Page 9 of Fighting Conviction
“Not by myself,” Ellie muttered. Behind her crossed arms, she clenched her fists. Going to college without her best friend had never been the plan.
Silence crushed their objections. Jules and Nora’s eyes shot to the ground and Ellie could feel them searching for the right thing to say. But they’d never find it. What would make any of this better was scattered in ashes.
A throat cleared in the other room, and Jules opened the door wide. Naomi waved the pamphlets at them after steering her eyes away from Snake and Thea. “I-uh. I’m finished. Y’all can come out now…”
Jules nodded and they all filed out of the office to give the woman their full attention again. “Good, I’ll take those so you don’t have to keep them, or take them home.” She took the pamphlets and handed them to Ellie. “I know I threw a lot at you, but do you have any questions?”
Naomi hesitated before shaking her head and Ellie stepped forward to speak. “It’s okay if you don’t have all the answers now, or ever. We’re here if you need us. No judgment.”
Naomi gave a dazed nod and Ellie followed Naomi’s gaze to where Thea and Snake were giggling at something on the screen. When Thea squealed with happiness, Snake’s grin widened, his blue eyes shining.
“I think,” Naomi whispered before clearing her throat with a wince. “I think we’ll be fine. Thank you for all your help. Do you, um, have a card for that number I could maybe call?”
Ellie shook her head. “Nope. All sevens. That’s our number. It’s easy to remember and you don’t have a trace of us to get you in trouble.”
“All sevens,” Naomi whispered as she slid off the patient bed to leave.
As Ellie and Dev went to help her, Nora spoke in an even higher pitch than usual. “Hey, kiddo, come with me and your mommy and we can go shopping in the store. You can get anything you want.”
Naomi’s unbruised light olive skin paled before she objected. “No, Nora, we can’t possibly—”
“It’s on the house,” Ellie interrupted with what she hoped was an encouraging smile, but Naomi shook her head.
“No, Ellie, that’s not the issue—”
Thea squealed, cutting off Naomi’s objection before jumping off the beanbag and landing on Snake’s unmentionables. His grunt made Thea gasp and crawl back. A look of utter terror on her face made Ellie’s heart crack.
“Sorry,” Thea squeaked with a cringe on her face.
A laugh rumbled through him. “Oof, you got me good, kid.”
Thea glanced at her momma and after seeing whatever she needed to see, the little girl broke out into nervous giggles before leaping toward Snake.
“Okay, but Wes has to come!” She grabbed his hand and rattled off about shopping and dress-up even before he agreed. Ellie glanced at Naomi to see a ghost of a smile before it disappeared.
“All right, let’s go, Babs. I gotta get my favorite boss ass bitch back to the office before your fiancé decides to unalive me for keeping you from him.” Nora waved Snake, Naomi, Jules, and Thea out the door. “Go to class, Ellie!” she yelled before closing the medical room door, leaving Dev and Ellie in the room.
Alone.
The hair on the back of Ellie’s neck stood on end as she realized how close they were again. The air thickened around them and Ellie stepped away to give herself room to breathe.
“I should, um, go study or something. See ya.” She turned to retrieve her backpack, but every step away from Dev felt like she was trudging against the inescapable undercurrent between them. She swallowed around the denial she’d been cultivating for months, refusing to explore her feelings further.
What the heck is wrong with me?
Dev was twenty-seven years old, and herbrother’sfriend and teammate. That was all he’d been to Ellie, too. Just a friend.
But still, she couldn’t shake the overwhelming instinct he was more than that. They’d seen each other nearly every day since he’d rescued her. And nearly every day, she had to remind herself to forget the first thought she had when his flashlight revealed his small smile. That he was her savior. Her hero.
She didn’t want to be the damsel in distress anymore. If Sasha Saves had taught her anything, it was the importance of learning to save herself. It was something she tried to empower survivors with every day. Those women who depended on Sasha Saves needed her full attention, and on top of that, Nora had a point. Ellie didn’t even know how many absences she had left.
Bottom line? There was more at stake than a little hero crush, and Ellie needed to grow up and accept that.
“Hey, do you want a ride?”
Ellie tugged her backpack on slowly as she searched for an excuse. “Oh no, that’s okay. I rode my bike here. It’s hooked up to the rack. Oh… and—” She shrugged off his jacket. “Outside is hot as blue blazes today so I won’t need your jacket out there.” She tossed it to him, afraid of what she would do if their fingers touched and sparks flew everywhere like in one of Virginia’s romance novels. “Um, thanks though.”
He nodded and flipped the jacket over his shoulder. “I can still take you back to your dorm, if you’d like. I’ll put your bike in the bed of my truck, like usual.” Dev’s lips angled up in one corner and Ellie averted her eyes to focus on smoothing down her T-shirt, as if the task was impossible without intense concentration.
