He had a way of completely disarming me with his smile… It made me want to cast all my worries aside and run away with him. I mean, that’s what I was doing the next morning after all. So… maybe this wasn’t that big of a deal. Tomorrow would be the first day of my true independence. Tomorrow, we could fully be a “we”.
And… all my worries about us being older and different completely went out the window when Mike pinned up the design he would be drawing on Nick’s body on the wall beside him.
On that wall, in beautiful cursive, was written: Savannah… and Nick was getting it etched into his skin forever. When he looked back at me, it felt like there was a silent promise in hiseyes.
He promptly lifted his arm, and Mike got to work, drawing it on the inside of his bicep.
And that is how I ended up choosing to sit in that black seat after him, clutching Nick’s hand and nervously biting my lower lip to stop from laughing as #33 was drawn onto my hip in skinny black ink.
Later that night, we stumbled into my bedroom window, making out fiercely as we tore our clothes off each other like our lives depended on how fast we could do it…
He pulled us back so he could sit on the edge of my bed… I walked into him and stood between his legs. He looked up at me in awe as he trailed his hands down my body, leaving shivers in the wake of his fingertips, then pulled back my bandage a little to see my hip.
“That’s so fucking hot, babe,” he said, looking back up at me with fiery eyes.
He laid back in my bed then, and I climbed up to straddle his hips.
Seconds later, he was grabbing my hips, careful not to touch the still sensitive tattooed skin, and then we were rolling, switching places.
His eyes turned serious as he looked down at me in thedark.
“Do you want…?” he askedme.
I nodded quickly. “Yes…”
We laid there catching ourbreaths…
Completely wrapped up in each other.
Unreservedly in love with one another.
And marked forever for the other.
After that night, I knew why people waited for marriage to be intimate.
That ship had sailed for me, but… I understood it.
Because this kind of connection wasn’t meant to ever end…
It would hurt too bad if it did.
In my mind, there was no one else besides Nick Johns.
Then again, I wondered if all people felt this way in relationships or if we were just the lucky ones.
Maybe I just felt this way because we were meant to be together here at this moment.
It was fated.
24. Griff
In the morning I drove over to Sav’s to say goodbye to her and Nick.
School didn’t start back up for me for another week, so I was planning on staying and hanging out with Duke. I already found a couple of sticks-and-pucks times at the Ice League that we could hit up, and maybe we’d even get some food at Benny’s after. I figured hanging out might ease the blow of Sav leaving. That had to be hard for the little dude. She’d been his constant for years, always caring for him and taking him to practices and games… She was his biggest fan for most of his life… Now the little widow who lived down the street would be watching him most of the time. We met her a couple times, and she was always extremely nice… but she wasn’t Sav.
Savannah deserved to leave if she wanted to though. She deserved to start building her own life outside of here, and I resolved to make it easier for her if that’s what she wanted. I’d be happy to help her with anything, even if it hurt me to see…like how it hurt when she revealed her newtattoo…
She looked around to make sure Duke and her parents weren’t around before showingme…
