Chapter Nine
Dasher didn’t usuallyget nervous.He could face down a rival club, ride through a storm, take a punch without flinching.However, watching Ellie from across the community hall had his heart pounding harder than anything else ever had.
She was in her element.Warm, capable, determined.Everything he wasn’t sure he deserved, but damn, he wanted to try.
The toy drive was winding down.Kids lugged their new treasures toward the door, parents smiled with sleepy gratitude, and half the Iron Sentinels were now honorary elves.They swept up glitter, refilled cocoa, and gave out toolkits to wide-eyed boys and girls who wanted to build things.
He should’ve felt out of place.His cut marked him as something rougher than this world of twinkling lights and sugary joy.But then Maddy tugged at his hand again and said, “You gotta try the peanut butter ones or Santa’s gonna be mad,” and he didn’t feel out of place at all.
He crouched beside her as she handed him a slightly crushed cookie and watched him like it was a test.Dasher took a bite, made an exaggerated sound of approval, and said, “I think that’s the best one I’ve ever had.”
She beamed.Her missing front tooth made her look even more like her mom.Ellie.He glanced toward the tables and caught her watching them.Their eyes locked.She didn’t look away.Just like that, he couldn’t stay on the other side of the room anymore.
“I’m gonna talk to Grandma.Bye,” Maddy said, already darting away.
Dasher straightened slowly, brushing crumbs off his hands.His legs were stiff.Or maybe it was just nerves again.
He found Ellie at the far table, folding scraps of wrapping paper into neat piles.She didn’t look up at first, but he knew she felt him coming.He could read her in ways he couldn’t explain.Always could.
“Last haul,” he said, setting down the crate of donated books beside her.“You sure this all fits in your car?”
Ellie gave a little laugh, tired but genuine.“Barely.I might need your truck.”
He smiled.“You can have it.”
She really looked at him.Whatever had passed between them yesterday outside the hall, when she’d wrapped her arms around him was still there.
“I saw you with Maddy,” she said softly.“She really likes you.”
He shrugged, trying for casual.“She’s cool.Got opinions.Bossed me around for forty-five minutes about balloon colors.”
Ellie smiled, folding another piece of paper.“You didn’t argue.”
“She was right,” he said.
She glanced up again.And this time, her gaze lingered.
Something fluttered in his chest.
“I meant what I said yesterday,” he said, more serious now.“About that night.About you.”
Her hands stilled.“I know.”
“I should’ve stayed.Should’ve called.Hell, I should’ve sent a letter if that’s all I had.But I was an idiot back then.Didn’t know how to want something without breaking it.”
