Page 217 of Staying Selfless

My fingers grab his graduation gown as it balls in my fists, my arms wrapped around his waist. I don’t think I can put into words how badly I needed him, and now that he’s here, I don’t ever want him to leave me again.

After a beat, he pulls me away from his body, his eyes wandering over my face. He tucks my hair behind my ears, cupping my cheeks, his gaze continuing to take me in. He softly strokes the pad of his thumb over my forehead, where a small scar has begun to form from the accident, but it’s nothing in comparison to how big of a gash there was before. Then, as his fingers graze under my eye, where it was once black and bruised, Eli’s face completely lights up.

“You look so good, Logan.”

“So do you.” His brown eyes are warm and bright as his grin overtakes his face. He looks completely different than the heartbroken man who I last saw in the hospital six weeks ago.

“Are you okay?”

“Better now,” I tell him truthfully. “Are you okay?”

“Better now,” he repeats my words before bending down and connecting his mouth to mine again.

“Get a room!” Benny calls out.

“You still haven’t learned your lesson, man.” Goody smacks him in the chest. “Don’t tempt him.”

I don’t care if there are a thousand people in this stadium right now. The only person who matters is this brown-eyed boy in front of me who will always have my heart.

Eli pulls away to stand behind me, his arms crossed in front of my shoulders and his chin resting on my head as he holds my back firmly to his chest.

“Let’s go back to the house,” Mary suggests. “Your dad is grilling tonight. You boys coming?” She turns to Eli’s teammates.

“Home-cooked meal?” Benny asks. “Absolutely.”

“Only if you’re bringing Sarah, though.” Mary shoots him a pointed glance, trying to rein in more members for her girl-gang.

“Did you drive your car?” Eli cranes his neck to look at me.

“Kind of.”

“Marc, will you drive Ali back in my truck?” He tosses his brother his keys. “I’m going to drive with Logan.”

As we all exit the stadium, the two of us walk hand in hand, Eli refusing to let go of me. And this is what I missed. My needy boy’s constant reminder that he needs me.

“How’s the leg doing?” Eli keeps his stride slow and in line with mine.

“It’ll get there. I just need to get back in the gym. I miss working out.”

“I miss watching you work out,” he adds with a devilish little grin.

His eyes sparkle as he looks at me, and the butterflies float around my stomach like it’s the first time I’ve ever seen him.

He’s seriously so hot, it’s ridiculous.

“You went with the black,” Eli notes as the two of us approach my car. “I thought you might have. I almost told them black but didn’t want to be wrong, so I figured you should decide. It looks so good with the tinted windows and bigger rims. Do you like it?”

“I love it. Thank you again. You know you didn’t have to do that.”

“I was going to get you a Benz or a BMW, but Marc reminded me that there was a good chance you were going to kill me just for the Jeep,” Eli laughs. “I didn’t want my practical girl going away for murder.”

“Safe bet.”

He pulls me by the hand, pinning my hips to the driver’s side door with his. “I don’t think you realize how much I’ve been missing you, my girl.” His fingers lace through mine, holding me.

What I want to say is, ‘I don’t know how much you’ve been missing me. Please tell me. Please show me because, over the last six weeks, I thought you might have forgotten about me.’ But I don’t say any of that out loud.

“I’ll explain everything,” he says, reading my mind before leaning down and kissing my lips, then my tattoo. “Let’s get in the car, and I’ll tell you everything.”

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