Hold the Forevers

“I enjoy classic literature, thank you.”

“Then, yes, I’m Amy. And my sisters would probably say, I’m the emotional, bratty younger sister,” I said with an eye roll. “But I’ve had to live without them a lot, and that side of me only comes out when I’m with them now.”

He arched a brow. “Does that make me your Laurie?”

“I don’t know. Did you propose to my sister recently?”

“Should I have led with that?” he joked, tugging me off of the ice and back to our bench.

“Probably. What’s your family like?”

“Only child. It’s pretty quiet.”

I wondered what that was like. Even when I felt alone with my mom, I was never alone like that.

“Do you want a drink or something?” he asked, changing the subject again as soon as it focused on him.

“Yes, but let me get it. You got the tickets.”

He opened his mouth to object, but I was already going through our locker to find some cash. Then I strode over to the vending machine.

Ash followed me. “You don’t have to do that.”

“It’s the least I can do. This has been so much fun.”

“I’m glad you’re having a good time.”

I fed the machine with the dollars I’d scrounged out of the bottom of my purse and pressed the button for a Coke. My Coke tumbled noisily into the bottom of the machine.

“What do you want?” I asked him.

But then there was another clink and another drink dropped out.

“Hey!” Ash cried. “Did you get lucky?”

“Oh my God! This happened to me last week at school. I can’t believe this.” I dipped my hand into the machine and pulled out two Cokes. “Two for one. Hope you like Coke.”

“What kind of monster doesn’t like Coke?”

I laughed and popped open my drink. The nerves I’d had earlier in the evening had disappeared. The longer I spent with Ash, the more I wanted it to be a real date. He wasn’t what I’d been expecting. He didn’t seem like the typical pretentious Holy Cross student. He didn’t strut around like he was the star quarterback. I wasn’t sure what to make of him, but I wanted to find out more.

We finished up skating and Ash took my hand as we left.

“Do you want to walk down to the riverfront?” he asked.

“You want to walk?”

From Oglethorpe down to River Street was probably a mile in the dark. I’d walked all of those roads a million times, but I hadn’t expected him to want to walk when we had his Mercedes.

“Yeah. The weather isn’t as bad as last night. We could stop at Leopold’s for ice cream on the way.”

“Far be it from me to turn down ice cream.”

I expected him to release my hand, but he laced our fingers together as we strolled under weeping willows and down the brick-lined streets of our home. Leopold’s was slammed; it always was. We waited in line for scoops of ice cream and then strode down the scarily steep stairs that led to Savannah’s most famous street sitting on the Savannah River.

We meandered the crowded street, finishing off our cones and darting into the confectionary stores, admiring the sugar workers handling the caramel and fudge. Alcohol was legal to drink on the streets on the riverfront, and we had to dodge one too many drunken party groups with giant slushy daquiris. We stopped right before the tunnel as a cop held up traffic on both sides to allow a couple to take wedding pictures down the middle of the street.

“Wow,” I whispered. “That dress is something.”

“I can’t believe they’re holding up traffic.”

“Tell me about it.”

We took the opportunity to cross the cobbled street to the river and sank onto a bench overlooking the water. Ash casually slung an arm around my shoulders. No awkwardness and no one was punched. Smooth. He drew me a little closer, and I tucked myself right into his side. Something clicked into place. Today had been pure magic. And I couldn’t imagine being anywhere else in the world.

“Lila?” he whispered.

I tilted my head to look up at him from under my lashes. My heart was skittering in my chest. The rest of me frozen in place. His eyes roamed my face, lingering on my lips and then back to my wide eyes.

“Yes?”

He didn’t use words. His hands slid into my hair the color of his name and drew me to him. Our lips met with all the sugary sweetness of our ice cream. That first touch sent a slow-burning fire rushing through my body. Any remaining chill dissipated in the wake of that first touch.

He withdrew to check where I was with the kiss. My eyes fluttered back open and looked up at him as I was heady with desire from the power of that one brush of his lips. Then he took my mouth for his own. His tongue swept in, caressing mine and swirling it around almost playfully. A soft groan left my lips as he dragged his teeth along my bottom lip.