“Perfect for walking around and seeing the town.” He looks down at my empty wrapper and chip bag. “You finished?”
“Yeah…I’m pretty damn stuffed, to be honest.”
He laughs, grabbing my trash. “I can’t believe I’ve actually found the food that satisfies the appetite of Ellie Canter.”
I rub my stomach. “Me either.”
He crumples the trash in one hand and reaches for mine with the other. “You ready?”
“For what?”
“For what’s next.” His eyes meet mine across the table. Am I imagining the double meaning in them? Then the intensity seems to vanish as he smiles. “Come on, just trust me. I haven’t let you down yet.”
He does have a point there. I sling my purse over my shoulder and take his offered hand, following him to whatever he has planned for us.
Chapter Seventeen
Fred
“You doing okay?” I ask, looking over at Ellie.
She grins back at me, the setting sun catching her hair, making the black strands suddenly alight with reds and yellow, and I feel a tugging sensation in my chest—I want to pull her closer. But she’s drinking her beer and I doubt she’d be thrilled about me spilling it all over her.
“This is pretty cool,” she says, swinging her feet. We’re sitting in the open back of my friend Trevor’s truck, watching the tailgating festivities around us. I was slightly worried when we got here that Ellie might feel out of place—she doesn’t know anyone except me, and she’s made a few comments throughout the day about the fact that she’s not a “fancy college kid.” But she seems completely into the atmosphere now, drinking beer, eating hot dogs, and flirting with all of my friends. I can’t help but smile as I watch her—she already has everyone in the vicinity wrapped around her finger and I can’t blame them at all. There’s something about Ellie when she’s having fun like this—she seems so free, so open. It draws you in, makes you want to get a little closer.
It’s basically exactly how I’ve felt every time I’ve seen her since that first get-together in my parent’s basement at the start of the summer. I wonder if I’ll ever be immune to it, if there will ever come a day when I can be around her and not want more. I doubt it.
“We should actually help them pack up in a little,” I tell her, pointing to Trevor whose already moving leftover hotdogs into Tupperware containers to store in the cooler.
Ellie’s face falls. “Pack up? Why?”
“Because the game is starting soon.”
She starts a little, looking around, as if she had completely forgotten that the reason for us being in this parking lot on campus was to attend a college football game. “Oh, yeah,” she says. “Football. Woo.”
I laugh, indulging in the urge to put my arm around her. “You better watch your tone, Miss. These guys might seem like fun, but if they hear you talking about their team in less than reverential tones they will turn on you so fast your pretty little head will spin.”
She rolls her eyes, pushing me away. “I doubt it.”
Before I can argue anymore she hops down from the truck bed, taking a final chug of her beer before dropping the can in a black garbage bag set out for returns. I watch as she approaches Trevor, a smile on her face, asking what she can do to help. I shake my head, finishing my beer, as Trevor laughs at something Ellie says. She’s probably right—even besmirching the name of the Michigan Wolverines might not turn these guys against her. Out of the corner of my eye I see Tammi watching her, eyes narrowed. Tammi is dating Jonathon, I think. Or maybe it’s James. I rarely keep track of my friends’ relationship statuses; they change so often. It’s clear that whoever she’s dating, Tammi isn’t nearly as much of a fan of Ellie as the guys are.
I finish my beer and go to join them, slipping and arm around Ellie’s waist just for Tammi’s benefit—she can be a jealous bitch about someone else. “What needs doing?”
Trevor looks around our area. Already fans are streaming past our spot toward the stadium behind us. “Could you load up those chairs?” he asks. “Then we just need to collect up all the beer cans and stick everything in the truck.”
“Sounds good.” Ellie helps me to gather folding chairs and haul them into the truck bed. I notice that James and Tammi leave together without picking up so much as a beer can and shake my head. It pisses me off that a lazy, spoiled brat like that has been obviously judging Ellie for the past two hours, but she doesn’t seem any worse for the wear. Instead she chats happily with Trevor as she helps clean up.
“So what was Fred like as a freshman?” she asks, winking at me. “Was he as nerdy as I imagine.”
“Oh, God yes,” Trevor says, laughing. “You have never seen a skinnier or more gangly kid in your life.”
“Ha ha.” I grab the last few beer cans and shove the bag into the truck bed with the chairs. “As if you were so buff as an eighteen-year-old.”
Ellie laughs. “I’m going to need to see some pictures, please.”
Trevor hands us a few blankets from the cab of his truck. “Here, we might need these inside. It’s getting cold.”
Ellie shoots me a look. “You didn’t say I was going to have to sit out in the cold.”
“It’s a football stadium, Ells. What did you expect?” I roll my eyes at Trevor so she can see. “She’s never been to a game, obviously. Such a noob.”
“If you think that makes me feel inferior, you can think again,” she says. “I don’t consider it a character flaw that I don’t spend my Saturdays sitting on a freezing cold metal bench watching men jump all over each other.”
“You don’t know what you’re missing,” Trevor tells her. He starts to lead the way toward the stadium entrance and Ellie and I fall into step next to him. “Now that you mention it, though, Fred hasn’t been to many games this year himself.” He raises an eyebrow at me. “What’s up with that, man? It’s your senior year.”
I shrug. The truth is, I pretty much come home as soon as class is over every Friday. With my internship on Monday morning, I could easily stay on campus over the weekend, or at least till the end of the game when the team is at home. But it seems much more beneficial to head home to my friends. And Ellie.
“The internship is taking a lot out of you, huh?”
“It’s hard work but I like it. And I get to make a little money doing it, which is always a good thing.”
Trevor shakes his head. “I can’t believe we graduate in a matter of months. I mean, the chance of making real money at a job sounds good, don’t get me wrong. But I’m not entirely sure I’m ready to become a working stiff for the rest of my life.”
“It’s not so bad,” Ellie says, flipping her hair off her shoulder. “I graduated from my program at the end of the summer and I’ve been working full time ever since.”
“Yeah?” Trevor looks impressed. “What do you do?”
My stomach sinks as I detect a hint of a blush on Ellie’s cheeks. She never blushes.
“I’m a hair stylist,” she says, and even though I can tell she’s embarrassed by it, I doubt Trevor can—her shoulders are back, her head is high, and her voice is clear and firm, as if daring anyone to judge her for her profession.
“That’s awesome,” Trevor says, and I’m relieved that he doesn’t sound at all put off—not that I expected him to be. Trevor isn’t a snob. Like me, he’s here at U of M on a scholarship and loans. “You were able to find a job right out of school?”
I sense Ellie relax. “Yeah. I’m not totally crazy about it—I wanted to work somewhere a little more trendy, and instead I spend half my time giving old ladies perms.” Trevor laughs and I shake my head at her, knowing she’s exaggerating. I think she likes her job and the people there a lot more than she lets on. “And my creepy boss is always checking out my ass,” she continues. “Which gets a little old. But it’s good experience and I’m growing my client list for when I move on—”
“Hang on,” I interrupt, frowning. “I thought you said he knocked that
off.”
She waves her hands dismissively. “Believe me, it’s nothing I can’t handle.”
“That doesn’t make it okay. He shouldn’t be making you feel weird at work, it’s not professional.”
Out of the corner of my eye I see Trevor watching me closely but I ignore it. I really don’t like the idea of Ellie dealing with that at work. I want to tell her that I’m going to talk to the guy, but I know she’ll freak out if I propose something so boyfriend-y. “It’s fine, Fred,” Ellie says, placing a light hand on my arm. Trevor watches that, too. “If he gets out of hand, I’ll say something. I’m not exactly known for keeping my mouth shut, you know.”
“So where’d you guys meet?” Trevor asks, his eyes still on Ellie’s hand on my arm. I wonder what he’s thinking—probably confused as to the nature of our relationship. I hadn’t told him I was dating someone and I had introduced Ellie only as my friend from home.
“Ellie’s best friend is dating Jet,” I explain, and Trevor’s eyes narrow. He’s not much of a fan of Jet, having met him a few times over the years. He thinks my best friend is a troublemaker—not an entirely incorrect assessment—who screws things up for me with his antics.
“Yeah,” Ellie agrees, missing the expression on Trevor’s face. “The two of them spent the entire summer making kissy faces at each other like saps, so Fred and I were thrown together a lot.”
“I think we got the better end of the deal,” I add. “They looked really stupid making kissy faces.”
As we approach the stadium, Ellie tilts her head back. “This place is huge,” she says.
“I can’t believe you’ve never been to a football game,” Trevor says, shaking his head. “Even in high school?”
“Oh, I went to games in high school,” she says, and I gape at her in surprise before her mouth turns up into a grin. “So that I could drink beer and make out with boys behind the stands.”
Trevor laughs and I shake my head at her. “You’re going to scandalize Trevor here, Ellie. He’s not used to your brand of humor.”
“Sorry,” she says, batting her eyelashes at him.
Trevor only grins at her, clearly taken with her, humor and all. “So what’d you guys do today?” he asks. “I hope Fred did Ann Arbor justice.”
“He did,” Ellie says. “He took me to play pinball at that place—”
“Pinball Pete’s,” Trevor says, nodding in approval. “I’ve spent a good amount of my student loan money there.”
“It was fun,” Ellie says. “I beat him at everything.”
“She is freakishly competitive,” I explain.
“And then we walked around that place with all the flowers and plants, the arboretum, or whatever.”
“Ah, yes,” he says knowingly. “I have taken many girls there in the hopes they would realize how sensitive and unique I am.”
“She just bitched about how cold she was,” I muttered, earning myself an elbow in the ribs from Ellie.
“And then he showed me the campus. We walked around the diagonal thing.” She turns to me. “What’d you call it again?”
“The Diag. It’s like the main hub of campus.”
“It was cool,” she says, shrugging a little. “Not quite as amazing as you made it out to be.”
I make my expression sad. “You just have no appreciation for the awesomeness and history of this university, Ellie.”
“Whatever. Oh, and we ate those good sandwiches, too.”
“Zingerman’s,” I tell Trevor. “She was suitably impressed by that, at least.”
We finally reach the entrance to the stadium and we fall into line with the rest of the masses. “Oh, here,” I say, reaching into my pocket. I hand Ellie a maize and blue knit cap. “Put this on.”
“Why?”
“Because it’s going to get cold. And because you’ll be the only person in there without team colors on, and someone might mistake you for a State fan.”
She eyes the hat doubtfully. “That’s going to mess up my hair. Besides—” she picks up a strand of hair, showing me the vivid blue at the bottom. “I’m already in team colors.”
I laugh, pulling the hat on my own head. “Fine. But don’t complain to me when you get cold.”
She’s half laughing as she smiles up at me and suddenly she raises up on her tiptoes to kiss me. “You’re such a dork in that,” she says, pulling back.
I shake my head, a little bewildered by the unexpected public display of affection. “And that earned me a kiss?” I ask.
She shakes her head. “Sometimes being dorky is pretty cute on you.”
“Says the girl that talked my ear off about Star Wars all afternoon.”
She snorts and pushes past me to hand her ticket to the guy at the door. I follow her, unable to wipe the goofy smile off my face. She’s probably right—I’m sure I look very much like a dork. And I couldn’t care less.
***
Ellie lasts about two hours at the game before I can tell that she’s totally bored. She doesn’t say anything about it, though, which I find very sweet, like she’s willing to stick it out so I can see the end. But we’re getting our asses kicked by State so I have no reservations in asking her if she’s ready to go shortly into the fourth quarter. Besides, I want her to enjoy herself this weekend, not just put up with stuff.
“Are we going back to your place?” she asks once we’ve made out way out to the truck.
“Are you tired?” I ask. “I was thinking we’d get dinner, but we can go back if you want.”
“Dinner sounds good.” She opens her door but turns to look at me over her shoulder before she climbs in. “Are you sure you don’t mind leaving the game?”
“I don’t mind,” I promise. “I hate watching us lose.”
“Us.” She shakes her head. “You know you’re not on the team, right?”
“They’re still my team.”
She rolls her eyes. “Whatever.”
I drive us away from campus and the main downtown area. “Where are we going?” Ellie asks, looking out her window at the dark streets of town. “Another amazing sandwich place that I’ll just never believe?”
“Nope. I figured since we went to my favorite place for lunch, we should make sure dinner features your favorite food.”
She looks at me hopefully. “Burgers?”
“Burgers and beer.”
She raises her arms in victory and I chuckle at her. “I take it that’s okay with you?”
“So long as they’re good.”
“Don’t worry, they’re very good.”
Casey’s Tavern is one of my favorite places to eat and chill off campus. Trevor and I have spent plenty of time there over the years. “It’s weird,” I tell Ellie as I park the truck. “To think that I won’t be here anymore come spring. I’ve spent a lot of time in this town.”
“You could look for a job here,” she suggests. Am I imagining the sad note in her voice?
“Naw.” I turn off the ignition, stashing the keys in my coat pocket. “I love Ann Arbor, and it was a great place to go to school. But it’s not home.”
We walk into the restaurant, our shoulders bumping into each other. I want to take her hand—more than that, I want to be able to take her hand without thinking about it. Without worrying that it freaks her out or stresses her or makes her wonder if we’re going too far. It’s exhausting, having that shit at the back of my head all the time. It’s worth it, of course, if it means I get to be with her. But I wish it could be different.
“You okay?” she asks, once we’re seated in a high backed booth. “You got really quiet all of a sudden.”
“Sorry,” I say, forcing a smile onto my face. There’s no point in getting worked up about it—I knew what I was in for when we decided on our agreement. Besides, it’s been a great day and there’s no reason to ruin it with my worrying.
We order cheeseburgers and beer and Ellie asks me about Trevor and my friends at school. I tell her about living in the dorm my fres
hman year, how great it felt to be away from home and on my own, while at the same time how hard it was to be away from Jet when I knew he was having a rough time.
“Has it been easier?” she asks me, munching on a fry. “Now that he’s doing better?”
I nod as I chew. “Yeah. I mean, I still freak out sometimes when I see him drinking or when I know he’s seen his mom. Like, it feels tenuous, you know? Like it could all get screwed up for him so quickly.”
“Zoe’s not going to screw him over,” she tells me, her voice soft. She doesn’t sound defensive about her friend—it’s more like she’s trying to assure me, to comfort me.
“I know that,” I tell her. “It’s just…there are a lot of things that could screw him up.”
“None of which you can control.” She meets my eyes across the booth. “Let it go, remember?”
I smile, thinking of the tattoo still healing on my shin. “Let it go.”
“Fred?” I turn at the sound of the voice. Henry and Ian, two guys in my engineering class, are approaching our table. “Hey, man,” Ian says, reaching out to bump my fist. “What’s up? I haven’t seen you around town in ages.”
“Hey, guys.” I gesture at Ells. “This is my friend, Ellie. Ellie, this is Ian and Henry. They’re crazy enough to want to be engineers, too.”
Ellie smiles, giving my friends a wave. I watch as they assess her, their eyes clearly appreciative of her good looks.
“So how’s the internship going?” Henry asks, finally turning away from Ellie. I give them a few details, laughing as they tell me about the senior seminar the internship got me out of, and how pointless and boring it is. We agree to get lunch on campus later in the week and they head back to their table, saying goodbye to Ellie as they go.
“Sorry about that,” I say, returning to my burger. She takes a bite of her own, chewing thoughtfully. I notice that she’s watching me as I eat, an unreadable expression on her face. “What?” I finally ask.
“Nothing,” she says quickly, putting her burger down. She wipes her mouth and takes a long sip of her beer.
Escape With You Page 15
