Always Mine (Coming Home To The Grove 1)

His remark bugs me a little, but I do feel bad that I fell asleep on him like I did. I’m really not feeling any sparks between us, but going out with him means I won’t be home and at Trent’s mercy.

“I’d love to have dinner with you, Bradley,” I say.

“Great, I can’t wait,” Bradley says and leans in to kiss me, but I turn my face slightly, and he kisses my cheek. “I just know you’re gonna make it up to me the way you fell asleep on me last time.”

Wow, no pressure there.

I’m not ready to go home just yet, so I buy the day-old bread and go to the lake to feed the ducks and geese. I get out to the walking bridge and start to toss big chunks of bread out into the water. Even here, the memories hit me hard. This used to be the place Trent and I would come after school all the time. We would ride our bikes, stop at the store, and the baker always gave us some day-old bread. We would spend hours at the lake talking about our future.

I sit on the bench watching the ducks, and it isn’t long before an old memory comes to mind.

Trent and me at this very spot but instead of on the bench we were laying on the blanket I had brought with me. This was after graduation and only a few days before his parents’ death. I was feeding the ducks, and he was looking at me, staring until I finally took the bait.

“What is it, Trent? Why are you staring?” I asked him. I remember that I wiped my nose, hoping I didn’t have anything hanging out of it.

He was still, not making a move, just sitting next to me, turned to face me. “You’re so beautiful.”

“Stop!” I said, laughing, smacking my hand playfully across his chest. “You don’t have to sweeten me up, you know. I’ll kiss you whenever you want.”

He caught both my hands in his, and I looked up into his solemn face. He wasn’t laughing. “I mean it, Lacy. Sometimes I look at you, and I think I could just look at you forever.”

The smile dropped from my face. “Trent, stop. I’m plain, I’m too—" I started to say “average” before he stopped me, pulling me until I was lying over top of him.

“You’re not plain. You’re the most beautiful woman I’ve ever known.”

Still uncomfortable with the compliments, I jested, “Yeah, well, you are from the small Hicksville town of Forest Grove.”

But he still didn’t laugh. “Stop. I’m serious. I love you, Lacy.”

I couldn’t not smile then. We’d said it before plenty of times to each other, but this felt different. “I love you too, Trent.”

He kissed me softly before wrapping his arms around me and holding me close. We were quiet for so long, just enjoying being with each other and watching the ducks.

“Do you think we’ll always be together? Forever?” I asked him.

“Yes. I have no doubt.” He squeezed me tightly. “I’m never letting you go.”

And because I couldn’t resist another second, I kissed him, putting my heart into that kiss. It wasn’t long before we were both undressed making love. We were young. Anyone could have come up on us but we didn’t care. We were too consumed by each other to worry about anyone else.

I remember how it felt, wanting him so bad, but he kept drawing it out, feasting on every part of my body.

When he finally took me, entering me slowly, it was only then I was satisfied. He filled me up completely, in more ways than one. And when I was close, I couldn’t be quiet and it’s like he knew it was coming. He knew I was going to start hollering his name in ecstasy, so he covered my mouth with his, swallowing my moans as he sent me over the edge.

Afterwards, he was worried, and dressed me quickly, worried that someone would come by. But as soon as we were both decent, we lay there in each other’s arms for the longest time, just happy to be together.

I wipe a tear from my face. That was one of my favorite memories because I can still remember how he made me feel that day. If someone had asked me, I would have sworn that I would always be with Trent Keller. But it was all a lie. Only a week later, he was breaking up with me.

Oblivious to the footsteps on the bridge, I don’t realize that Trent is walking up to me until he’s sitting down beside me. I should have known I should have gone somewhere that we hadn’t spent a lot of time at. Of course, I’m finding out that there’s not a lot of places in Forest Grove where Trent and I didn’t hang out. Even the movies the other night with Bradley brought back memories. That was one of our favorite pastimes. We spent a lot of time at the Grove Cinema growing up, at first with our parents and once we started high school, we went on our own. Our first kiss was at that theater.