Me: Heard you were arguing with some dude. What gives?
I wait for her response. Nothing.
Me: Hales. Answer me.
Still nothing.
Beth and Celeste wait patiently for me. I give up on Hailey and say bye to the girls, get more hugs, and then head out to find Jayson. He’s right where I left him talking with Henry.
“There’s my girl,” he smiles, sliding an arm around my waist. “Catch ya later, man.” Henry pats Jayson on the back, nods at me, and walks off to the other SRO.
“Hailey bailed on us.”
Jayson shrugs, not really caring one way or the other. Groups of people stream by us either heading to the exit or going inside to use the restrooms. I guess the game is over.
“Let’s go wait for Jules and then it’s party time.” We saunter across the crushed slate of the parking lot to Jayson’s truck. We get stopped several times by guys who want to talk to Jayson. I could care less about football stats, so I leave and pop the tailgate down on his truck and sit to wait for Julien.
Jayson comes to stand between my dangling legs and sits down on the edge of the tailgate, grabbing my thighs. “Sorry about that babe.” He leans back into me and turns his head to nip my lower jaw and I place a kiss to the tip of his nose.
While we wait for Julien to come out, we sit quietly, and I spend the time running my hands over the expanse of his muscular shoulders and down his arms. I love how his body feels, so hard and strong and smooth. Jayson leans back a bit further and I wrap my arms under his armpits to clasp his chest. He makes a low humming noise of contentment, the vibrations tickling my fingertips.
“I’ve been thinking,” he tells me in a low murmur. He shifts slightly so he can gaze up at me. “Wherever we go for college, I want us to move in together. Find some place off campus just for the two of us. What do you think?”
I cock a brow at him. “And you’ve been thinking about this a lot, have you?”
“Well, yeah. You and me and the rest of our lives. College will be our first real chance for it just to be about us. I know Jules and Ryder will be there too, but it’ll be different, you know? You, me, our own space we don’t have to share.”
“No more climbing through my window,” I tease even though the thought of losing that makes me a bit sad. I have all these wonderful, precious memories of growing up next door to him and Julien, of our tree, our tree fort, my swing, my paper stars. How will I be able to leave home and not be heartbroken from missing those memories? I have to remind myself that no matter where we go or where we end up, Jayson, Julien, and Ryder will give me new memories just as special. It’s still scary to grow up. I don’t think I’m ready.
Jayson reaches back to touch my cheek and the contact breaks me out of my thoughts. “You are my forever, Liz. I want us to make a life together.”
Before I can respond, Julien jogs over, hair damp from the shower he must have taken after the game. “Mind if we grab something on the way, ‘cause I’m starving.”
I unwrap myself from Jayson and leap off the tailgate into Julien’s arms knowing he’ll catch me. “You did so good! Blew the scouts away no doubt.” Julien keeps me locked in his arms. I can tell something is up by the ear to ear grin plastered across his face. He turns us to face Jayson.
“That’s why I'm late coming out. I got an offer.”
“Holy shit! Are you serious?” Jayson jumps off the back of the truck.
“Full ride to CU if I want it.”
Jayson lunges for his brother and I get squished between two very enthusiastic men. “Holy shit! That’s so fucking awesome. We need to tell Mom and Dad.”
“Guys,” I laugh, “put me down. I can’t breathe.”
Julien releases me into Jayson’s arms. I’m not going to complain.
“They’ll send everything over to coach next week, and coach wants Mom and Dad to join us for the meeting. Honestly, if everything looks good, I think I’ll go ahead and accept. I don’t care what other offers I get. CU has been my dream, so why wait, you know?”
“Julien, I’m over the moon for you,” I congratulate him. Jayson deposits me into the passenger seat of his truck and grabs Julien in a tight hug. “So fucking proud of you man. I love you brother.”
“Thanks, Jay. Now, let’s go celebrate.”
“Couldn’t ask for a better night to party.” The party tonight is at Curtis Mathews’s house. He’s on the swim team with Jayson so I’ve been to his place before. His family owns a small plot of land near Mr. Jacoby’s farm. After the nightmare that was Fallon’s last party, I’ve avoided all parties and this will be my first one since then.
Me: Game’s over. We r heading over to Curtis’s now. What’s ur ETA?
Ryder: OMW.
