I press a kiss to her temple and her arms and legs squeeze me tighter. We sit like this a little while longer before I make a suggestion to check the time. She pulls her phone from her back pocket, lighting the screen and mutters shit.
“Must be late,” I assume. We have been here a while. Felt like hours. But when emotions are heightened, time has a tendency to not measure the same way clocks do.
“Almost two. We should go. We have to be at Honeymoon Island by ten. Somewhere in there, both of us need to sleep and eat and whatever else.”
I laugh at her slight state of panic. “It’ll be fine.” I stand us up, her legs tightening around my waist, arms circling my neck. “Let me walk you back to your car.”
After a few strides, she unhooks her ankles and drops her feet to the sand. Once she is upright, I weave my fingers with hers and we trudge through the powdery sand and back to her car. Every six or seven steps, I glance down at her and happiness floods my heart. Warmth and love and everything right in the world.
Fuck, I have missed her.
We reach her car ten minutes later. She offers to drive me the quarter mile back to my hotel, but I decline, wanting to walk back and reminisce over tonight. She slips into the driver’s seat, starts the car and rolls down the front windows. Her hair whips across her face and steals my view of her perfect, soft green irises.
Bending down, I tuck the strands behind her ear and relish the way she leans into my touch. “I’ll see you in the morning.” Fuck, I want to kiss her again. My thumb brushes over her lower lip and she shudders, eyes slipping shut. How easy would it be to kiss her right now? But I don’t. I won’t. From now on, she needs to lead me. She needs to let me know she wants this as much as I do. I cannot be the only one putting myself out there. The only one pressing for this. For us.
When her eyes open, they smolder and I feel it deep in my groin. “See you soon,” she mumbles, releasing a deep breath.
I step back from the window, internally cursing myself for not taking what I want. But I know I am doing the right thing. All good things come to those who wait. Right? She pulls out of the parking space, gives me a brief wave and drives down the road. Taking a chunk of me with her into the night.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Cora
Fourteen years ago
Thank God it is the last day of school. I have never really been one to not like school, in fact I have always been eager to be there. But I am counting down the minutes, psyched to have the summer off and spending more time with Gavin. This school year is one to go down as a year worth remembering. So much has happened, and it is unimaginable that I am dating my best friend.
Weekdays seem to snail along, with the exception of when Gavin and I are together. Most weeknights we study together. And by study, I mean finish homework between make-out sessions. Not that I have another person to compare it to, but Gavin really knows how to kiss a girl senseless. It is ironic we are both each other’s firsts. First real relationship. First kiss. Those two kisses before Gavin don’t count since neither guy knew what they were doing either.
Oftentimes, I wonder what other firsts we will share. Perhaps we will be the first people, besides our family, we say I love you to. Just thinking about him makes me want to scream it to the world. Let everyone know he belongs to me. And I belong to him. But I want to wait for the perfect time. To say the words to him when everything feels perfect.
Another first that has crossed my mind is sex. I know neither of us is quite ready yet.
We have been friends since the beginning of the school year, which turned into best friends within weeks. But we have only been girlfriend and boyfriend for six and a half months. Plus, we are only fifteen. Isn’t sex something you wait to do when you are closer to adulthood? At least that is what all the adults tell you. But who knows when it’s actually okay.
Any day now, it wouldn’t surprise me if Mom and Dad have “the talk” with me. The talk is just a load of crap they tell you so you will stay focused on whatever it is they want you to focus on. Parents think having sex equals not doing anything else in life. I wonder if my parents dreaded the infamous talk. By now, everyone the same age as me has had at least one or two sex-ed classes—we aren’t stupid. And we all have access to the internet.
But now… as I sit here in my English honors class, I’m not focused on the teacher—who yammers on about what books we should be reading over summer break. Nope. Instead, my mind swims with thoughts of me and Gavin and summer break and making out and sex. Anyone glancing my way would certainly notice the flush spreading along my face and neck.
From head to toe, I am hot. And it has
nothing to do with the stifling outdoor temperatures.
Sex isn’t a topic either of us has broached while together. But the thought has probably crossed his mind if it has crossed mine. How could it not? Don’t guys think about sex more often than girls? That is what everyone says. Is he sitting in class right now thinking about it? Probably not. Geometry and sex aren’t two subjects that pair well. Then again, I’m ignoring everything my teacher says and thinking about it. What’s to say Gavin isn’t doing the same. If I think about sex every other minute of the day, is Gavin constantly thinking about it?
Sex, sex, sex.
I shake my head, trying to clear my thoughts and catch Ms. Winters’ final thoughts on summer reading. “Everyone, be sure to pick up a copy of the summer reading list from my desk before you go,” she says a minute before the bell rings. “The sheet also has a few minor assignments you can earn extra credit on from your sophomore English teacher when school resumes.” Thank God everything she just told us is on paper.
The bell buzzes for the final time of my freshman year and cheers erupt from every classroom in the quad. Twenty-three of us rise from our desks, gather our belongings and head for the door. I grab a copy of the printout and wish Ms. Winters a happy summer break. She gives me a brief smile on my way to the door and returns the sentiment.
When I step out into the summer sun, I take a deep breath and tilt my chin to the sky, closing my eyes. I stand there a moment, hundreds of bodies moving around me like the running of the bulls. Summer fever is in the air and everyone is excited to not be here for months. Me included.
Strong, warm arms circle around my waist, tugging me back until I make contact with the body behind me. Gavin. I would know him anywhere. Even if I couldn’t see him, I would know he was there. That is just the connection we have with each other. An inexplicable bond fusing us together. Like a form of symbiosis.
I twist in his arms and turn enough to see his radiant smile in the sunlight. “Hey,” I say.
He kisses me sweetly on the lips before responding. “Hey. You ready to get out of here?”