Chasing Ella (Love Ever After 1)

“Misery is a good word for it. The guys in my house were concerned about me. Hell, they made fun of me just about every day.”

She laughs to herself, covering her mouth with her hand. “I am sorry about that. I can only imagine the kind of shit you got from your teammates and fraternity brothers while you were going around campus with my charm and a picture, in search of a girl who you didn’t even know her name. I would have thought you were crazy, too, if I didn’t know you.”

“The fact they knew me is what made it even more surprising.”

“They don’t know you as I do.” She lets out an exaggerated sigh and leans into my side. “There is so much more to Shawn Finch than anyone realizes.”

I bend down to kiss her on the forehead, stopping in front of the counter to give the attendant our skate sizes. “So are you, Ella Fitzgerald, and I’m planning to show you everything you have missed out on for the last four years.”

After I pay, I grab our skates from the counter and drape them over my arm by the strings, guiding Ella toward the rows of benches over by the lockers. We sit side by side, our legs touching as we put on our skates. Ella stares at me the entire time, the sexual tension burning between us like wildfire.

She wants me to be the one. I still can’t believe my sweet, innocent Ella muttered those words to me. She wants me to break her, and I get hard just thinking about all the things I would love to do with Ella. Hearing her say those things have stirred a deep aching inside me, but I am doing my best to take things slow. I have to show Ella that I am worthy of a girl like her.

Some days, I feel as though she deserves better than a failing football player who drinks more than he studies. I stopped the drinking, and because of Ella and her long bus rides home, I study every night. She chose me. From the start, she made her decision. And she was always the girl of my dreams.

Once I find a locker to store our things, we make our way onto the rink, holding hands. “I feel like we’re in high school all over again,” I admit, laughing.

“I never got to do this when I was in high school with anyone other than my dad.” She stares off into the expanse of the rink, before meeting my gaze. “I miss him, you know. Every day. He would have liked you.”

Overcome by emotions, I squeeze her hand tighter. I have no idea how to process them all at once. Ella makes me feel things I have never experienced before. “All of this is new for me, too. I wasn’t the same guy I am now in high school.”

She narrows her eyes at me. “I have a hard time believing that the Shawn Finch had trouble with girls back in high school. They practically throw themselves at you, even when I am standing next to you.”

“I don’t know about all that. The only girl I see is you.”

“You’re such a smooth talker. Please regale me with your stories of how you were not hot and popular in high school.” She says this with so much sarcasm in her voice we both laugh.

“It’s true. My first girlfriend, if you can even call her that, wasn’t until my freshman year of college.”

“I’m sure that was by choice.”

I shake my head. “Nope, not even close. When I was in high school, I was heavier and hadn’t grown into all the weight until I started training more to make the Senators. They didn’t even take me until my sophomore year. I was lucky I met Bash and Clay when I tried out freshman year for the team and that they both helped me get my shit together. I was way too shy to talk to anyone until after I joined my fraternity and grew a pair.”

“I see you in a different light, Shawn, and I kind of like this version even better than the one I already know. I still find it hard to believe that you didn’t hook up with anyone until freshman year.”

“I kissed girls, sure, but I wasn’t Homecoming King or anything like that.”

“Not like you are now,” she says.

“I’m not as popular as you think,” I retort.

“You are delusional,” she challenges with a wicked grin. “How do you think I noticed you?”

“You saw me playing football on the lawn in the Quad. That’s how.”

“Yes and no. I was only in the Quad because everyone had told me about this super hot football player who reminded them of Rob Gronkowski.”

“Talk about delusional,” I say, shaking my head. “I look nothing like Gronk.”

She rakes her eyes over my body and licks her lips. “You do. You’re about the same height and build, and you play the same position. I had no idea who Gronk was until I Googled him since football doesn’t interest me. And you are someone worth talking about.”

Swinging her around the rink I say, “I’ll give you something to talk about later.”

Still holding my hand, she skates back to my side and runs her fingers down my arm with a sexy-as-fuck look in her eyes. “How about you show me now?”

“Just let things happen, Princess,” I say, my willpower fleeting.

Ella threads her fingers between mine. “Now, Shawn, I want you now. Not later. Not next week. Now.”