I Hate Football Players 3 | 18+

Chapter 87: Logan

A/N: Mature content. 🏃‍♀️🏃‍♀️🏃‍♀️

"Are you okay?" I gently pressed a bag of frozen peas onto Ellie's swollen knuckles. She flinched briefly and scrunched up her nose, but I sandwiched her small hand between my larger palm and the peas.

I couldn't have been happier once we left that horribly boring party, where all eyes had fixated on me from the moment we walked through the door. Technically, all eyes except the video game guys and the DMV-like line for Harper's rejection watched me curiously. Thankfully, Ellie had fortunately been largely ignored except for how Emmitt drooled and Lydia...

Who the fuck knows on that.

"Ellie..." I looked her straight in the eyes. "What was that between you and Lydia?"

Shocked was an understatement at how I felt when Ellie intercepted Lydia's advancement on me, put the weasley snake back in her place after Lydia shoved her, but then Ellie'd actually punched the wall near Lydia's head. While we walked back here and drove Harper to the hotel, my head was full of all kinds of emotions, among which concerned, impressed, and slightly aroused alternated for control of my body's reaction.

Not sure what that last part says about me.

In my almost twenty-one years, I'd been hit, slapped, cursed at, and shoved by girls. With my gigantic frame difference, most often any attempted blows barely registered physically with me but when Lydia shoved Ellie, she fell back and crumpled down like she'd been hit by a car.

Quiet restraint had practically been Ellie's middle name so my only reaction when she stepped face-to-face with Lydia was I stood silently, frozen in place with my jaw on the floor. Only my head and eyes moved as I checked who else had witnessed that but surprisingly, no one had.

As Ellie and I sat on our living room sofa, my thoughts wandered, replayed Ellie's wall punch, and my hand absently pressed down on Ellie's peas. She moaned softly, which snapped my attention back to her.

Even with Ellie's hand hurt, my internal body temperature cranked up a few degrees at how she'd stood up for us. Constriction in my pants brought my attention to the erection that swelled the more I studied her soft, delicate features, none of which reflected the forwardness Ellie displayed tonight.

I was so thankful Ellie wanted to leave because I wanted us home after her display of confidence as she told off Lydia. For Ellie's sake, she didn't need any attention for her outburst and, embarrassingly, I was actually turned on a little by what she'd said. Thankfully, Ellie walked back with Harper while the semi in my pants and I waddled behind Wes and Charlie.

"I don't know, oh gosh." The peas hit Ellie's lap as she covered her face with both hands and groaned quietly. "I'm so embarrassed, what I said, and did! That's not... me. I just - I don't know. I saw Lydia's hands on you, then me and I... just... snapped?"

I slowly lowered her hands, as gently as I could with her hurt one, and pressed the peas onto it again. Her entire face and neck were red and her dark, doe-shaped eyes studied mine. "Are you okay, Logan? There's no excuse, I shouldn't have responded at all. I didn't mean to -"

"I'm fine. I should be taking care of you, baby." I laughed quietly because although Ellie's knuckles weren't ripped open, they definitely puffed up with future bruises. "And if you're worried, no one else except me, Lydia, and Emmitt paid any attention."

"Well, right now you kinda look like you want your fist punched into a wall," she teased but pressed her other palm into one of pink cheeks. "I'm really sorry. I should've walked away, even though I really wanted to punch her face. You don't need -"