So when he offered to pick her up and take her to Angel and Adam’s for Sunday afternoon football, she actually didn’t think twice before she accepted. Their relationship had slowly but surely moved outside of the club and she was enjoying it.

The air was crisp, but it was a nice enough day that she waited for him on the steps of her apartment building rather than inside. It really didn’t have anything to do with not wanting him up near her space, although the thought had occurred to her too. Hopefully, he wouldn’t see it that way.

The grin he gave her when his car pulled up and she came skipping down the steps towards the passenger door said he didn’t think twice about it. “So,” he said as she got in and pulled the door shut. “Are you ready for some football?”

Ellie laughed and pointed to the Redskins jersey she was wearing. The number on it had sequins sewn on and it was not an official jersey. She’d gotten it at Victoria’s Secret. “Don’t I look ready?”

“I can’t tell if Hilary and Jessica are going to love your jersey or find it sacrilegious,” he said, shaking his head as he pulled out of the parking lot. Reaching over, he slid his fingers through hers, her hand settling naturally into his. At this point, being with him and not holding hands felt unnatural.

They’d come a long way from this time last year when she’d been avoiding him at the club.

“Why sacrilegious?”

“Because it’s sparkly, not a real jersey, and they’re weirdly serious about football.”

Michael’s statement turned out to be a bit of an understatement. Compared to him, she kind of figured anyone could be called serious about football, but he had not been exaggerating. Any impression Ellie had ever had of Jessica being quiet or Hilary being a total prude went right out the window listening to the stream of curses, orders, and screaming demands which were hurled at the television. And that was only the first ten minutes of the game.

She and Michael fled back upstairs to where the more sane members of society were hanging out in the kitchen, eating Justin’s snacks as they came out of the oven. The cook in question looked up to see them emerging from the basement and laughed.

“Loud, aren’t they?” he asked, dark eyes sparkling with mirth. Sitting across from him at the kitchen bar were Olivia, Rick, and Maria, all of them far more interested in Justin’s cooking than in the game downstairs.

“And I always thought Angel was bad,” Michael joked as he and Ellie joined the others at the kitchen bar, watching Justin deftly slice herbs and then sprinkle them on top of the bruschetta he was making.