Page 42 of When Ellie Falls in Love

“Sorry,” she whispered.

“It’s fine,” Mason waved her off with a wink. “Ellie’s great, isn’t she?”

“She is.”

As the last song finished, the crowd was on their feet with applause. But no one was louder than Sadie. She didn’t care; Ellie deserved it. Sadie loudly clapped and called out Ellie’s name as their eyes locked once more. Ellie blushed, making Sadie’s smile widen.

When the final curtain went down and the lights came up, Sadie mingled with everyone as they waited on Ellie. They were all going to go to the bar afterward to celebrate, and they invited Sadie and her parents along, too. Sadie was hesitant at first, unsure if Ellie would want them to crash her celebration.

But as soon as Ellie came out the side door, it was over. She made a beeline for Sadie, seemingly surprising everyone, including Sadie. Ellie wrapped her arms around Sadie, and they hugged as if it was something they’d done a million times before. They swayed back and forth in each other’s arms for a moment as Sadie told her how great she was in the show.

“I didn’t know you could sing that well.”

Ellie rolled her eyes as she took a step back from Sadie. “Liar. You’ve heard me sing before.”

Winking, Ellie excitedly chatted with the rest of her family as Sadie stood off to the side with Delaney. She knew there was no way her motherhadn’tseen that hug, but she was thankful she didn’t mention it. Not yet, anyway.

“You’re going to the bar with us, right?” Ellie asked, and Sadie nodded. “Good. I’ll see you there.”

“Yeah, see you there.”

Sadie tried not to appear as bummed as she felt that Ellie hadn’t asked if they wanted to drive together. She tried not to overthink that or the hug as they drove to Straight to Ale. Isla had decorated one corner of the restaurant with balloons and streamers for Ellie and the gesture was beyond sweet. Although there was another show the next day, the fact they were celebrating her last first show of her high school career made Sadie sentimental. All too soon, her own last day of softball would arrive. But Sadie didn’t want to think about that now.

No.

She only wanted to think of Ellie and how beautiful she looked in the black dress she had changed into. It didn’t go down far past her behind, not that Sadie noticed, and looked amazing on her. Paired with the heels and her seemingly always tanned skin made her look like she’d stepped out of a magazine.

Ellie took a seat across the table from Sadie, and Sadie wondered if it was on purpose. It had to be, right? All throughout dinner, they made flirty eye contact and shared their fries and onion rings off their plates with each other without asking like an old married couple. And under the table was just as exciting. Every time Ellie’s footaccidentlybrushed against Sadie’s, her entire world spun faster.

Damn. I have it bad.

“Sadie? Did you hear me?” Ellie furrowed her brow as Sadie snapped out of her thoughts.

“I’m sorry, what?”

“Do you want to play pool?” She pointed at the pool table in the corner of the bar. Sadie nodded, and the two of them walked across the restaurant to the game area.

There were a handful of mismatched barstools and high-top tables reserved for those playing the games. A pool table sat in the middle, along with a few arcade games and a dart board. While Sadie couldn’t remember ever playing pool, she wasn’t going to let that stop her. She’d seen it on TV shows and movies enough to get the gist of it. How hard could it be?

Judging by the way Ellie used the blue cube to do something to the end of the stick, harder than Sadie had anticipated.

She watched as Ellie lined up her shot, smiling, and trying to get itexactlyright in front of Sadie. Not that Sadie would have known any different. Ellie could have picked the balls up with her hands and rolled them into the pockets for all Sadie cared. All she cared about was being with Ellie.

Even if both of their families were undoubtedly watching them from the other side of the restaurant.

Sadie would just have to try not to think about that.

“Dammit,” Ellie whined after hitting the colored balls with the white ball. They had gone all over the table, which Sadie assumed was the point.

Apparently not.

“What?”

“I didn’t get any in.” Pausing, Ellie narrowed her eyes at her. “Wait, do you know how to play pool?”

Sadie chuckled, “Not a clue.”

“You could have told me.”

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