Page 51 of Drop Pass

“Of course. I’ll call when I have an update.”

“Me too.”

She ended the call and looked at me. “Things are moving so much faster than I could have hoped.”

I nodded. “Thank you.”

Her eyes softened. I wanted to kiss her more than anything in this moment, but the crowd around us kept me from leaning in. She was my angel.

“Why don’t you go rest?”

I shook my head. I might not be helping as much as everyone else, but I couldn’t sleep while my friends and teammates worked.

She rubbed my shoulder. “Can I get you anything to eat?”

I was hungry, but felt guilty doing anything to make myself feel better when Yula was sick. She was probably in pain and scared. I could handle a little hunger.

“No.”

She frowned for a moment but nodded. “I got a reply from John. He said he’s submitting your application for permanent residency. I let Madi and Coach know. Maybe the governor can have that expedited so if we need to, we can apply to sponsor your family. We’ve got to try all angles.”

I loved how she said ‘we’. As of today, we were a team. Not everyone in this room, me and her.

I liked it more than I should.

“Thank you.”

She smiled and I caved. I leaned forward and pressed a kiss to the corner of her mouth.

She gasped and I moved back to see her reaction. “Nikolay…”

I ran my thumb along her cheek. “I’m sorry it took me hitting rock bottom to see you. I promise, I’m not saying this because of how much you’ve helped or because I’m upset. I’ve been fighting it for months, since I first met you, you’re the most beautiful woman inside and out and I’m tired of fighting this.”

She seemed confused. “Why have you been fighting it?”

“I didn’t think I could focus on the team, and helping my family, and you. I thought one of the three would suffer and I couldn’t let any of them. I didn’t want to let you down. You deserve so much more than I can offer you.”

Her smile grew and I held back from kissing her again. “So, what changed?”

“You just showed me we can be stronger together.”

She nodded. “It’s about time.”

“I know, Elena. I’m sorry I didn’t see it sooner. I’ve been so afraid that at any moment all of this could end. I thought I had to put everything into the team, but that’s only made me think about you more.”

She laughed. “I know the feeling. The more I told myself to move on the more I thought about you.”

“When things settle down, will you go on a date with me?”

Her eyes sparkled and I felt proud I’d done that.

“Of course.”

I smiled as she leaned in and kissed me. It was much more chaste than the kiss in the hall, but it still earned some cheers and whoops. We broke apart and she looked around, blushing.

“Finally!” Erik shouted and I glared at him. “Oh please. We’ve been waiting for this since the day she moved in. Took you long enough.”

Everyone seemed to agree as they laughed or clapped. It was a relief to have this out in the open. We’d been tip toeing around each other for weeks.