First & Forever

Chapter 17: William

FEBRUARY

Woah.

My breath catches as Elle walks into first block.

I try not to stare, but... Screw it. I give in and allow myself to look her over. There's nothing revealing or out of character about her black sweater dress, but damn if it doesn't fit in all the right places.

She stops at her chair, fighting a laugh. "Well, good morning to you too."

I raise my brows, appraising her with an adoring smile. "You do not fight fair, Elle James."

"And you do?" she counters with a laugh.

My eyes move up and I notice the necklace I gave her. It's back, perfectly situated in that irresistible little divot between her collarbones. The lower squarish neckline of her dress almost like it was made to show it off.

I move my eyes up to hers as she reaches up to adjust it and we share a knowing smile.

"How was your weekend?" I ask, still staring.

Damn, she's pretty in black.

"Pretty good. Um, so..." She worries her bottom lip and that worries me until she looks over at me with a precious excited expression. "I committed to play at Middlebury College."

"What?!" I lean forward as I turn in my chair to face her. "Elle, that's awesome. I didn't even know you were talking to them. You should have called me."

She worries her lip again. "I wanted to, but the whole friends thing... I didn't know if I should." I'd be annoyed with her nerves right now if it weren't so dang cute.

And yeah, I'm going to need her closer.

Her breath hitches as I pull her chair closer to mine. "You always should." I smile. "Tell me everything."

Her cheeks tint pink at our proximity. "Okay..." she starts, excitedly turning in her chair to face me as she talks.

"Remember how I didn't think it was an option? Turns out that since my dad went there, I can get a legacy scholarship and with my grades and test scores, several others to help cover it. The coach was at our game Friday night and asked me to come watch them play the next day and meet the team and stuff. I was hesitant since it's so close, but being there, I don't know how to explain it... It just finally felt right." I love that I can hear the relief in her voice. Also loving how she crossed those pretty legs between mine and scooted even closer to me while she was talking.

"I can definitely see you there. That's huge, Elle. Congrats." I smile, nudging her leg with mine.

"Thank you." She drops her eyes to her hands. "It's kind of weird though, right? I mean, you know. All I wanted to do was move away from here, but the one place that felt right ended up being right down the road."

"I don't think it's weird at all. With your family being close and honestly, it felt like another world when we were on the campus together that day. You lit up there, Elle. I could tell you loved it," I assure her, flashing back to the fall.

"Yeah, I thought of that day when we walked through campus this weekend." She blushes, meeting my eyes.

Oh.

I clear my throat. "When we...on the sidewalk? Under those big trees?" I set my hand on the back of her chair with a hesitant smile, hoping her head is where mine is. Otherwise, I just made a fool of myself.

She leans forward, propping her chin in her hand and nods. "I don't think I'll ever pass that spot without thinking about it... That is, until I ask the next guy to kiss me there," she jokes - I hope - giving me a sassy brow raise.