In this moment, I feel in my bones he’s going to be fine. Telling his dad might be hard, and giving up baseball may be even harder, but he’s following his heart, and that’s all that really matters.
“I love you,” he whispers, “and I have something for you.” He pulls back and smiles.
My lips are raw in the best way. I know my hair is a mess, but I couldn’t care less. Todd’s hair is sticking up, and I try not to giggle at how carried away we just got. Then he turns around, and my heart stops when I see what he’s holding. There in his hand is his class ring with what looks like ten pounds of athletic tape wrapped around the bottom of it.
“I want you to have it.” He holds it out to me.
I can’t do anything; I just sit there motionless. I don’t think I could move if I tried.
“Is this a good shock or a bad shock?” he asks, trying to hide his smile.
I just look at him and then the ring, his eyes, the ring, eyes, ring, and I nod my head.
“Good, then?”
I still can’t say anything, so I smile as he grabs my hand, prying it open, and places the ring on my middle finger. With all of the tape wrapped around the band, it actually fits perfectly.
I shake my head in disbelief. “Thank you.”
“It looks good on you. Since we won’t be together for a few weeks, I wanted to give you something that reminded you how much I love you every time you look at it.” He gives me the warmest smile. “It looks almost as good as my jacket.” He pulls the jacket down so my arms slide out of it.
Before I know it, we both are undressing each other, and then we lie in Mark’s truck bed, surrounded by wool blankets underneath us and beautiful fall trees above us. Everything is crisp: the air, the sound of the fall leaves rustling, the wind lapping against the water’s surface. I hear it all, relishing in being wrapped in Todd’s arms.
He’s leaving soon. Too soon.
“Guess we’re going to be late for class.” He smiles down at me, making no effort to move.
“Guess so.”
“Let’s see”—he puts his hand out, palm up—“class?” Then he puts his other hand out as if he’s weighing something. “Or stay here?” Both of his hands go up and down, but “stay here” rises above the rest. “Oh, looks like stay here wins.”
I wrap the arm resting on his bare chest tighter around him and lean into him, nuzzling my face into the crook between his chin and shoulder. It’s like it was created especially for me. I love to breath in his scent, and it’s the perfect place to do that.
“Well, since we’re staying, let’s go swimming.”
“What? We need to get Mark’s truck back eventually, and you have practice. Coach won’t let you practice if you miss school.”
“Oh, but I didn’t miss. I was in homeroom, and so were you, remember? Come on.” His fingers intertwine with mine, and we both look down at the new foreign object now on my hand instead of his. The smile that forms on his lips will stay with me forever.
He raises his eyebrows. “It’s right where it should be,” he says, running his thumb over his ring.
“I love you.” I kiss him, biting his lower lip as I pull back.
Before I know it, the cool water is rushing around us. Luckily it’s not freezing since it’s been warmer than usual this year. There is some movement to the water, and now that we are in it, it’s not a lake; it’s more like a larger opening attached to a stream. It has a steady flow to it. Nothing scary, just creating some motion to the water as it splashes around us.
“Do you think we are allowed to actually swim in here?”
“Why not? We both know what we’re doing.” He pulls me closer. “You are on the swim team.” He gets even closer. “And I’m pretty sure I already saved your life once in the water.” He smiles and kisses me, pulling us both down so we are under the water, still kissing.
When we both break the surface again, my heart skips a beat at the beauty of his crystal blue gaze. I push the hair hanging in his eyes back to get it out of his face. He does the same for me, and our eyes lock. It feels like he can see right into my soul, unlike anyone else in this world. Then his eyes shift to my arms and his hands slide over them.
“Cold?”
“I’m good,” I answer, getting closer to him. “Just keep me warm.” I snuggle into him and lose all track of time.
We feel the sun beating on our faces as we float in the water, the coolness of the water kissing our skin as it moves around us. It’s just us, as it should be.
“How long do you think we’ve been in here?” he finally asks.
“No idea. But I don’t want it to end.”
“Me, either.” He kisses my head. “But I do need to get back for practice.” He locks his fingers with mine, and his eyes focus on his ring now on my hand. His smile makes my heart soar. Then he kisses me as deeply as I need him to, because this will be one of our last kisses for a while, and we both know it.
He pulls me toward land, and we both run for Mark’s truck as our skin retaliates against the cool air. We wrap ourselves in the wool blankets, since now that we are out of the water, we are both shivering.
Todd reaches for his phone to check the time. “Crap. We’ve gotta go. Practice starts in fifteen minutes.”
“I guess we officially missed the rest of school,” I say with a smile as I quickly pull my jeans back on. “How are you going to explain being wet when you get to practice?”
“I’ll figure something out.” He smiles as he pulls his shirt over his head.
“Luckily, if my mom asks, I can blame swim practice. She doesn’t need to know where I went swimming.” I give him a mischievous smile as we both jump back into Mark’s truck.
We can’t help laughing at how drenched we both are, but I don’t care what happens. I won’t ever trade these last three hours.
“I have twenty texts from Francis, asking if his truck is okay.” Todd laughs.
“Glad he cares so much about us.”
Todd’s fingers intertwine with mine as he starts to drive. I can’t stop looking at his ring.
“Thanks for this,” I say, lifting both our hands
He looks over and gives me his crooked smile. “You’re welcome.”
God, I love him.
Chapter 16: The Trip
TODD
We’re finally at Mt. Craymore. The boys and I have waited for this trip since we knew it existed freshman year, and thankfully, my parents didn’t try to kill this like they’ve killed everything else good in my life. I couldn’t wait to get away from everything. The only person I’m going to miss is Ashley.
I’m ready for college, but it all still feels so far away and so up in the air. The audition at Penn went well, I think. I have never been more nervous in my life. Playing at a packed pep rally is nothing compared to playing in an auditorium with only three people who don’t even crack a smile as they stare you down and jot notes in their little notebooks.
I did get an official verbal offer from Penn State, but nothing is truly official until signing day, so either one of us can still technically back out. Boston College is really interested, too. I try not to tell Ash too much because:
1.) Nothing is official
2.) I know, even though she tries to hide it, it really upsets her.
So much in my life feels like it’s undecided; everything except making it to state. That one is, unfortunately, decided.
I still replay that damn kick in my head every day. I’m not sure I will ever truly get over it. This trip is going to make up for all of that, though. This is our last trip together with all the guys before we go away to different schools.
Ryan has verbal offers from Notre Dame and NC State. Brian has at least three verbal offers, including Bama, which is also a school that has been courting MC, big time. MC has more offers than I can count. Penn is interested in all of us, but because there are other offers on the table, nothing is locked. I can’t imagine not being with the guys every day. Regardless, it could happen, so we need to make this trip count.