Page 59 of Blindside Love

Based on the fact that she’s still standing close to me, her arms around me as she smiles up at me, I think we’re both on the same page tonight. And hopefully, there might be a tad bit more of the giving-in part of our ‘friendship’ tonight. “Well, it’s my goal to be the best friend, so I’m glad I’m working on tallying up some points,” she says, surprising the hell out of me. “How many points until I win?”

I shake my head, unable to stop the smirk from overtaking my face. “Oh, kitten. What the hell am I going to do with you?”

“I don’t know, you planned this, not me,” she deadpans, finally stepping back from me. “Lead the way before I start trying to earn some more points.”

She winks as she loops her arm in mine; a devilish grin on her face tells me she’s in the mood to play.

Game on, kitten.

Game. On.

“So where are you taking me?” she questions as we make our way through Central Park.

The nice thing about where our arena is that it’s within walking distance of Central Park, which means it’s convenient and free parking. I’ll definitely miss that when I retire, especially when I’m on a date, and she’s wearing at least three-inch heels.

“Just right over here,” I tell her, shooting a text to Sawyer to tell her that it’s time to disappear.

She was helping me brainstorm ideas for today, and she thought a picnic would be cute. Since she knows cooking isn’t my thing, she set it all up, making sure to stay until the very end to make sure everything is perfect.

When we turn the corner to see our cute little picnic set up, Ellie stops, tears filling her eyes.

I may not have set it up, but I definitely designed this to be the most Ellie picnic I could think of. AKA, lots of desserts and only finger foods because that’s what her entire food pyramid consists of.

She’s basically a toddler when it comes to food. She blames it on Addy, but I know she loves it.

But I forget all about that when she turns to me, an almost sad look in her eyes, her mouth opening and closing like she’s trying to think of what to say.

Have I fucked something up?

“Did I do something wrong?” I ask slowly, almost nervous for her response, but I’m relieved when she immediately shakes her head no.

“You definitely didn’t do anything wrong. Not at all, Trevor. I’m… overwhelmed because you’ve done the exact opposite. You’ve done everything right, and therein lies the problem,” she grumbles, and I’m even more fucking confused.

“So the problem is that I did everything right? Isn’t that the goal?”

“It’s a problem because I’m not supposed to want this. I’m not supposed to want you, but then you do things like this, and I start to wonder why the hell I’m fighting this so hard! These were things my husband never did, not once, and you do it for me—the girl who keeps telling you she can’t handle being more friends. You make me feel so special, and I love it. I just don’t understand why. Why me? But I know I like it, I like you. I’m not sure what that means, but goddammit, it makes me so mad at you,” Ellie says, her arms crossing, really leaning into that whole toddler thing with this adorable tantrum.

But even though she’s pretending to fight it, I can’t stop smiling like a fifteen-year-old boy who just got his crush’s number, and I don’t even care if I look like a fool right now.

She just admitted she likes me, and now I feel like it’s my birthday.

I pull her into me, pressing a kiss to her forehead. “Nothing changes until you want it to, kitten. Let’s just keep being us, whatever that looks like. Let’s just relax and enjoy the day.”

We sit down and eat the snacks Sawyer made for us. Ellie is teaching me what a charcuterie board is, but the only thing I paid attention to was when she said meat and cheese; everything else was noise as I watched her pretty mouth talk, dreaming of all the ways I could fill it.

But it’s not time for that—I still have another surprise. Standing up, I put everything back in the picnic basket for Sawyer to come collect.

I’m going to have to babysit Rory one night soon and let her and Rex have a night out for all the help she’s given me. I feel like she’s been my little dating coach, teaching me all the things I’ve slacked on learning over the years.

After we get everything packed up, I grab her hand, turning to walk towards ice cream. It’s a nice day, the weather is perfect to spend outside, which is lucky in March.

“So have you been able to talk to your parents yet?” Ellie asks, breaking the silence. Her hand fits perfectly in mine as she intertwined our fingers.

Something about the way she’s touching me, the way she’s looking at me, makes me feel calm about something that has been so scary. I haven’t even wanted to think about having this conversation with my parents, even though it’s coming up.

But hearing her ask, knowing she’s actually interested in my response, in how I’m doing. It’s fucking nice.

“I haven’t,” I tell her truthfully. “But they come home in just a couple of days, so we’re going to meet for dinner. After talking with my agent, I realized I was being ridiculous by being so nervous.”

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