I climb off the bike and begin to
walk with it toward the edge of the water when movement to my right causes me
to turn. It’s a person, and I nearly jump.
“Kennedy?”
He stares at me with a surprised look
that must match mine. “Elijah? What…” I don’t complete the sentence. Words
aren’t necessary. We both know why. My eyes scan over his shoulder to his
rental car from this afternoon, backed into the woods and camouflaged by the trees.
On the ground in front of it is a blanket, a bottle of beer, a half-eaten
sandwich, and a book. Of course, a book. “I don’t want to disturb you…” I
mutter, feeling like an intruder. There are a thousand hidden roads outside of
town, but only one both Elijah and I claim, and I had to decide to visit this
one the same night he returned to town. What could this mean?
He hops to his feet, striding toward
me. He’s changed outfits, now sporting a comfortable aqua polo shirt and khaki
shorts. He’s barefoot, his sandals placed to the side of the blanket. His hazel
eyes lock on me, and I feel like I’m in a tractor beam of a spaceship, unable
to move. He reaches me in three long strides, a look of determination in his
body but vulnerability in his voice. “Please. Stay.”
I have no defense for his words.
Before I take another breath, he slips his hands into mine and doesn’t move. He
stares at me like I’m a dream—as if I’m a prize. No one has looked at me like
that in years. Surely this close, he must see the broken pieces in front of
him.
“I thought the sunset would be the
most beautiful thing I hoped to see this evening.” He squeezes my hand
slightly. “Once again, you’ve proven me wrong.” He leans in, and a woodsy and
citrus scent from a recent shower fill my nostrils. His words are so different,
so daring from the quiet boy years ago, yet the look remains the same. He’s
finally able to enunciate the words he’s always held back from me.
I close my eyes and prepare, hoping
he’ll reward me in our own special way. His warm lips land on the tip of my
nose. “Kiss you.” His voice catches as the words stretch to fill the silence.
I sway on my heels, his gentle pull
the only thing keeping me from falling. My eyes open, no longer surprised to
find his gaze locked on me, examining me. This is no longer the boy who backs
down, who walks away. His gaze lowers to my lips, which part with a soft
exhale. We are too close for the shadows to hide him mouthing the words oh my
god.
Help us both.
I’m not sure how exactly we fell into
this deadly greeting, but nothing in the world gets my heart beating like this.
Every single time. I feel like I’m on a tightrope walking a thin cable while a
storm whips around us. Every single time, I expect to fall. Every single time I
nearly do.
I end this torture by pressing my
lips to the tip of his nose. I linger longer than I ever have before, only the
burn in my calves causing me to lower. The bottom of my lower lip brushes
against the top of his upper one. A spark races through my body, and another
audible sigh escapes my mouth. “Kiss… you back.”
I avoid his gaze, landing on his
Adam’s apple as he takes a long gulp. “Like minds,” he says and juts his chin
toward his blanket. I follow him, our hands still intertwined as one.
Mason’s Trail was Elijah’s go-to spot
back in high school. At least twice a week, he’d hide out here away from the
world. The first time he brought me here was junior year. Getting to know
Elijah is a process. It takes a long while to earn his trust and for him to
lower his barriers, but once he does, you have a permanent place in his
fortress.
We’ve only been here together maybe a
dozen times in the final two years of high school, but I always think of this
place as our place, not his, not mine.
“I was out for a ride, and the bike
just turned down the road,” I say as we slip down to a large red-and-black
plaid blanket. My visit to the women’s center is just another secret I keep
from him.
He tilts his head in my direction, a sexy half smirk on his beautiful face. “Did you come for the sunset or me?”
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