“Wait.”
She slowly settles back onto the gray bench, pressing her lips together before they twitch into a small smile. Sweat collects in my palms, her nerves somehow bleeding into me; she’s not drunk, and there’s no more class to distract her. I can’t mess this up.
“Do you have another class to get to?” I ask.
Ellie swallows. “No.”
“Would you go for a walk with me? I can show you around Haven. The parts with color.”
Her dimple peeks out as she nods. “I’d like that.”
I can feel myself smiling like an idiot, so I break our gaze and scan the half-empty auditorium. Reid and Alexis seem to have left already. Good—I don’t want them tagging along, competing for our attention. I need Ellie to keep seeingme.
We head down the stairs, and she winces on the last step, massaging her right thigh just above the knee.
“Are you alright?”
“I’m a little sore. It’ll probably be fine once I get moving.”
“We can do something else.” I scratch the back of my head as I rack my brain over what we could possibly do on campus. “Something with less walking.”
Ellie adjusts her bag on her shoulder. “No, I want to go. I’ll be fine.”
She was not fine.
Five minutes down the road to Haven, and she’s already limping.
“Maybe you should stop and stretch? Lean against me and hold your leg like this.” I demonstrate, standing on one foot and pulling my ankle up behind me.
“How could this possibly help?” Ellie wobbles as she grips my arm for balance, her nails digging into me, making me instantly aware of all the places she isn’t touching like that.
I force my voice to stay casual. “I don’t know, it just does—but you have to hold it awhile.”
She bites her lip. “I think this is an excuse to get me touching you.”
“I don’t need an excuse. You can’t resist doing that all on your own.” And it’s not like there’s anything else to hold onto—there’s nothing but dirt till we reach the outskirts.
Her face flushes a bright pink, and I steady her as she tilts too far to one side.
“You should switch legs now.” I keep my fingers gently pressed against her, helping her balance, then weigh our options. Even if her legs feel better, it’d be stupid to have her walk all the way to town. But I don’t want to take her back to her dorm; she has roommates, and I doubt she has the nerve to invite me to her bedroom.
“I could carry you?”
Ellie’s fingers dig deeper into my arm. “You’re not carrying me.”
“Why not? This isn’t Durnam—no one will care.”
“It’d be humiliating! And you’d be in just as bad shape when we got there!”
That’s definitely not true, but I doubt she’d appreciate me pointing that out. Luckily, another idea pops into my head. “What if I carry you somewhere closer? Just a few minutes away.”
Her eyes narrow. “Where?”
* * *
I unhook my arms from under Ellie’s legs so she can slide off my back, and her arms unwrap from around my shoulders as her feet hit the ground. I fish out my key to unlock the door, and after fumbling with it for a moment—it often sticks—I push it open and lead her inside.
She stands there, taking in my meager abode. From the beat-up walls to the mismatched furniture, until her gaze settles on me. “This is where you live?”
