by AJ Matthews
Leslie had been too good for him then, and she still was, which is likely why she didn't think trying to stay together in college was worth the hassle.
“I can’t expect you to understand.” He dropped the cup into the sand.
“Did you buy it?” Jerome’s voice lowered to a whisper.
‘It,' was an engagement ring, and unfortunately he had asked his dad to help him two days before she'd dropped the bomb.
Blowing out a deep breath, he leaned his head back, letting his head drop over the chair. "Of course I fucking did."
“You gonna give it a shot anyway? See if you can’t sway her?”
"I don't think there's any reason too. Leslie was pretty clear that this summer was just an excuse not to be alone." He snorted and stood up. "I see no reason to bring myself down any further."
“So you returned it?”
“Of course I didn’t fucking return it. You don’t just return those things.”
“You sure can. Plus, your family’s so damn rich they probably don’t even miss – what, three thousand?”
Jerome had seen the ring when Kenner had initially started looking, and he was pretty spot on with the cost, and the fact that his dad – oil tycoon that he was – didn’t give a damn when his son asked for the money. He didn’t even object to his eighteen-year-old son proposing to a girl far below them economically. In fact, when he’d talked to him about what Leslie had wanted yesterday, his dad had pointed out the family business didn’t need a degree and that women like Leslie didn’t fall for boys like him with honest intentions twice.
Before he could answer wet arms slipped around his neck, and he felt Leslie drop a kiss on his cheek. He tensed, unsure of how much she'd heard.
“What am I missing over here?” She teased, dropping down and sitting cross-legged on her red and white striped towel. Looking up at him she patted the towel next to her.
Jerome smirked as Kenner sat on the towel. “Just boy talk.”
“Oh well, I suppose that boy talk is just going to have to wait.” Her head dropped onto his shoulder. “I’m stealing time with him.”
His brain was screaming to pull away from her, but no part of him was able to untangle himself from her. You’ll never be able to. Even if she marries some big shot New York businessman, she’ll always own a piece of you. Not even that bitter thought made him want to move away from her. He had so little time with her, he wasn’t going to waste any of it. Out of habit, or maybe it was instinct, his arm wrapped around her. She settled against him as effortlessly as the clasp of a necklace fit together.
Because we fit together.
"Leslie?" He dropped a kiss on the top of her hair, noticing the ever familiar scent of her lavender shampoo.
“Kenner,” she teased back as if nothing had changed between them.
And maybe nothing had. It had been just over twenty hours since she'd stopped him seconds before he'd gotten down on one knee and proposed to her. While everything had changed for him, it was likely that nothing had for Leslie. One just didn't plot the end of a relationship overnight after all.
“I know part of the request was that we don’t speak of it, but you blindsided me.”
There was no mistaking the way her body tensed against his, but she didn’t lift her head from his chest.
"Kenner, there's nothing to talk about. College is about one thing and only one thing: education. Neither of us will study properly if we're always adding or subtracting three hours so we can call the other." She did sit up then and fixed her glittering gaze on his. "You're going to be a lawyer, Kenner. That's a big deal. You need to focus."
A strange anger bubbled up from what felt like the bottom of his feet. Up and up it surged through him until he bolted up from the towel, sand flying every which way as he did.
“So this is my doing then?” he spat the words far louder than he should have, but he didn’t give a damn who looked at them. His body shook with anger at the way she spoke – as if she were doing him some grand help by ditching him to go and play in California.
Leslie pulled back as if he'd slapped her, pain dancing across her face even as her lip fought to not tremble; whether from anger or hurt, he wasn't certain. He'd never been the cause of her tears before, and it nearly crippled him to watch them blossom in her eyes.
She said nothing, only stared up at him from where she sat on the stripped towel. The sun blazed suddenly behind her, almost wiping her from his view and it was fairly poetic. The bright glare made it impossible to tell if she was crying or furious.
“I did this for us both, so we’d both have the best chance at success. We knew when we applied to our dream schools that if we got in, we’d have a hurdle. Well, I removed the hurdle because I’ve watched the long distance thing with my sister and it didn’t work for her.”
“So you’re basing it off that?”
"I'm not having this conversation again, Kenner. This was supposed to be a summer of fun and no strings – a final goodbye to the high school us that has no place in college. Obviously, it wasn't the best idea, and I'm sorry I wanted to hold on just a little longer."
The sun picked that moment to stop the startling glow, and he could see her cheeks flaring in anger, but couldn't tell if the wetness on her cheeks was leftover from playing in the water or from tears.
He wanted to go to her. To tell her it wasn't a stupid idea, but it was. "This is like dating someone dying. We both know there's nothing to invest and no reason to continue." Just saying the words was hard, but he knew he couldn't continue on with the insanity of the situation. Young or not, he loved Leslie, and he wasn't going to play games for the sake of not being lonely.
"Fine," she spat and sent sand flying as she snapped the towel up once she was fully standing. “I wish you all the best in California, Kenner. Do me a favor and warn me when you’re coming out this summer – I’ll be certain to stay away.”
Sand flew from her steps as she stalked off, the towel flapping behind her despite the lack of a breeze. He could hear her muttering something under her breath, and every muscle in his body twitched with the urge to go after her. Yet, he didn't move, only turned is gaze from the love of his life to the crashing of the waves.
Chapter Three
Staring at the home screen on her phone wasn't going to produce different results. It had been just over a week since the blowout with Kenner, and he hadn't called or texted – not that she had either. They'd rarely fought though, and when they had, even if he wasn't apologizing, he'd always reached out to get them past it.
“Not this time,” she muttered, tossing her phone onto the bed.
When she’d talked with her parents about what to do with her relationship the answer had been so obvious. However, now it didn’t feel as black and white. A part of her was missing without Kenner, and if this was how it felt being near him, she worried being far away was only going to intensify it. Being without him didn’t seem like as much of a solution as it had before.
Snatching her phone off the bed, she started the call without hesitation. The ringing only served to put her on edge, sending her foot tapping on the carpeted floor of her bedroom.
"Leslie?" Kenner sounded shocked as if he thought it was someone else using her phone.
“Yes.”
“Is everything all right? Do you need help?” Concern radiated from his questions.
“I didn’t mean to worry you. For the most part, everything is fine.”
She paused, expecting him to fill the silence with something – anything – but he didn’t speak.
"Kenner, I'm sorry." The words rushed out on a breath. "I love you, and I might have made a mistake."
“Is this you apologizing for storming off at the beach, or for the idea that we should just date for fun until late August?”
With a sigh, she plopped onto her bed. She wasn't sorry about the beach, not when he'd said the hurtful words first, but if it were a way to soften the situation, then it wouldn't kill her to act
like it. He'd most likely done the same thing to end previous arguments in the past three years.
“Everything. I don’t know what the best answer is for us, but I know that this past week has been a miserable look into how college could feel if we stop seeing one another just because I said it sounded like the right plan.”
Kenner let out a sigh on the other end, one she could only hope was of relief.
“What are you proposing now?”
That was the million dollar question. She had watched her sister's long distance relationship as a working adult fall apart. Kenner was off to be some big shot lawyer, and she was headed to one of the best cinematography colleges in the country. So which is the bigger distraction? Missing him because he’s gone, or missing him because you aren’t in his arms?
“Can we just see where summer takes us? For now?”
“I think that is the most mature idea you’ve had on the subject.” Playfulness rang in his tone.
“Want to go for some apology ice cream? On me, I know you had to quit work to start summer reading, but working at the movies is practically summer assignment heaven for me.”
“I’ll be there in twenty. I love you, Leslie.”
“I love you, Kenner.”
Saying the words felt right. It didn't matter that Kenner hung up immediately after when she still wanted to hear his voice. They'd made the best of a horrible situation and only time would tell how they were going to handle the end of summer, the beginning of college or the rest of their lives.
“It’s Kenner!” Leslie shouted, grabbing her clutch off the desk before heading to the front door after the doorbell chimed. “I’ll be back before dinner.”
“Honey, didn’t you two . . . break up?” Her mom’s brow was furrowed as she wiped her hands on her apron.
“It’s a long story, Mom. We were wrong to try and end things because it was the practical thing other people told us we should do. For now, we’re just doing us.”
Her mom smiled, but the worry lines in her forehead remained.
Leslie knew her parents loved Kenner, and she'd probably have to play twenty questions later, but for now all that mattered was seeing Kenner.
Opening the front door to reveal him standing there, casual as ever, nearly took her breath away. Everything was as it always was – his short blond hair was slightly spiked up, his brown eyes seemed to smile with life, and his sharp cheekbones still made her weak in the knees.
“Hi there, beautiful.” He grinned at her.
"Kenner," she closed the space between them by grabbing his shirt collar and tugging him to her. Pressing her mouth to his, she shuddered as the tingles raced from her head to her toes.
If he was shocked by her actions, he didn’t show it. His arms wrapped around her, palms pressing into her lower back, and his mouth moved over hers with a greedy need before he slid his tongue along the seam of her lips and slipped his tongue inside.
Her heart raced faster than it ever had from his touch, but she knew why. She hadn’t imagined a life without kissing him and living it had sucked.
With a cough Kenner pulled back, eyes lit with sexual attraction. “If we don’t stop that we’re not going to make it to ice cream and I’m fairly certain sex in the back of my BMW in mid daylight isn’t the best idea.
She chuckled, a raspy laugh that was heavy with her desire for him. “And sex in my house, with my mom home,” she shook her head, “so not going to happen.”
He released his grip on her and took a step back. "I believe we have an ice cream date waiting for us." He slipped his hand into hers, and they began to head down the front steps.
As always, he opened the passenger door for her and waited until she had buckled up to close the door and get in himself.
“Have I ever told you how much of a gentleman you are?”
“Often – but never when we have sex.” He winked at her and turned the car on. “Though I’m fairly certain you don’t mind that one bit.”
She shuddered from the quick thought of riding him, and her body still primed and ready from their hello kiss that she had to bite her lower lip not to groan. Kenner was the only boy she’d ever been with, but that didn’t bother her because they’d always seemed to fit together.
"Are we making the right choice?" she turned to look at him as he pulled headed out of the sub-development to the main road.
He put his hand out, palm up, for her to take. Once she did, he started talking.
“The moment I saw you, I knew you were the girl for me. And you know what? You said yes to date a guy you knew from about five minutes of talking before class started. I think that makes us a pretty damn good match.”
She smiled and thought back to the first day they'd met. A girl she'd met on the bus, Melanie, had flagged her down for lunch and when she'd asked about a good looking guy named Kenner, the whole group of girls gasped. It turned out he was something of a legend between his good looks, brains, rich family and ability to dunk a basketball. There had been some very envious comments, and she'd almost canceled.
“I never told you this, but I almost canceled when I learned you were something of a hometown hero.”
"Well, I'm pretty fucking glad you didn't then. Though, I would have kept on bothering you until you let me take you out anyway."
“Yes, persistent like your father. I noticed that the minute I met them at dinner the first time.”
He shrugged but kept his attention on the road. "You don't snag the hottest oil well in the area by being nice."
“Funny considering you are such a good guy.”
He did look away from the road for a moment then and smiled at her. “Manners and respect were kind of a big thing when I was growing up – so was knowing my place.”
“Which is why you wanted to break out, I know. I understand why you’re going someplace away from his company, and I do think you’ll make a damned good lawyer because you do have your father’s tenacity. I just don’t think I realized how hard it would be when we both accepted schools so far away.”
"We'll figure it out." With a squeeze of his hand, he smiled as he looked out the window. "But for now, it's ice cream time."
Looking away from him she was shocked they’d made it to Baskin Robin’s so quick. Not that she lived far, but the conversation hadn’t seemed to take up five minutes of time.
“Well, looks like someone else wanted a cool treat too,” she pointed at Jerome’s Civic.
“Which means I’ll bet he didn’t come alone since he didn’t ask me and that boy does nothing without his wing man.” Kenner grinned before hopping out of the car.
She allowed him to help her in, but never out. She didn’t want to him feel obligated to be a gentleman all the time – eighteen was too young for that sort of stuffiness, but she wouldn’t pretend like it didn’t make her feel loved when he did.
Kenner was busy typing something on his phone, so she walked to the door without him, loving the frigid chill that raced out to greet her. Jerome was sitting at the tiny table near the back wall with two others – Jackson and Carter.
“Have room for two more?” She grinned, grabbing the pink metal chair from the next table and cramming it next to Jackson’s.
“Well if it isn’t miss soon to be Hollywood director.” Jerome teased. “Glad to hear you and Kenner figured out how dumb you were being.”
“Nothing is sacred,” she laughed and headed over to the counter.
“Grab me my usual,” Kenner called from the door. “It’s my dad, I’ve got to take this.”
“Hi, how can I help you?”
“One mint chocolate chip sundae and one Oreo cookie shake.”
“You can pay right down there, we’ll call you when it’s ready.”
“Thanks,” she grabbed a bunch of napkins and the standard pink plastic spoons and turned just in time to bump into Kenner.
“I’ll pay. You sit. I might not be working with my dad right now, but I think I can handle the cost.”
“So, Jerome, when’s camp start? Jackie mentioned cheer was any day now.” She dropped into the seat and utterly interrupted their conversation about who was going to be drafted first. “I mean, can’t really be a draft pick if you haven’t started yet.”
Kenner set down a cup piled high with whipped cream in front of her. “Ouch, buddy looks like you won’t make it onto the A-list at any fancy parties if you don’t start impressing Leslie.”
Jerome snorted. “Yeah, yeah. We already know that she’s going to direct the biggest blockbuster ever because she’s got some magic powers that make everyone do her bidding.”
Grinning around a mouthful of whipped cream she nodded. “I can’t help it if all you southern boys can’t resist dark hair and light eyes.”
“You’re forgetting a killer body,” Carter joked, lifting his hands in defense as Kenner glared at him.
“Yes well,” she swallowed a scoopful of freezing mint chocolate ice cream. “If that’s what it take to make my way to the top I for one have no problem playing the damsel in distress.”
"Careful Kenner or your girl is going to leave you in the dust." Jackson leaned back in the chair, smirking as if he'd said something useful.
Something dark crossed over Kenner's expression at the statement, but it passed quickly, and he wrapped an arm around her. "Rich son of an oil tycoon turns to law with a fabulously talented and sexy movie executive on his arm – yup super worried there."
Though his expression was light, she had a feeling he was as on edge about the implication of a breakup as she was. Her fingers were white where they gripped the plastic spoon for dear life. She was willing to bet Jerome was the only one in the group that had known about the arrangement because Kenner was quiet and while these guys were fun, they weren't actually her friends.
