I reactively flexed my abs. Why work so hard if you weren’t going to show them off sometimes?
“Hello, washboard! So, where’s the tats?” Nikki asked. She then began exposing my arms, looking for any hidden ink. I didn’t mind, let Ellie see, I figured.
“None,” I told Nikki.
“Really? I thought all hockey boys were tatted up. Grey had this hot sleeve,” she said dreamily. “You scared of needles?” she asked with her head cocked to the side. She was very animated as she talked.
“Nah, I’m just a Momma’s boy. She’d cry if I got one, I think,” I said with a chuckle.
Elliesnorted.
“You can’t be mean about my Momma too, Ellie…” I looked at Nikki. “What’s her middlename?”
She sat in thought. “Actually, I don’t know.”
I sighed. “I’m gonna guess Marie. You can’t be mean about my Momma, Ellie Marie Brampton.”
That broke her, and I saw a smile trying to appear. “WhyMarie?”
“It’s beautiful, you’re beautiful. And…Because you’re a 90’s baby. Two of my sisters’ middle names are Marie. No originality in the 90’s.”
“Jiffy is pretty original,” she mused.
That perked me up, because hey- she remembered. “Nah, no originality. Familyname.”
“Alright gang, I say it’s cards time. Euchre, TJ?” Nikki asked.
I cleared my throat. “Uh, no clue what that is?”
Ellie and Nikki both looked at me like I had a thirdhead.
“This must be a Michigander thing. I learn fast, show me,” I told them.
The two of them went off each other, teaching me the rules. After I felt confident enough to give it a try, Nikki excused herself, saying she had a dog-walking gig in the morning, and that it was a two- or four-person game anyway. I wasn’t clear on the rules enough to know if this was true or not, but either way, I was happy to get Ellie and her serious eyes to myself again.
We played in silence for a bit… until her eyes wandered up tomine.
“Congrats by the way,” she said with a small, tight-lipped smile. “That was part of your dream, right?”
“Yeah, part of it,” I said distractedly while I tried to organize my hand. “Thank you.”
She put down a card then, and I cringed because the game was over now. I was trying my hardest to keep it going in order to get more time with her, but she beat me swiftly despite my efforts. The competitor in me knew I needed to become an expert at this game. I’d have to do some research about ittomorrow.
I was lost in my thoughts, mentally reviewing the game, when Ellie shockedme.
She leaned toward me, lingered a second over top of the mess of cards between us in indecision, and then lightly kissed my cheek.
“Happy for you,” she said shyly.
I dumbly watched her unfold herself from the couch and shuffle back to her room.
At that moment, I knew my patience strategy was working with her. I also knew that I was right.
She was the one for me and I’d do anything to earn a real kiss fromher…
______
I barely slept all night because of nerves over the first team meeting in the morning. Ellie’s tiny couch that my legs hung off of did not help the situation either.
