Chasing Ivy (Oak Hill 1)

“Okay…” I said.

“Four.” I pressed that button and then looked over at him. He took his fingers and drummed them along the peeling, leather steering wheel. “Two. Eight. Nine. Two.”

I quickly pressed the remaining numbers onto the key pad and then gasped.

I repeated the numbers in my head, like they were on a loop.

Zero. Four. Two. Eight. Nine. Two.

I slowly turned my head, driving my eyes right into the side of his head.

Then I repeated the numbers again: zero, four, two, eight, nine, two.

“How long has your password been that exact set of numbers?” I asked, voice barely above a whisper.

“It’s my password for everything. But for that phone? Since I got it.”

My heart strummed in my chest like a lone string being played on a guitar. His password was my birthday.

“I told you I never replaced you, Ivy. I never stopped thinking about you and I never stopped hoping you’d come home.”

Dawson turned his head to me, stopped at a stop sign on an old dirt road right on the outskirts of our little, country town. We stared into each other’s eyes for far too long. I had no idea what he was thinking, but the only thing I was thinking was how it felt like no time had passed between us at all.

Six years was a long time, but suddenly, just looking into Dawson’s eyes, knowing he still cared about me just as much as he did when we were teenagers, made our time apart seem like nothing.

We were wrong that night, so long ago.

Nothing had changed between us.

I still loved him just as much, if not more, and I was pretty sure he felt the same.

He was still Dawson, just an older, way hotter version, still with a huge heart that may or may not still have my name written all over it.

Chapter Twenty-Four

Dawson

“I cannot believe you talked me into this!” Ivy squealed, jumping out of my Camaro and slamming the door shut.

I laughed. “I can be very convincing.” I shot her my best grin and she just couldn’t help but smile, even if she was irritated with me.

“I don’t doubt that for even a second.”

Cicadas hummed in the background, no doubt lying helplessly in the hollows of all the tress that were surrounding us. The scent of cris

p, autumn leaves and cow manure wafted around us with help from the gusty breeze. An occasional “moo” from a cow sounded in the distance, which was basically the soundtrack to our little town.

“I wonder if kids still come up here to make out?” Ivy asked, gazing out toward the open field of tall grass.

“Oh, I’m almost positive. I think I heard Max saying something about him having to come up here a week or two ago to scare them off.”

Ivy’s sweet laughter filled the air. “I’m gonna ask Bec. I’m sure she’ll know all about it. Those two seem to hate each other but I have a hunch that something else is going on.”

My forehead furrowed as I thought back to the last time I saw them together. There was definitely something going on with them, and I was almost positive I knew what it was. I didn’t say anything to Ivy, though, I was sure Becca would fill her in… eventually.

I leaned against the side of my Camaro, crossing my arms over my chest, and watched as Ivy climbed on top of the hood. Her tight jeaned legs dangled off the bottom as she kicked her feet back and forth. She brushed back a curtain of thick hair over her shoulder and gazed up at the stars. Her jaw was so delicate looking, and I couldn’t help but let my eyes travel down the slope of her neck, all the way to the curves of her breasts.

The way she looked underneath the glow of the moon and stars made her appear like she was truly an angel. It honestly made it hard to breathe.