my forehead. No point in trying to stop it. “I heard yelling outside and walked out in time to witness Ethan’s ex-girlfriend throw a punch at Ella.”

Mrs. Lockhart drops her wine glass and it wobbles on the table but doesn’t fall over.

“Someone punched you?” she says, grabbing her daughter by the face and turning her head around to check for damage.

Ella wriggles out of her grip. “No, I blocked it.”

“It was awesome,” I say. Now that it’s all out in the open, a weight feels lifted from my shoulders. I can’t help it when I explain the entire story to them, leaving out only the small detail about Ella throwing herself on me and declaring herself my girlfriend. The moms watch me with interest and Dakota smirks the whole time, having found something finally more interesting than staring at her phone.

“Wow,” Mrs. Lockhart says when my story is over. She pours herself and my mom another glass of wine. “That’s kind of badass. I’m proud of you, El.”

Ella folds her fake pizza in half and takes a bite. “Just another day in my kickass life,” she says. “Maybe tomorrow I’ll humiliate the quarterback of the football team.”

“That’s me,” I say, tossing a forgotten wine cork at her.

Ella snorts, dodging my friendly fire. “Ops, I had no idea.”

“Really?” I lift an eyebrow. “It’s kind of the most important position on the team . . .”

She holds up her hands. “Hey, I just steal football boyfriends—I don’t stalk them.”

*

Ella offers to do the arduous task of searching for a decent movie to watch on Netflix, and I take a quick shower before joining her in the rec room. I’d showered after gym today, but being around Ella earlier had wreaked havoc on my armpits. I need to smell nice if I’m going to cuddle up with her on the couch all night.

I hold back a grin while I get dressed. This might be the best Friday night ever. Plus, my phone’s only missed call in the last three hours was from Toby. He wanted to hit up a party but I told him I was busy. He didn’t ask about my plans and I was grateful. I’m not exactly ready to tell everyone about Ella yet. Especially since I have no idea what we are right now.

Friends, yes. But something more is lingering on the horizon and it can’t be overlooked. Even our family has noticed.

I tap on the rec room’s doorframe. Ella’s curled up in a fuzzy blanket in the middle of the couch and she looks back at me, frowning.

“What’s wrong?” I ask, folding my arms across my chest. I want her to invite me in, if only to hear her say she wants to be closer to me.

“Guess I was hoping for another wet towel show,” she says, poking out her bottom lip. “But fully clothed Ethan is okay, I guess.”

I throw a thumb over my shoulder. “I can go change if you’d like. Slip into a towel for you.”

She shrugs. “Nah, it wasn’t that great of a view anyway.”

This girl will be the death of me. “Can I come in?”

She stands up, wrapping the blanket around her shoulders like a cape. Her face squishes up while she studies me from head to toe. “I guess. I mean I have nothing better to do . . .”

She looks a little surprised when I close the door behind me but she doesn’t tell me to keep it open. Even though I want to grab her in a hug and feel her body against mine, I walk right past her and sit on the couch. Two can play this teasing each other game.