First & Forever

Chapter 24: Eloise

APRIL

Sweet heaven. He really should always wear a uniform. I mean, the way those pants...

"Elle, are you?" Piper's voice interrupts my dirty chain of thought. Rude.

"Sorry. Am I what?" I ask, watching Will jog across the baseball field as the game ends.

Piper groans impatiently. "Prom! Are you going? It's in two weeks. Two, Elle! You seriously need to get a dress or all of the good ones will be gone, you know that. Oh! What about that red one Mer tried on last weekend?"

"I told you all, I'm not going this year." I lean forward on the metal bleacher, pretending to fix the strap on my Mary Janes while I await their protest.

"What?! I thought you were kidding!" Meredith exclaims, her and Gemma turning around from the row in front of us.

"Not kidding," I clarify, smiling at Will when he winks as he jogs by mouthing for me to wait on him.

"Okay, what the actual heck is going on with you two?" Piper demands. "You're always together, he looks at you like that, but you're not going to prom together?"

"We had the whole perfect prom thing last year and the best parts were everything other than the actual prom." I laugh lightly. "You all know it wasn't that great."

Meredith shrugs. "True, but that's not the point. The point is to wear a really pretty dress and be with us."

"You have to go, E. Even I'm going this year," Gemma says.

"Yeah, with Conner," I singsong, thrilled that Gemma has a date this year. It's only appropriate that it's the guy she's been battling for Valedictorian all of high school. "And Piper, you'll be with Graham. Mer, with your new work guy. You all have dates and your dresses are gorgeous. I mean, how much did we actually hang out at last year's prom? You won't even miss me," I say casually.

"What if Will asks you to go with him?" Meredith asks.

"He won't. He only went last year because he knew I wanted to," I say, remembering how sweet he was trying to make it as special as he could. "Plus, I really don't want the are-they-aren't-they attention."

Meredith laughs. "Oh, you've already got that."

"Yeah and now that you mention it..." Piper leans in, cocking a single devious brow. "Are you or aren't you?" she asks, three pairs of conspiratorial eyes causing me to blush.

"We're friends." Dang it, I can't contain my smirk. "Really good friends."

"Uh-huh. I bet, really good," Piper says with amusement. "She's so holding out on us."

"Eloise Elisabeth James, I never would have pegged you as the friends with benefits type," Meredith teases.

I laugh, giving in because I'm too happy. I know they know. "Right? I wouldn't have either, but..." I smile, playfully shimmying my shoulders. "It's pretty fun."

"My God! I love a reckless Elle James!" Piper squeals and we all laugh.

My face heats. "I don't know if I'd call it reckless."

Meredith pats my arm. "For you, queen of hopeless romantics, it's reckless."

Will comes out of the clubhouse and nods toward his car with a secretive smile. The kind that makes breathing feel nearly impossible.

"Well..." I chirp, getting up with a mischievous grin, ready to own my new title. "Guess I'm off to be reckless then."

"You guys should meet us at the diner!" Meredith calls as I walk away.

I wave that I heard her, but based on the looks he's been giving me tonight, we are most definitely not going to the diner.

When I reach Will's car, I lean my head against the side of the open door, watching him toss his gear in the backseat. Babies have been made with lesser looks than I'm giving him right now, I'm certain of it. I shake my head free of that thought and clear my throat. "Hey, superstar. Nice game."

Will turns, his eyes sparking even in the darkness of the parking lot as he looks at me like I'm the single best thing he's ever seen. In point two seconds, he circles my waist and pulls me behind the open door, leaving only our feet within sight. "Nice everything." He grins, looking the length of me, his hands sliding from my baseball tee down over my shorts until they meet the backs of my bare thighs. "It's a good thing I'm only playing for fun this year. You in my number? You've got me doing double takes from the field, Elle James."

I feel my face flush. "Hey, you asked me to wear it." I laugh, playfully pushing his hands away.

He chuckles deeply, playing with my ponytail. "Heck yes I did."

"Everyone's going to the diner. Do you want to go?" I ask, leaning into his chest.

He smirks, looking down at my lips. "No."

Told ya.

I smile. "Can you take me home?"

*****

We get to my street and exchange knowing glances as he passes the first entrance, turning in at the back barely used entrance hidden by hills on one side and empty fields on the other. The entrance that we've used, more often than not, for the last few weeks.

He drives down to the first bend and puts the car in park, turning off the headlights. 

We turn to each other, smile, and it's fire to gasoline. We kiss, we laugh, somehow I end up on his lap? I've never had champagne - heck, I've never had any kind of alcohol - but I'd imagine this is what it feels like. Bubbly, euphoric - fast.

Up until I found all of the things that he keeps saved in his bedside table, I was hesitant to be all in again. I was up for having fun, I'm obsessed with the guy, but there was a piece of me holding back to protect myself.

Finding all of that allowed my heart to fully surrender and we've been inseparable ever since. At school, after his baseball practices, on weekends. It's like we unlocked a whole new level of the pull between us and there's nothing we can do to stop it.

Nor do we want to.

Any caution we proceeded with before is gone. Rationality? None. While we haven't talked about it, our days together are counting down and we both know it.

He smiles, wiping the lip gloss off of his face. "What are you doing tomorrow?"