“Greenridge starts a week earlier than Kensington.” I held out my hand. “Come here.”
She shook her head. “I can’t.”
I felt as if she’d just stuck a knife in my chest. “Why not?”
She pouted. “Because I won’t let go.”
I wrapped my arms around her anyway. “We’ll talk on the phone. We’ll text all the time, and we can even FaceTime. You know, we might be doing just that anyway when we go to college.”
She tensed against me. “I thought we had one more year before we went our separate ways.”
“Maybe we’ll both get accepted to the same college,” I said, unsure of myself.
She gave me one of her shy and sexy smiles. Man, she looked like a farm goddess. Strands of her hair were wild around her face, her nose was red, her cheeks were flushed, and her cleavage was on display in her ratty V-neck tank top. “Maybe. You know, we should have sex before you go.”
I choked.
She eased away. “What? You don’t want to?”
My mouth instantly went bone dry. “Fuck yeah.”
“So what’s with the panicked look?”
“I get the feeling you want to have sex because I’m leaving. I don’t want to rush into it. Sex is a big step for both of us, Quinn.”
She twisted her lips. “I know. I still have to talk to my mom about the pill anyway.”
That was another reason she hadn’t been ready to take the plunge.
I stepped closer to her. “So we’re good?”
She stuck out her tongue at me, her shyness bleeding through the redness in her cheeks. “Yes.”
I heaved a sigh, even though it was going to be excruciatingly difficult to say goodbye to her.
My sweaty skin trapped pieces of my hair to my neck and forehead. The weather for late August was disgustingly humid. We didn’t have air conditioning, so the nights had been unbearable. Momma and I had found ourselves on the front porch, lying on one of two swings, which both had comfy cushions and pillows, hoping to catch a cool breeze on most nights, but none came. Daddy and my brothers didn’t seem to mind and slept through the heat.
I was ready for ten feet of snow and subzero temperatures. The heat coupled with Maiken leaving for Greenridge had me irritated and antsy beyond belief.
He’d been gone for four long days, and I couldn’t stop crying. I couldn’t sleep, and I couldn’t even eat. Celia had tried to cheer me up, but nothing was working. It hadn’t even helped when Daddy lifted my punishment.
Things around me were changing, and I didn’t like it one bit. I’d lost my boyfriend to a private school. Liam had left for NC State the day before, and Carter was returning to Boston in a matter of minutes. Then I would be the only one at home.
Momma had cried last night and again that morning when Liam hugged her before getting into the car with Daddy. I even cried as we waved when they drove away.
“I’m not sure I’ll survive when you leave next year,” Momma had said. “I’m losing all my babies. The house feels empty already.”
I rocked on the porch swing, staring out at Carter’s beat-up truck, wondering what Maiken was doing at that moment. His classes had started the day before, and he hardly had time for much with schoolwork and practice.
The screen door creaked open. “Quinn.” Momma still sounded sad. “Why don’t you help me with dinner?”
Blinking, I tore my gaze away from the chipped red paint of Carter’s truck and regarded Momma. “I’m not hungry.”
She wiped her hands on her apron, giving me a pitiful look. “Have you called Maiken?”
“We texted.” No amount of texts or phone calls would erase the pain I felt or the loneliness setting in. “Momma, what if I never see him again? What if Maiken doesn’t want to go out with me anymore? What if he finds another girlfriend there?”
She smoothed a hand over her dark-brown hair as she sat on the edge of the swing next to me. “Oh, honey. If the love between you two is strong, then no one can break that bond, not even another girl.”
