I thought about it for a second—yup, that was exactly it.
“I swear, all I want to do is be near Ellie, touch her, make her laugh…and I’m pretty sure she only tolerates me.”
Because that was the truth—this whole thing was an act with a built-in expiration date.
Trent gave a crooked smile. “She’s here, isn’t she? She must like you a little bit.”
“Not helpful.”
His smile softened. “Look, you know me. I talk shit, I joke around, but your sister? She’s everything. She’s brilliant, and beautiful, and somehow both fierce and gentle at the same time. Yeah, it’s hard to breathe around her, because every time I look at her, I can’t quite believe she chose me. But I wake up every damn day determined to be the man she deserves. I don’t ever want her to doubt how much I want her, how much I love her. The truth is, I’d rather lose my breath a thousand times than live a single day without her.”
“You know, if she didn’t fall in love with you, I might’ve from that alone. Damn.”
“Dinner’s ready,” Gracie yelled from the other room.
“I have a feeling you’ll be fine if you keep up that James family charm,” Trent said as we turned back into the living room.
“Alright, let’s eat,” my dad said.
We all settled around the table, and Ellie squeezed in next to me.
“So, Sawyer,” Dotty said. “I got to hear from Ellie a little, but I’d love to hear from you exactly how this all happened. And why didn’t you tell me until now?”
Her words might have been cordial, but I knew her better than that.
I cleared my throat, suddenly nervous. “We connected after…” I hesitated, searching for the right words. “Everything happened.”
Trent spoke up. “You mean that time Dorian and Ellie were shot by Noah’s ex-boyfriend?”
“Trent!” Dorian shot him a sharp glare from across the table.
Noah placed a hand on Dorian’s arm. “It’s okay. It’s the truth. Go on, Sawyer,” she said.
I let out a breath. “Yeah, well…after that, we started talking, and we hit it off. So, we decided to give it a shot.”
Ellie didn’t even have a second to respond before Gracie lit up. “Ellie Miles! Do you know Uncle Sawyer has the biggest crush on you? He told me so himself.”
I exhaled through my nose. “Smooth, G.”
Even if she wasn’t wrong.
“But you do,” Gracie insisted. “You don’t have to be embarrassed. It’s okay to have big feelings.”
“Lots of big revelations tonight,” my dad chimed in, shaking his head. “First, we get the grump walking in with a plus two, and now, we’ve got the big, tough football star dating the one woman who could make half the people at this table lose their damn minds.”
Colt scoffed. “And I get scolded for my language when you say shit like that?”
Dotty leaned forward, eyes narrowed. “What exactly was your opening line, Sawyer?” She mocked my low voice. “Hi, I’m huge, concussed, and emotionally unavailable. Sorry I kissed you while under duress. Wanna grab dinner sometime?”
Lilah choked on her water, and Caleb giggled.
Ellie smirked, patting my arm. “Something like that.”
“Oh, come on. I’m not emotionally unavailable,” I groaned, glaring at Dotty. “And I got more game than that.”
Dorian chuckled. “Maybe on the field.”
“Well, technically,” Ellie said, “I asked him out first.”
