Instead, I’m staring into Caleb’s eyes and trying to remember all the reasons that we don’t work.
And we don’t. We won’t. We can’t. Our personalities are opposite. Our lives couldn’t be more different. I have a ten-year plan and Caleb doesn’t figure into it.
But when he smiles at me, it’s easy to forget all that.
“I’ve missed you, Lucy Vivian,” he says, threading our fingers together.
I roll my eyes at his ridiculous middle name game.
“What? You’re not gonna say it?” he teases. “You’re not going to admit you missed me? Not going to admit that you can’t live without my jokes? That life is a lot more boring without me in it?”
“You definitely keep things interesting,” I say, loving the feel of his hand in mine.
We’re at the far end of the house, right by the deck and the pool. He squeezes my hand a little tighter as we walk past. There’s a party raging all around, but neither one of us is paying any attention to the chaos.
“Where are you taking me?” I ask, and it feels like we’ve been in this situation before.
“Looks like we don’t have too many options,” he says. “But I know one thing, Lucy, I’m not ready to let you go tonight. We can head out of here, grab something to eat? We can head to my place? It’s totally up to you, but I’m not ready to let you go again.”
I look around, and then back up at him. If I’m being honest with myself, I’m not ready to let him go again either. And yet, I know how this ends. “I’m leaving in the morning. Flying back to Wisconsin. Classes don’t start for a week, but I like to get settled in. So…”
“So…tonight? We can just hang out, talk, whatever you like. You set the agenda.”
I laugh. “Now you’re just sweet-talking me.”
“Gotta use what I can. Come on,” he leads me forward through the crowd and we end up at the pool house. I’m looking around anxiously, convinced Cait or Clay or their parents will catch us, but Caleb knocks on the door, turns the knob, and opens it up. It’s empty, so we walk in. Caleb sits on the couch, leaving plenty of room for me.
But before I join him, I turn the lock.
He quirks a brow, and I smile. “Maybe I don’t want to be interrupted.”
He shrugs and smiles back. “Fair enough.”
I’m alone in a room with Caleb Whitman. We’re adults. He’s gorgeous. There’s a logical conclusion to those statements, but first I feel like I have to be clear. “I meant what I said out there. I’m heading back to school, my schedule’s crazy. I can’t...commit to anything. You haven’t asked for commitment, but I’m just being honest.”
“Lay it on me, Lucy.”
I blush. “I’m just saying, the opportunity seems to have presented itself. And I…”
“You want to jump my bones.”
I smack his arm. I love our banter, and that we’ve fallen so easily back into it, but I still feel like we need to lay out some guidelines. “I…enjoy your company,” I admit.
“Is company a euphemism for—”
I scooch right next to him. “I have a proposition: I want to be with you tonight. Just tonight. It will be the goodbye we never had, you know? The chances of us seeing each other again are slim to none, but there’s chemistry between us. History, too. So, I say we give in to this attraction. What do you think?”
“I think I’ll never say no to you.”
* * *
Whit
I’m half naked on a stranger’s couch with Lucy.
And I’m not complaining.
She’s even more beautiful than she was four years ago, if that’s possible. Her body is impossibly curvier, her mouth even sassier. Fuck me. If I didn’t love her before, I’m a lost cause now.
