Page 31 of Blindsided

Ellie sighs, her shoulders softening. “I think he’s regretting asking me to move in with him.”

“It’s been a couple of months, right?” They told me about all the mishaps they had with the moving truck when I was here last. Listening to Ellie giggle about it while Adam was still pissed was hilarious.

“Yeah, and over the past few weeks, he’s started acting weird. Not secretive exactly, but I can tell there’s something he wants to say and just hasn’t been able to get the gumption to do it.”

“This feels like an obvious question, but have you asked him about it?”

“Of course, and he says everything is perfect.”

“He isn’t the kind of guy to outright lie, so maybe it’s something else.”

“But what?” Ellie’s voice is almost desperate, and I hate that she’s struggling with this.

“Do you want me to ask Matthew? He’d know what’s going on.”

“Not yet. I’m going to try and talk to him again. If that fails, then I’ll have you ask.”

“Okay, put your number into my phone, and we can strategize what you could say.”

Ellie grins at me, taking my phone from my hands. “I’ll add you to the group chat I have going with my best friend, Katie. We’ve been talking about this a bunch.”

“We should add Sara, too. She never used to shy away from straightening out her brothers.”

“She still doesn’t.” Ellie laughs. “You don’t think it would be weird to include her in my bitching about her brother?”

I shrug. “I don’t think so, but you could always talk to her first.”

Ellie nods. “Okay, let’s talk about you and Matthew now.” She waggles her eyebrows, the change in topic bringing a smile back to her face.

“What about me and Matthew?” The crease between my eyebrows couldn’t get any deeper.

Her eyes bug out. “Hello! The sexual tension between the two of you could be cut with a knife. I’ve never seen the guy so smitten with someone.”

I sputter. “What? That’s the most absurd thing I’ve ever heard. The idea of Matty being anything with me is… It’s so insane I can’t think of a better word.”

“Mm-hmm. So why is your face getting all red talking about it?”

“The wine is hitting me. I’m not red because of him. Pshh.” I wave my hand in the air as if I’m swatting away the idea.

Ellie squeals. “You like him!” She points her finger at me. “You want to jump on him like a baby monkey.”

I grab her hand and shove it down to the couch. “Stop that. I do not.”

Ellie raises an eyebrow at me.

“Okay, fine! Yes, I want to climb the man like a fucking tree. But that’s never going to happen. He will never see me as anything other than Desmond’s little sister.”

“Oh, he sees you as way more than that, my friend.”

I frown at her. “How do you know? I’ve been here for an entire week and haven’t noticed a single thing.”

“Let’s see…” Ellie starts ticking things off on her fingers. “I’ve caught him smiling at his phone, and every time I ask, it’s when he’s texting you. Tessa told me he raced out of the office when he found out you were coming to stay. And Adam said he has been floating at work this whole week. If all that doesn’t say he’s smitten, I’m not sure what does.”

I bite my lip, a little flame of hope igniting in my belly. “Do you really think so?”

Ellie slowly nods her head. “Without a doubt.”

After all these years, could he truly feel that way about me? I’ve had this crush for what feels like forever. I’m afraid to let my hope grow too big on the off chance that he doesn’t have any desire to act on his feelings.

---