NOAH
In a tent set up in Shirley and Dale’s backyard, Echo lay on her stomach studying a huge map of the United States. Because of the warm April night, she’d pulled her shirt up a few inches to expose her skin. At least that was the reason she gave when her fingers inched the material of her blue tank away from the small of her back. Personally, I think she did it to drive me insane.
“Sorry,” Echo said. “I’m not an ocean kind of girl. Birds and sand and seaweed. ” She shivered and stuck out her tongue. “Not my scene, but we can go there if you want. ”
A week ago, I’d held her hand in the hospital and wondered if she’d ever come back to me. Tonight, I watched her in complete awe. Echo was here and she was mine. Sitting beside her, I traced patterns on the exposed skin of her back. “I’ll go wherever you want, baby. ”
The light from the old camping lantern the two of us bought flickered and she raised an I-told-you-so eyebrow. Echo was not a fan of the treasures that could be found at Goodwill, nor was she a fan of sleeping outdoors. But she’d promised to give camping a shot on our trip this summer.
“The tent’s in good shape,” I said to prove my point. “It would have cost us a hell of a lot more at a real store. ”
“If you say so. ” She moved her finger west of Kentucky. “I want to see snow-capped mountains. ”
I brushed her curls away, bent down and kissed the nape of her neck, loving how her muscles relaxed as she leaned into me. I whispered into her ear, “Then that’s what we’ll see. ”
“Noah,” she moaned in equal parts pleasure and reprimand. “How am I supposed to schedule appointments with art galleries if I never plan where we’re going?”
Her sweet smell drove my body higher as I nibbled on the edge of her earlobe. “I’m not stopping you. You plan. I’ll kiss. ”
Echo turned her head to look at me over her shoulder. My siren became a temptress with that seductive smile on her lips. A mistake on her part. I caressed her cheek and kissed those soft lips.
I expected her to shy away. We’d been playing this game for over an hour: she plotted while I teased. Leaving for the summer was important to her and she was important to me. But instead of the quick peck I’d anticipated, she moved her lips against mine. A burning heat warmed my blood.
It was a slow kiss at first—all I meant it to be, but then Echo touched me. Her hands on my face, in my hair. And then she angled her body to mine. Warmth, enticing pressure on all the right parts, and Echo’s lips on mine—fireworks.
She became my world. Filling my senses so that all I felt and saw and tasted was her. Kisses and touches and whispered words of love and when my hand skimmed down the curve of her waist and paused on the hem of her jeans my body screamed to continue, but my mind knew it was time to stop.
With a sigh, I moved my lips once more against hers before shifting and pulling her body to my side. “I’m in love with you. ”
Echo settled her head in the crook of my arm as her fingertips lazily touched my face. “I know. I love you, too. ”
“I’m sorry I didn’t say it sooner. ” If I had, then maybe we never would have been apart.
“It’s okay,” she murmured. “We’re together now and that’s all that matters. ”
I kissed her forehead and she snuggled closer to me. The world felt strange. For the first time in my life, I wasn’t fighting someone or something. My brothers were safe. Echo knew the truth. Soon, I’d be free from high school and foster care. Hopefully, I’d be admitted on late acceptance to college. Contentment and happiness were unfamiliar emotions, but ones I could learn to live with.
“Do you mind?” she asked in a small voice that indicated nerves. “That we’re taking it slow?”
“No. ” And it was the truth. Happiness and contentment were going to be a little harder for her than for me. Echo, Ashley and her dad had reached a new understanding, but old habits were tough to break, especially when they all lived in the same house. A new baby didn’t help the stress level. Echo’s therapy sessions had increased instead of decreased. Regaining the memory and the confrontation with her mom had created a whole new set of issues, but ones Echo felt she could deal with as long as she had Mrs. Collins.
Everything in her life was in flux and she needed strong, steady and stable. Oddly, she found those three things in me. Who would ever have guessed I’d be the reliable sort? “Besides, taking it slow creates buildup. I like anticipation. ”
Her body rocked with silent giggles and my lips turned up. I loved making her happy.
“And you’re sure you want to leave your brothers and you swear you won’t lose your job?”
She’d asked those two questions a million times this past week, but I understood her fear. She didn’t want me to end up full of regret. “They’re closing the Malt and Burger for a month in July for renovations and my boss thinks a vacation would be good for me. As for my brothers …” I paused. “I need the space. It’s hard flipping off the switch. Maybe if I go away for a while I won’t feel like they’re my sole responsibility. ”
She propped herself up on her elbows and tilted her head. Those beautiful green eyes searched mine. “You’re sure?”
“One thousand percent. ”
The smile I loved so much graced her face. “Then we’re going west. ”
NOAH
“When are you coming back?” Jacob asked. We sat in the tree house in Carrie and Joe’s backyard the day after graduation. Carrie and Joe had made a large dinner in celebration and told me to invite my friends. I’d brought Echo, Isaiah and a very sober Beth.