Page 44 of Head Over Wheels

Shifting my body slightly so I’m facing him, I tell him what’s on my mind. “I’ve been running through the different scenarios, and if you’re really ready to go public with this, with me, then I’m ready too.”

I wait with bated breath for his response. A slow grin travels over his face.

“Yes.”

“Yes?”

“Yes.” He nods and squeezes me tightly. Then he drops a kiss on my lips, and I forget for a moment that there is a horde of paparazzi waiting outside. “Are you a hundred percent? Because I can easily find a way for us to leave here without them seeing you, and we can keep the secret until another day. Once your name is out there, we can’t take it back.”

Those words sound so scary. He’s right though, once they know who I am, I’ll always be known as the girl who dated Jace Altman. But right now, I’m pretty excited to be that girl, and I want the whole world to know it. It’s not like he’s Chris Hemsworth; once this news cycle passes, I’m pretty sure we’ll go back to semi-normal lives.

I reach up and kiss him, pulling away with a twinkle. “I want this. Let’s go out there together.”

He stands and stretches his hand out for me. He clasps it tightly in his, and I take a deep breath.

“Oh, wait!”

His face falls, but he quickly masks it with a blank expression. “It’s no problem if you want to wait. Let’s get the servers to help us…”

I cut him off. “No, I’m good, we’re good. However, I need to see what I look like before we walk outside and they snap a bunch of pictures. Can I just use my phone for a sec?”

He laughs and twirls a strand of my hair around his index finger. “Ella, you’re beautiful exactly as you are. You don’t need to change a thing.”

He leans in and kisses me again, and it’s getting harder to pull away. His lips call to me, and I just want to sink into his arms and stay hidden in here all night. We need to get this over with though, so I pull away reluctantly.

“Last chance to change your mind!” I half-jokingly give him an out before it’s too late.

“I’ll never change my mind about you, Ella. Let’s go.”

We walk out the doors, Jace leading the way. The people outside immediately start calling his name, and I hang back. He tugs me closer and puts his arm around me.

One of the photographers in front, a small guy with a big camera, gets Jace’s attention. “Jace, is this your new girlfriend? The one you were defending earlier today in the cafe?”

Jace gives me a quick squeeze and looks me in the eye. He whispers softly in my ear. “Are you sure?”

I nod back and turn to face the small crowd.

“Yes. This is my girlfriend, Ella. If you don’t mind, it’s been a really long day and we’d love to get back to the hotel. How about if we pose for a couple of pictures and then you let us go?”

They murmur their assent, and we pose for a couple of minutes, and then Jace sticks his hand up. “Thanks everyone, we’re going to take off now. Please allow us some privacy.”

Mostly everyone backs off, except for one girl. She’s holding her phone out, and it looks like she’s recording a video. “Jace, what do you want to say to all of your and Deb’s fans?”

We stop moving, and Jace takes the time to answer. “Deb is great, and we’ll always be good friends.” He shrugs. “Ella’s my girl now, and everyone should get used to seeing her around. You’re all going to fall in love with her just like I have.”

As his words wash over me, he plants a kiss on my lips in front of everyone. My smile must be super wide when we straighten up again and start walking off. I’m head over heels for this guy, my hot spin instructor…or I guess…head over wheels.

CHAPTER 33

ONE YEAR LATER

Welcome to Celebration Weekend! The banners are new this year, and they make everything brighter and more festive. They’re intermixed with holiday decorations, and the reception area for the event is full of Elevate colours and twinkly lights.

It turns out when you’re dating one of the most popular Elevate instructors, it comes with an invitation to this getaway. I was able to pull strings so that Jess could come too since she’s officially joined Elevate now. In her words, it’s like family after hanging out with Jace and all his instructor friends regularly. I’m thrilled that she’s with me, because even though Jace and I have been dating for a year, this is the first time I’ll be in a place with a lot of Elevate members all at once, and I’m nervous. People have been mostly nice online, although there are definitely some “Jeb” shippers that are never going to like me. Deb and I aren’t besties, but we’re friendly and there’s no awkwardness. She’s dating Raj now and we all hang out together a lot. Raj is such a great guy, and I’m really happy for both of them.

Jace has his own room, and I’m sharing one with Jess. He’s going to be busy working all weekend, and I wanted the extra time with my friend. We don’t get to see as much of each other as we used to as I took the plunge and moved to Montreal over the summer. Long distance was fine for a few months while we got to know each other, but it was getting to be exhausting spending every weekend traveling to see each other. With his job requiring him to be at the Elevate studio in Montreal, it just made sense for me to move here. I’m so lucky to be able to keep working remotely for the same company, and that just made the move that much easier.

We live together now in his condo, which is right downtown near Place des Arts. It has great views of the city, and our Elevate bikes sit side by side in an exercise nook. He does most of his workouts at the studio of course, but occasionally we take a class together at home. Usually one of Alex’s, who always teases us when he sees us both on the leaderboard.

---