Pointing at him, I instruct, “Wait at least two minutes before you leave. And don’t forget to look at the other side of the key.”
“Yes, ma’am,” Matt says with a serious nod.
His smile is the last thing I see before I shut the door and head back to work.
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
ELLIE
Today 2:17PM
Dev
I have an idea…
Ellie
hit me
Dev
We should go to a game together!
I know you said your situationship is on the DL, but we can get nosebleed seats and be quiet supporters (not literally of course, I will be loud as shit but you know what I mean)
You can borrow one of my Bears shirts
It’ll be so fun!
What do you think?? They have a home game tomorrow, Saturday and Sunday and then they are playing away games for a bit
So I feel like Saturday would be perf?? I know you picked up a shift tomorrow
I can see those typing dots appearing and disappearing Ellie
Spit it out girlfriend. I could drag you there by force…
Shit.
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
MATT
“How are things with Ellie?”
If I thought I could play it cool with Nate, the smile I can’t seem to stop from spreading across my face diminishes any semblance of that.
“That good, huh?”
I stop fidgeting with my new favorite piece of hardware in my pocket, clasping it in my palm and then letting it go. It hasCFBengraved on one side. So fucking cute. She even attached a vintage Bears keychain—something I wouldn’t expect from someone who doesn’t seem to have any interest in hockey. I didn’t expect a key either, though, I guess. Ellie and her sweet unpredictability. My smile grows.
“She got me a key,” I tell him. I look up from my food and glance at his face. His eyebrows are nearly at his hairline.
“And you’re not freaking out? Wow, man. Talk about growth,” he says on a laugh.
I roll my eyes at his antics and try not to think about how cringeworthy my reaction to a similar situation was last time. To be fair, Sabrina, my ex, was purely looking for me to offerhera key in return. And that wasn’t going to happen. If I’m beingcompletely honest though, I think Iwouldgive Ellie a key to my house if I thought she’d want it.
“So things are getting serious?” Nate asks genuinely, leaning back in his chair.
