The branch is wide enough for me to comfortably sit without fear of falling. I perch in a straddle, my back against the trunk of the tree.
We have to whisper in hushed voices in case both our parents are still awake, especially since Jayson’s still grounded and isn’t supposed to leave the house for another three days. Jayson sits facing me and reaches into the side pocket of his shorts to take out a small remote. My eyebrows raise at him, and he smiles, then presses a button on the remote.
Hundreds of tiny white fairy lights come to life around us and start to intermediately blink and twinkle. I gasp, my hand coming up over my mouth in surprise. When did he do this? I’m filled with wonder for this boy, for all the ways he shows me he loves me, that I am special and precious to him. He truly does treat me like a princess.
“As a first date goes, how am I doing so far?”
“Oh, Jayson,” I breathe.
He’s not finished. He reaches into his other pocket and brings out a small item wrapped in tissue paper.
“This is for you.”
With shaking hands, I pull the tape off, being careful not to tear the tissue paper too much. I want to preserve it in a scrapbook, one I will make to commemorate all of Jayson and my firsts. I carefully pull back the last corner.Sitting inside the paper is a necklace. Not just any necklace. There’s a charm hanging from a thin leather cord. It’s the rose quartz heart Jayson found in the creek and gave me when we were younger. I’ll have to ask him later how he stole it from my rock jar without me noticing, but at the moment I am too in awe of the gift to care.
“I hope you like it. Jamie helped me make it.”
He sounds nervous and unsure.
There are no words I can say to him to express how I feel right now, and a simple thank you isn’t enough, so I lean forward for him to place the necklace around my neck before murmuring against his lips.
“I love it.”
Then I kiss him. I pour everything into the kiss, everything I want to tell him, show him.
“I think as first dates go, you knocked it out of the park. And you are so definitely telling me later how you were able to do all of this without me noticing, but for now, I just want you to hold me.”
He feathers his nose across my cheek. “I can do that.”
Jayson stands up on the tree branch and has me skootch forward away from the trunk before settling down behind me. He pulls me back against him and envelops me within his strong arms. For the rest of our date, he holds me like that, my head laying back against his shoulder, and we talk amongst the starry fairy light universe the boy I love made just for me.
Chapter 9
Julien
I was worried about the beach trip our families were taking together. Things have been tense between Jay and Ry, which is to be expected. I’m proud of my brother for stepping up and going to Ryder to apologize. I still don’t agree with what he did regarding Liz, but I’m glad they are putting their personal issues aside to be there for her. I see how hard it is for Ryder to watch Liz and Jay together, see them kissing or touching. They both have been working hard to be respectful around him and keep the PDA to a bare minimum when he’s around. Sometimes, it’s hard to do, for instance, times like this.
We’ve been out on the beach all day, boogie boarding, swimming, playing volleyball. Heck, we even made a kick-ass sandcastle. It’s midafternoon and we have two days left before we head back home. We’re staying to watch the big fireworks extravaganza tomorrow night and then plan to leave the beach house the following morning. I join our parents under the shade canopy to grab a bite to eat. Ry takes a bag of chips out of one of the coolers and joins me.
Jay and Liz have broken off from our group and are leisurely walking hand in hand down the beach toward the end of the barrier island where the sound meets the sea. I can hear Liz’s tinkling laughter as Jay picks her up and throws her over his shoulder racing into the waves. She screams, “Jayson Patrick Jameson!” before he launches them both under the water. Without looking over, I know Ry’s watching them and I feel for him. Unrequited love and heartbreak are two emotions I’m becoming very familiar with.
“Want to toss the football?” I ask him. I try to distract him as often as I can hoping it helps take his mind off my brother and Liz.
“Nah, man. I’m good. I think I’m going to head on in and take a shower.”
“Want some company?” He punches my arm. “Not like that shithead,” I clarify, and he barks out a laugh.
“I know what you mean. Still funny though.” He pops a chip into his mouth, looks over to where Jay and Liz are in the distance. They are wrapped around each other bobbing up and down in the water, her arms circling his shoulders.
He sighs. “I need a break. I’ll probably walk over to the pool hall and play a few rounds. Want to join me there later?”
“I can do that.” We fist bump.
“Catch ya later then,” he calls out and walks back toward the beach access that leads to the house.
It’s dark on the beach as I sit looking out over the water, a cool land breeze blowing from behind, when I hear footsteps in the sand approaching me.
“Hey you,” Liz says and sits down beside me, tilting her head to lean against my shoulder, her presence exactly what I need right now.
