I Never Let You Go (I Never 3)

The blush on her skin and the fire in her eyes tells me that my girl has no problem with that idea.

“You didn’t mind the distraction while you were in the shower this morning.”

Oh, if only she knew how much my balls were screaming at me for walking away from her. I press a kiss to her lips. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

Lauren follows me to the door but doesn’t walk outside.

“Hey, Finn.” I spin around just before reaching my car and see her leaning against the door with a dreamy look in her eyes. “For the record, I’ve always been yours.”

And I hers. Tomorrow is going to be the best second first date in the history of first dates. I had my work cut out for me, and I have just the idea as to whose help I needed.

Me: I’ll pick you up at 7. Dress warm. Love you.

Those were the only details I gave her about my grand plan tonight no matter how many times she tried to bribe me with sexual favors. I came, no pun intended, close to caving but held my ground.

I’m lying on a blanket on the fifty-yard line just like we had all those years ago. We may be moving forward but I wanted to bring us here tonight to remind us of where we’ve come from, and all we’ve been through to get us here.

On the way here, we stopped at a local sushi spot and picked up an assortment of things.

“I can’t believe you eat this stuff now.” Lauren smiles as she feeds me a piece of eel nigiri.

“More like, I can’t believe there was a time when I didn’t.” If I knew how intimate feeding each other sushi was, I would have started eating it a long time ago. Especially as I watch Lauren try to fit the larger rolls in her mouth. Even I’ll admit some of these are a mouthful.

“So what made you finally give it a try?” she asks, popping a piece of ginger into her mouth.

I sit back with my palm on the ground behind me. “After you and I broke up, I kind of lost myself. I didn’t enjoy cooking anymore, it brought up too many memories of being in the kitchen with you. And I definitely didn’t make our meatballs until recently.” She sets her chopsticks down and watches me intently as I continue. “Courtney was a terrible cook—”

“I doubt she was any worse than Haylee,” she mutters under her breath but loud enough for me to hear.

“—and with mine and Jax’s long hours, we got to know lots of the takeout places. I got tired of eating Italian and Chinese, and Courtney suggested we try the new sushi joint that had just opened up down the street from our building. And I went, even though I figured I would just be ordering a pizza on the ride home. But turns out, I rather enjoyed it.”

“But how did they get you to eat it?” She resumes eating the roll in front of her.

I chuckle. “Jax actually paid me $50 to eat a piece.”

“Ahh, so rewarding you in sexual favors wouldn’t work, I needed to offer cash,” Lauren teases with a devilish smile on her face.

My eyes pop open. “Woah, when did you ever offer sexual favors in exchange for me eating sushi?” I definitely would have tried it way earlier than twenty-four.

Lauren shrugs and winks, picking up the last piece of spicy tuna and feeding it to me. My shoulders relax at how delicious it is.

“There was this one time that Jax and I even competed in a spicy-tuna-roll challenge. We had to eat ten spicy tuna rolls, each one upping the heat level. I tapped out on roll number five—and I love spicy food—but oh shit, Jax made it to roll ten. He was so proud of himself, but boy did he get sick after that. Courtney was pissed because they were supposed to leave the next morning to go to her best friend’s wedding, but he was stuck at home all day. So, I ended up taking care of him while she was gone.”

“Sounds like Jax was lucky to have you.”

I shake my head. “Nah, more like I was lucky to have him.”

After finishing just about all of our dinner, I gathered up our trash and dumped it in the trash can near the bleachers before joining Lauren back on the blanket.

As I retake my seat, she is staring at me with her head tilted to the side. “You amaze me, Finn Reynolds. I can’t believe you brought me here of all places. But you sure we’re not going to get in trouble for trespassing?” Lauren looks around cautiously. I wrap my arm around her waist, pulling her back to my chest. We’ve already been here an hour without anyone stopping us. I love that she is always worried.

“No, Coach Wilson retired , but Coach Burke is now in charge. And I reached o

ut to him and got permission and had his help setting this all up. You know, some of my best memories are here.” I look around the stadium, leaning back on my palms. “All of them include a moment with you. I fell in love with my best friend here, and here we are, sixteen years later, back right where we started—same place, same spot, same boy and girl. In all my life, I’ve only ever loved exactly one person. You.”

“Damn,” she sniffs and shifts in my arms. “Baby, you have quite the way with words. You are giving any book boyfriend I have ever read a run for their money.”

Oh, she has no idea. I plan to set the bar pretty high compared to those fictional characters.