38. Ellie
We Irish good-byed…
I couldn’t get over it. My tipsy head questioned if I’d somehow slipped it out to him that Irish-goodbye-ing was a thing I wanted to do with someone.
It was such a little thing, and probably so dumb, but… I couldn’t get over how nice it felt for him to choose to go home and hang with me rather than drinking the night away in celebration with his teammates.
He took my hand as we squished through the crowd to exit the bar. I was pretty thankful that people didn’t really know him yet the way they knew his friends. It seemed Griff and Sav were staples in Detroit because so many people called out hellos to them and wanted pictures with them.
I noticed other girls looking at TJ throughout the night. I knew right off the bat that would be the case- he oozed professional athlete by the look of his body and the way he carried himself. I realized now that it wasn’t cockiness, it was more so the combination of finesse and strength.
I didn’t blame the other girls for checking him out, but I did feel lucky he was choosing to hold my hand…even if it was just for now, a little anxious voice in my headadded.
Exiting the bar felt a lot like walking into the rink because the September night’s temperature had dropped way below how warm it was earlier in the day. I was grateful I still had his large jersey on, which kept me a little warmer as I stumbled to follow after him.
Even though we were walking back in the dark, I relished in how safe I felt holding his hand. All night I hadn’t felt the need to look over my shoulder because he was here with me, watching over me, caring about me.
The only thing wrong with this picture was that my head was starting to feel like it was spinning. When I was sitting in the bar, I hadn’t noticed how much the alcohol was affecting me. Now that I was walking, I realized how messed up I was.
I stumbled a bit for a second and TJ reached out to me. “Ya alright, babe?” he asked, his voice laced with concern.
“Oh yeah-” I almost fell completely over as I tripped up a curb trying to follow him. TJ grabbed my arm and stopped me from falling splat on my face.
“We should sit. Or eat. Or go dancing!” I suggested. Maybe moving would make it so I wouldn’t notice. I never noticed the shot affecting me at weddings… but that was probably because I’d never had more thanone.
“Oh, babe…” he laughed and easily scooped me up, one arm hooking under my knees, and the other cradling my back.
“I know that girls walking back from bars are indestructible- my sister Stella ran smack into a stop sign and cut open her head once and didn’t even feel it. Needed stitches and everything. But we need to protect your legs. You’re like a swan on the ice, baby girl,” he said. I enjoyed feeling his deep voice rumble in his chest as he talked.
“A swan, TJ?” For some reason, that was the funniest thing I’d heard in a long time, and I started cackling.
“Careful, careful,” he warned.
I took a deep breath, trying to gather myself and focus my vision, but it was a bit of a struggle. “Oh jeez.” I put a hand to my forehead. “I’m sorry…I shouldn’t have drank as much as I did.”
“Don’t be sorry, babe. I’m used to chauffeuring drunk girls back to their places,” he said.
I felt my face starting to fall with disappointment. So he did this a lot? Was that what he was saying?
“My sisters, Sassypants,” he looked down at me with a chuckle. “They took advantage of my driving abilities as soon as I turned sixteen,” he said. “I’m glad you feel safe with me,” he added in a quieter voice, cutting his eyes quickly to mine as he walked.
I leaned my head against his muscular chest and studied his strong jaw line covered in just the right amount of scruff making him look impossibly tough. How was this my life right now? Did I just have a fun night out at a bar without having a panic attack? Did I really have a handsome man carrying me right now? Did I even realize just how attracted I was to him? I needed to… I needed to tell him… I needed to kiss him… I just wished we could get home faster…
He finally stopped in front of a row of tall, brick townhouse looking apartments.
TJ climbed the stairseffortlessly.
“Can you reach into my pocket and grab the card?” he asked me.
“You can put me down now,” I told him, patting his chest.
His mouth curved into a smile. “I don’t wanna,” he said softly, causing a warm happiness to wash over me.
I quickly fished for his wallet and pulled it out to hold it against the front door’s scanner.
I pulled the door handle down as he pushed the door forward with his hip to open it up and reveal a plain hallway that went to the back of the building. There were only two doors on this floor and an elevator that probably led to other floors.
“That’s Duke’s place,” he motioned to the door on the right side of the hallway while he walked us to his, which was directly across from it.
