“This is incredible. I don’t even know what to say,” Ellie murmured, lying on her side and propping herself up on one elbow. Her gaze swept over the scene, full of wonder and something softer.
“You don’t have to say anything,” I said gently, sitting up and reaching into the basket. I pulled out two champagne flutes, handing one to her before keeping mine.
“You did all of this… for me?” Her voice drifted off, the words tender and fragile.
She didn’t fully understand it yet, but I’d do anything for her. A blanket on the beach? That was just the beginning.
Nerves twisted through me like a slow, tightening knot. I wanted to tell her everything—how I felt, how I loved her. How I’dalwaysloved her. Since we were kids. Since those round cheeks and that crooked little smile first burned themselves into my memory. But I didn’t want to scare her off. This moment was too important. I had to find the right balance between saying enough and saying too much.
“I, uh…” I started, fumbling.
Turning the champagne bottle away from us, I popped the cork. It shot into the air with a loudpop, echoing across the beach. I poured a glass for her first, then for me, licking a few drops from the rim before setting the bottle aside.
“You what?” she asked, amusement and curiosity dancing in her voice.
I took a breath and shifted so I was facing her, lying on my side. Our knees brushed over the blanket.
“I really like you, El.”
The words felt too small for what I meant, but they were a start.
She didn’t flinch. Didn’t look away. Just held my gaze with quiet steadiness, like she was giving me space to say more.
“I may have had a crush on you for… well, the last fifteen years,” I said, exhaling. “I never found the right time to tell you. I didn’t even know if this was the right time, but then we kissed earlier and…” I looked away, running my finger slowly around the rim of my flute to calm the ache of nerves now growing in my chest.
“Huh,” she said softly.
I froze.
Thathuhsent my stomach spiraling. It wasn’t a no. But it wasn’t a yes, either. My shirt suddenly felt like it was sticking tomy back, like every insecurity I’d ever had was shouting at me all at once.
“A crush? For fifteen years?” she asked. I nodded, hesitant, stealing a glance at her. She was staring toward the horizon, out over the ocean.
Calling it acrushfelt safer. It was the ground floor, when what I was really standing on was something so much deeper. But it was a place to start.
“I’ve always thought you were beautiful,” I added, my voice quieter. “And me being… well,me, I just didn’t have the balls to say anything.”
“Until now,” she said, finishing for me.
“Until now,” I echoed.
I looked down, my thoughts spiraling. Was the kiss earlier just a fluke? Was I reading too much into this? Had I waited too long?
Then her hand came up and covered mine, stilling my anxious circling of the glass. Her fingers were warm, grounding. My eyes lifted to hers.
“Logan,” she whispered, and smiled.
Soft. Sweet. A smile that told me maybe I wasn’t completely crazy.
“I know with everything going on, telling you I was into you even a little bit wasn’t the best.”
“No way,” Ellie laughed, shaking her head, but her hand remained over mine. “It was great timing. And you planned this to tell me that?”
I gave a small shrug and bit down on my bottom lip. “Kind of. I wanted you to feel special. And, selfishly, I took the moment to tell you how I felt.”
She squeezed my hand and brought it to her chest, pressing my palm over her heart. I could feel the grounded rhythm beneath my skin.
“My heart is full,” she whispered. “I feel pretty damn lucky right now. Not just for this—” she looked around at the blanket, the champagne, the fading sun—“but for you. You dropped everything to make sure I was okay. You took me on a spontaneous road trip just to help clear my head. You gave me space to breathe, to figure out what I needed before I potentially made a choice I couldn’t come back from.”
