Hold the Forevers

“Excuse me.” I jerked her to a stop before the chapel. “You have been dating for a week, and I never got a phone call?”

“I knew you were coming up, and I wasn’t sure if it was anything, but he’s coming to the party tonight. I thought I could introduce you there. I didn’t get to meet Cole for a whole month!”

“Fine, fine.” I waved her away. “I’m glad you’re happy, and I can’t wait to meet him.”

Marley prattled on about the inimitable Samar, who I truly was dying to meet. Mars had never been a big dater in high school. She had been too smart for all the high school boys. It was good to see her finding someone of her intellectual equal here at Duke.

To my utter shock, Marley had rushed a sorority. They were different at Duke than at Georgia, but still, she was the last person I’d expected to do that. So, we headed back to her sorority house to grab dinner and then go to a house party. After we changed, one of Marley’s sorority sisters dropped us off outside of a house just off of campus. It was already slammed with people.

“You said most people lived on campus.”

“They do. Mostly just fourth years live off campus,” Marley said as she took my hand and pulled me inside.

We went straight for the keg on the back patio and procured beers. We dipped back into the living room, and I danced to the music blasting from speakers. Marley went in search of Samar. I nodded at her, waving her away. I could handle myself at a party. I finished off my beer quickly, wanting to hit my buzz. After another ten minutes when Mars hadn’t returned, I gave up and went to get another drink.

I barely took a step when a figure materialized out of my past.

I froze. He froze.

“Lila?” Ash said over the music.

I opened my mouth and then closed it. I hadn’t seen Ash Talmadge since high school graduation more than a year earlier. Part of me wished that I could say he had no effect on me. That I shrugged him off and went back to the party. But that would be a lie.

Ash Talmadge was my first love. My first everything. My heart stuttered at the sight of him. Dressed all preppy with that look of shock on his too-gorgeous face. The brown hair that he’d shorn shorter than normal and the chiseled jaw with a hint of stubble growing in. He was my Ash. And yet … he wasn’t … couldn’t be anymore.

I stepped backward.

“What are you doing here?” he asked.

I’d known he’d be here. At Duke, of course. It was his only option. I’d thought about the fact that he would be here when I visited Marley, but she’d assured me it was a big campus. The likelihood of running into him was low. But there were no coincidences between me and Ash.

“I’m here for Marley.”

He held his hand to his ear and shrugged to show he couldn’t hear me. Then he nodded his head toward outside. I wasn’t going to go. I definitely, absolutely wasn’t going to go, but my feet followed him anyway.

We stepped out into the relative quiet of the backyard after the cacophony of the party. My ears were ringing.

“Hey,” I said, crossing my arms over my chest.

“Lila Greer at Duke. Who would have guessed?”

“I’m visiting Marley.”

“That makes sense.”

“I choreographed a sideline routine for the dance team.”

I didn’t know why I was still talking. There was no reason to still be talking.

“So talented.”

I gritted my teeth and looked away. “I didn’t think I’d run into you.”

“I can tell that.” He stepped back into my line of sight. “I tried to see you this summer when we were both home.”

“I got your messages.”

“And you’re still mad at me?”

“Should I not be mad at you?”

He frowned. “No, that’s fair.”

“Marley is probably looking for me.”

“I saw you were dating someone,” Ash said before I could traipse off.

“So?” I challenged.

“Y’all were down at the riverfront this summer.”

I startled at his words. “Were you spying on me?”

He laughed, and something warm settled in my stomach at the sound. I’d always loved his laugh. The way it vibrated through me.

“Savannah is a small place; you know that. I was running an errand for my dad. You didn’t see me.”

“Still working for daddy, I see.”

He clenched his jaw. “I don’t want to argue with you, Lila.”

“Too late,” I said, turning to stride back inside, but he grabbed my elbow to stop me.

“Hey, I don’t want things to be like this with us. I know that I fucked up, okay? But you’re the only person who ever knew me. Please, Dee,” he said softly, “I don’t want to lose you forever.”

“You don’t get to call me Dee. Only my mom does.”