I held my hands on either side of his square jaw, feeling the sharp bristle of new-to-him facial hair on my palms. “Thank you for the best birthday ever.”
His deep brown gaze met mine, and he relaxed into my touch. “I love you.”
Some would’ve said it was too soon to say those words. Sixteen, dating for approximately four months, and had only told our parents a month prior—when I no longer had rodeo-related reasons to come to the ranch, so we needed to explain why I was still there every day.
But I’d loved Denny Wells since the day he sat with me by the railroad tracks, only cemented by his sweet words and caring gestures since then. So it honestly felt like a long time coming.
“I love you, too, Denver.”
He kissed my nose, cocking a brow. “Denver? Younevercall me by my full name.”
“One time I read in aCosmoGirlissue that calling a guy by his full name—not a nickname—means you’re in love with him.”
By that measure, I should’ve called him Denver since day one. But when I read the article, I made a mental note to stop calling him Denny once we’d exchanged “I love you’s.”
He chuckled. “I’m not sure that makes sense, butyoucan call me anything you like.”
I tapped a finger against my chin, faking deep thoughts. “Even Capybara?”
“The hell is that?”
“The largest living rodent,” I stated, and was met by his fingers pinching my sides. I shrieked. “What? They’re cute!”
“Okay, anythingbutthat. I’m not a rodent. How did you—never mind, I know how your mind works. I don’t need to ask where Capybara came from.”
“I just have a constant list—”
“Of random crap running through your mind.”
“Exactly.” I kissed him just as Lucy yelled for us once again, so our arms fell to our sides and he followed me out of the room. “My brain is a bizarre place. Random thoughts freewheeling through my synapses, leaving no room for practical information.”
He kissed me at the top of the stairs. “But that’s why I love you.”
“Please never stop saying those words to me.” I kissed him one step down. And then each one after that. Until we were kissing on the bottom step, pressed against the railing, and Austin walked in to ruin the moment. His shoulder smacked into Denver’s, urging us to quit making out and continue on to have dinner with both of our families, complete with a birthday cake for me.
“I’ll tell you every day for the rest of my life,” Denver whispered, squeezing my hand as we practically floated into the kitchen.
“I’ll hold you to that,Denver.”
Denver
(sixteen years old)
I was waiting outside the barn, our horses already tacked up, when Blair hopped out of the truck at six a.m.
“What on Earth are you doing?” She laughed as she spoke, jogging down the driveway toward me. “The sun’s hardly up.”
“Exactly.” I beamed, bending slightly to kiss her. A hint of spearmint toothpaste still lingered on her tongue, and she wrapped her arms around my neck, kissing me deeper.
Finally coming up for air, her lips curved into a smile against mine. “What do you have planned for us?”
“Well, it’s the anniversary of our first kiss, in case you forgot.” I could never forget the date.
May twenty-sixth. A blessing and a curse. I wished I had kissed her a single day sooner, so the kiss wouldn’t be forever associated with finding out about Mom’s cancer. A diagnosis which quickly changed from “she’ll be fine after some treatment” to “we’re going to sign her up for trials because her body isn’t responding to conventional cancer treatment.”
Blair pulled my mind from the dark place with a single hand on my jaw, thumb rubbing across my bottom lip. “Hey. Let’s have a good day, okay?”
“That’s the plan. Let’s go, we have a long day ahead of us.”
