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“Congresswoman.”
Rory chuckled. “Not even surprised. See you guys at rehearsal?”
They nodded as Rory shuffled away from the table, a line already forming behind her as students picked up their yearbooks. She climbed the stairs up to her locker, the noises getting progressively louder as students broke off from their final morning classes before lunch, last-day excitement ringing in the hallways. Rory opened her locker and grabbed her notebooks, discarded pencils, gym clothes, and folders, stuffing them into a box.
She felt a warm pair of arms brush up against her sides, grabbing the box in her hands. “Here, let me help you,” he said.
Rory smirked. “Looking for any excuse to touch me, huh?”
“Can you blame me after waiting ten years?” Tyler whispered in her ear, kissing her cheek.
She smiled, closing her empty locker as she turned to face him. He placed her box on the floor and tugged on her shirt, closing the distance between them. She lifted a hand to his chest, tracing Rutgers in bold letters across the center.
“Nice shirt,” she said.
He shook his head. “No, you can’t have this one.”
She pouted. “Why not?”
“Ry, you already stole three of my tees and two of my sweatshirts, not counting the sweatshirt I bought you.”
“But that one’s not as big as yours.” She frowned. “Plus, won’t you get all kinds of free stuff when you start playing with the team?”
“Yeah but—”
She swatted his arm. “No buts, the girlfriend of a football player gets full rights to his entire wardrobe.”
His shoulders melted at her use of girlfriend. “Fine, you win.”
“Did you think I wouldn’t?” she teased, leaning in to give him a peck on the lips. Before she could pull back, he caught the back of her neck and let the kiss linger, a satisfied moan rumbling from his chest.
“Alright, alright, we get it, you’re into each other,” Blake said as he walked up with Melanie beside him.
Rory pushed back, tracing a finger down Tyler’s chest. “Come on, Blake, we only get a month before Ty leaves us for camp and we have to do this long-distance thing.”
“Which probably means the two of you are going to be insufferable at work this summer,” Blake replied. “Mel, you should have Calvin set a rule that these two can’t come within three feet of each other at Scoops.”
Rory balked. “You’re saying that to Melanie. She and Calvin pretty much invented workplace PDA.”
Melanie blushed. “Shut up.”
“We’ll be polite…when people are around,” Tyler said, squeezing Rory’s side and kissing her cheek again.
“Gross,” Blake bantered, a smile on his face.
“All seniors please report to the football field in fifteen minutes for graduation rehearsal,” said a voice on the intercom.
“Wow,” Melanie breathed. “It’s really happening.”
Rory reached for Melanie’s hands. “We did it.”
“I don’t know what I’m going to do without you guys next year,” Blake grumbled.
“We’re literally going to live in town,” Rory jested. “We’ll still hang out all the time.”
Melanie smiled, tears in her eyes as she glanced between him and Rory. “Promise?”
Rory squeezed her hands. “Always.”
