I Hate Football Players 3 | 18+

Chapter 10: Ellie

One embarrassing air mattress purchased, one extremely comfortable sofa discovered and purchased, a ton of meal prep from Mom, and a few tear-filled goodbyes later, my parents left with my mattress still strapped onto the hood of their car.

Goodbyes with my parents were always bittersweet. On one hand, they'd always be my parents and I loved them, despite their annoying overprotectiveness. A slight 'shit, I'm on my own now' fear surfaced briefly, which like usual was washed over by the small sigh of relief that always escaped me last. This year, I was especially relieved they'd stayed largely quiet about my new roommate.

Guess time will tell if they're really on team Logan.

After their minivan drove around the apartment building's corner, I dropped my raised hand and marched upstairs. Logan's wet hair and a faint sense of humidity in the air told me he'd showered, but fortunately he was dressed.

"Come on." I waved for him to follow me and walked right down the hall to Wes and Charlie's apartment. I hadn't checked but assumed from the heavy footsteps that Logan followed behind me.

"You've got some serious explaining to do," I blurted out as soon as the hallway door opened and revealed Charlie's pretty face. I only lasted about ten seconds before a smile split open my pretend angry face.

"Ellie!" She flung it all the way open then squeezed her strong, toned arms around me. Once she pulled back, her blue eyes lifted over my shoulder and she stated the obvious, "Oh you... brought the big guy."

"Let's rip the bandaid off at once," I muttered, squeezed past Charlie, then landed my gaze on my third suspected conspirator. "Hey Wes."

"Ellie," he said slowly and scratched one hand over the rough stubble on his chin, a move that I knew meant he was nervous. "Glad you, uhh... made it here."

He should be nervous.

"Sit." I pointed at their small, soft gray sectional that I was envious of. "All three of you."

My hands squeezed my upper arms tightly while I stood between Wes' ridiculously large TV and Charlie's soft gray sofa and waited until all three were seated. Once three pairs of eyes traded short glances at me then dropped to anywhere else when I looked back, I started right away.

"So... Anyone have anything they'd like to fess up?" My question produced three slightly guilty expressions, although the gleam in Logan's eyes and slight upwards curl of his lips was a bit distracting.

Focus Ellie. They planned behind my back, stay mad.

"Yeah." Wes frowned. "LT, I ate the rest of the food you left here. I'd say sorry but... I'm not."

Logan just laughed in response and replied, "And I ate all your cereal this morning, Wes."

"Bottomless stomachs aside..." I clapped one hand over my forehead and sighed. "Nothing related to infringements on my living situation?"

My question was met with pindrop-quiet silence. Not even a cricket chirped from those three.

"Anything?" No one made a peep, so I squeezed one side of my mouth into my cheek and pressed, "Let's play a little round of confession then... where I ask a question and one of you tells me the answer."

Directly or indirectly, both work.

Wes' large hand shot up. "Question."

I knew what he had in mind and shook my head. "No pleading the fifth."

After Wes silently lowered his hand and rested it on Charlie's nearby thigh, I looked between all three of their expressions. "Who's idea was switching roommates, really?"