I grab my guitar, threading the flowers through the strings at the top of the fretboard. “I’d love some ice cream.”
And time alone with you in your daddy’s F150.
Rust takes my hand, his touch sending a jolt of electricity through me. The truck is parked behind the house and he opens the passenger door for me. My belly flip-flops as I drop on the bench seat and put my guitar upright in thefootwell.
Ain’t this door opening business what the guys do in romance movies? No, I shouldn’t read into it.
Rust jogs around the truck and jumps in the driver’s seat. He puts the key in the ignition, making the motor rumble to life. I subtly shift closer until our arms brush.
He turns to me, his brown eyes radiating warmth. “Are you scared of the storm?”
I laugh through the ache behind my ribs. “Just very hungry for ice cream.”
The ice creamdoesn’t survive the drive to our favorite lookout spot above the town, a mountainside at the border of the McAllister property.
The clouds break open while Rust parks the truck. Heavy rain drums on the roof. It’s so loud I can barely hear Brooks & Dunn on the radio and the curtain of water obscures the view of the creek and the town center beyond.
But I don’t care about the sights. And though I love Brooks & Dunn, I don’t care about the music right now.
I care about the glint in Rust’s eyes as he takes off his hat and leaves it on the dashboard.
He closes the distance between us. When his pinky tangles with mine on the seat, my heart trips. I swear there’s heat in his expression I never noticed before and it makes my face catch fire, too.
“Tally…” He says my name so quietly, I think I imagined it. “There’s something I’ve been meanin’ to talk to you about.”
My mind jumps to the worst-case scenario. “You’re moving away again?” I squeak.
Rust strokes over my frizzy hair. “I ain’t goin’ nowhere. Not until we drive to Nashville in two years.”
Surprise washes through me. We never talked about the silly promise he made the night we met.
“That wasn’t a joke?” I ask in disbelief.
He slings a hand across the back of my neck, his calloused working palm rough against my skin. “Nope. You’re stuck with me. I like it here in Redbird Creek, but if you wanna leave, we’ll leave together.”
A nervous giggle escapes me. He’d leave his family to follow me?
“Then what did you want to talk about?” I ask.
“You know you’re my best friend, right?”
I nod. “And you’re mine.”
A tremble runs through his fingers as they tighten slightly on the nape of my neck. He presses his forehead against mine and his breath skates over my lips.
“You’re the most important person in the world to me, Trouble. Our friendship means everything to me, but I can’t continue to sit by and wait until another guy steals your heart. I can’t let you be my almost.”
Did I fall asleep on the porch swing and this is a dream?
He grasps my chin between two digits. “Damn, I practiced this a hundred times in the mirror but I’m no poet. So I’m just gonna say how I feel.”
Lightning flashes and I think I’m going to faint. Is this really happening?
“I love you,” he says, voice shaking. “To be precise, I’ve loved you since the moment we locked eyes for the first time. Will you go out with me?”
A crack of thunder splits the sky.
“Why did you never say anything?” I ask.
