by Tessa Teevan
“Did we win?” I asked.
She nodded. “How is it that I’ve never met Jace McAllister? I mean, I’ve seen him around school, but holy hell, I had no idea how…how attractive he was.”
I grinned. “Aww. Does little Lexi have a crush?”
“No,” she huffed. “It’s just… He talked to me on the bus on the way home, and I didn’t know how nice he was. That’s all.”
She was protesting too much, so I decided to cool it with the teasing.
“He’s a great guy, Lexi. Nice, intelligent, a killer second baseman from what Jeremy tells me. And I’m pretty sure he’s single. Want me to talk to him for you?”
“No!” she shouted a little too quickly. “He’s giving me a ride home from the game on Thursday and I don’t want him thinking I have a crush or anything. We’re just going to be friends, Sierra. That’s all. I don’t even like him like that.”
Before I could question her further, Jeremy walked in behind her.
“Like who?” he asked.
Lexi groaned and shook her head, pushing past him. Jeremy and I stared after her until the door to her bedroom slammed shut.
“What was that about? Is it that time of the month again?” he asked, groaning.
If any other man had said that, I’d be attacking him with my pillow. But, considering that Jeremy had Jenna, Lexi, and me to deal with, he’d become prepared for whenever Aunt Flo came to visit. Out of the three of us, Lexi was the most emotional and moody, so once a month, Jeremy would come over with popcorn and rocky road ice cream—Lexi’s favorite—and he’d watch Monty Python and the Holy Grail with her until she felt better.
And the best part? It worked every single time. I’d have gotten jealous if it were any other girl, but Jeremy saw her like a little sister and wanted to take care of her, so it warmed my heart and made me fall for him even more than I already had. I hadn’t said the words yet, but he made it really hard not to love him.
“I think she has a new crush,” I informed him. Then I lowered my voice so she wouldn’t hear me. “Jace McAllister.”
“Really? Interesting,” he said. “Come to think of it, I saw them talking on the bus, but I didn’t put two and two together.”
Then his eyes lit up. His lips curved into a wickedly delicious smile that had me wanting to forget all about Lexi’s crush. He rubbed his hands together as if he were formulating some masterful plan in his head. While it turned me on, it also worried me.
“What?” I asked. “What’s that look for?”
“Let’s set them up,” he said, excitement dancing in his eyes. “Why didn’t we think of this before? Jace is one of those weird romantic types that actually wants to do the whole flowers-and-candlelight-dinner thing. And Lexi, well, she wants that. They’d be perfect together. And, even better, we can double date. That way I can keep an eye on the punk to make sure he doesn’t step out of line.”
His protectiveness and mutual desire to play matchmaker had me giggling. He raised an eyebrow and crossed his arms. I wasn’t sure if he was acting all manly like he would with Jace or if he was daring me to refute him. My laughter died down because I had to do the latter.
“As much as I’d love to do that and play the meddling sister, let’s stay out of this one, okay? She’s only fourteen, and it’s the first time I’ve ever seen Lexi have a crush, and I don’t want to get her hopes up or her heart broken.”
Jeremy’s face fell, and my resolve faltered ever so slightly. “But—”
“I’m serious. She says they’re going to be friends. Let’s see how that goes. If they need a little nudge here and there along the way, we’ll be right there to give them a push. But, for now, we stay out of it. Got it?”
“Okay, fine. But I’ve heard that ‘just friends’ line before. I’m not buying it,” he said, giving me a wink before crossing the room and hauling me up into his arms.
“Eww, no, Jeremy! You’re all sweaty from your game.”
He pressed his lips to the crook of my neck and peppered kisses all the way up to my jawline until they were on mine, kissing me slow and sweet. The salty taste of sweat had me thirsty for more of him. Hell, I was always thirsty for more of him. But my parents were just down the hall, so I pulled back to look up into his gorgeous, brown eyes, which had darkened from our kisses.
“Admit it, Sierra. You like me sweaty,” he whispered.
I giggled.
“Oh yeah, you love me sweaty.” He started tickling my sides, and I squirmed, trying not to lose this tickling battle, even though I always did.
I held out for as long as I could, but it wasn’t long before I was crying uncle. “Okay! Fine! I admit it,” I exclaimed, trying to catch my breath when he finally let me go.
Triumph crossed his handsome face. “I knew it. But you have to say it, Sierra, or I’m coming back for more,” he threatened. Then he held his five fingers up and started to count down. “Five… Admit it, babe,” he coaxed.
I shook my head and stood my ground. “Nope.”
“Four… Come on. Just say it.”
I brought my fingers to my lips and mimed zipping them closed.
“Open up.” Jeremy grinned and lifted his own hand to unzip them. “Three.”
I simply raised an eyebrow and stared at him.
“Two. Last chance. My hands are going to be all over you if you don’t give me what I want.”
My heart fluttered at his words. They hadn’t been laced with innuendo, but I took them that way anyway. It wouldn’t be a hardship if he put his hands all over me. In fact, I kind of wanted him to.
But when he said, “One,” and moved in for the kill, I shrieked and fell back on my bed.
“Jeremy Jordan Banks, I love it when you’re sweaty!” I declared, giving him my best Scarlett O’Hara swoon.
“Damn right,” he answered before lifting me off the bed and pulling me back into his arms. He gazed down at me, his eyes softening as they filled with affection. “And Sierra Anne Sullivan, I lo—”
“Hey, you two.”
My heart stopped right along with his words when Mom entered the room. Somehow, I tore my gaze from his and saw her raising an eyebrow as she watched us.
“Dinner’s ready. Jeremy, are you staying tonight?”
It was a silly question. He practically lived at our house, and his parents often joked that they should probably pay our grocery bill. He swallowed hard and stood up straight, glancing down at his baseball uniform.
“Umm, not tonight, ma’am. I’ve gotta get cleaned up, and then I have a chemistry final to study for.”
Mom smiled and looked at me. “Are you two studying together?”
I nodded, still unable to speak. My mind was reeling from what Jeremy had been about to say.
Mom’s eyes searched mine curiously before she smile broadly. “Okay, you two. Study hard. Sierra, make sure you’re home by ten.”
As soon as she left the room, I peered up at Jeremy, who was still staring after her.
“Jeremy?” I asked tentatively.
He gave me a nervous smile as he ran a hand through his messy hair. “I guess I’d better let you eat.” He leaned down and pecked on the cheek. “Meet you on the patio in half an hour?”
I nodded. Apparently, he wasn’t going to enlighten me on what he was going to say.
“Sounds good.”
“One more final and then you’re mine for the summer,” he said. “I can’t freaking wait.”
Neither could I.
Idiot.
I was such an idiot. I kept repeating the same thought in my head over and over again. Now that the school year was ending, Sierra and I had been together for almost nine months. Not much had really changed from us being friends. We were still inseparable. We were still best friends.
We were just…closer now. The only changes to our relationship had been physical ones, and it had brought us closer than before. That intimacy had been missing, and it a filled a void that I hadn’t even know was there.
Don’t get me wrong. All we did was hold hands and kiss. But we kissed a lot. Like, put-Jenna-and-Chris-to-shame a lot. Pretty much, from the moment my lips had first touched Sierra’s, they’d barely gone hours without having another little taste. Okay, so it was never really little, but you get the point.
At the young age of sixteen years old, I knew I’d never tire of kissing Sierra Sullivan.
So, like I was saying, things with Sierra were amazing. I’d never been happier. My grades were solid, thanks to our study sessions—yes, I wasn’t so distracted that I couldn’t get my schoolwork done. It probably helped that Sierra had a new way to incentivize our study sessions. Kisses for right answers? Hell, I’d be right every single time.
It was all just so…easy. We didn’t deal with the petty little games so many high school couples around us dealt with. I think it was because we’d already had a relationship established prior to dating. No one else had our level of trust. Which is why it was so damn easy to fall for her.
Yeah, you heard me right. I was a fallen man, and in all honesty, I’d be okay if I never got back up again.
I think a part of me had known that I’d been in love with Sierra all along, but it’d only been in the past couple of weeks that I’d let my mind wander there. I’d been trying to get up the courage to tell her. And tonight, when she had been rubbing up against me, telling me that she loved me all hot and sweaty—even if it had been coerced, I knew she’d meant it—had me wanting to blurt it out right away. I would have—if Vicky hadn’t walked in and saved the day.
But it made me realize I couldn’t hold those feelings in much longer. I had to tell Sierra how I felt. I just had to figure out the perfect way to do it.
TWO MONTHS LATER, I was finally ready. I know. I’m an idiot, and I’m slow. But now that I was back from football camp and hadn’t seen Sierra in over two weeks, I was more than ready to tell her how I felt.
As I waited on the beach, I went over my memorized speech, hoping like hell Sierra didn’t freak out. The sounds of the surf filled my ears, and the moonlight was shining off the water. When light footsteps sounded on the walkway leading to the gazebo, the nerves set in. Then a small gasp echoed around me.
My heart nearly stopped when I saw her standing there. A vision in yellow. My best friend. My girl. The love of my short life, and the girl who would blossom into the woman who would one day be my wife. Of that, I had no doubt. I never had. I never would.
I was sixteen years old and in love for the first time in my life. I couldn’t wait to tell her.
“Jeremy,” she asked, her voice breathless and whispery and sexy as hell. The ocean breeze whipped her hair around her face as she took a step towards where I was waiting on the sand. “What is this?”
She stopped at the top step and looked down at me. The white Christmas lights I’d strung up around the gazebo poles illuminated her beautiful face.
“Do you know what day it is?” I asked her.
She cocked her head to the side and wrinkled her nose. I smiled, because this day in history, seemingly so insignificant, ended up being the most important day of my life.
“Jeremy, I…” she trailed off, her face downcast while her eyes searched mine.
I took a step forward, placing my hands on the wooden rails in the open doorframe. “It’s okay, Sierra. It took me a moment to remember, too.”
Then I stepped back and shined my flashlight on the sand castle I’d built, much like the one I had so many years ago.
“Eight years, Sierra,” I whispered. “Eight years ago on this day, you entered my life right here in this very spot. There I was, making a castle, content to do it all on my own, when you appeared out of nowhere and changed my life forever. Eight years since you took hold of my heart. For eight years, you’ve had it, and I have no plans on ever taking it back.”
I stood on the step just below her and took her hands into mine. I gazed up into her eyes, hoping they portrayed the way I felt. Praying that all of my love and adoration was pouring from my soul and she was soaking up every drop.
“Sierra, I’m not a fancy guy. I don’t wear fancy clothes or drive a fancy car. I’m not the guy who will give you fancy words.”
“I’ve never needed fancy, Jeremy,” she whispered, her eyes brimming with tears.
“And that’s part of why I love you,” I answered.
There it was. All out in the open. Simple. Yet oh so beautiful.
“You love me?” she asked, her voice shaky.
I nodded. “I love you, Sierra. I think I’ve always loved you. And I know I always will.”
She sniffled. Then, in a sudden rush, she flung her arms around my neck and her legs around my waist. She peppered my face with wet kisses before pulling back to look into my eyes. Her face breaking into a breathtaking smile while her shimmering blue eyes shone like the twinkling stars. “I love you, Jeremy. God, I love you so much. Ever since I was a little girl, I think I knew you were the one for me. I love you.”
My arms tightened around her waist as she dipped her head. Our lips met, and we sealed it with a kiss that had my heart exploding with all the love I had for her.
I knew this wouldn’t be the last time we’d do that. I knew that, one day, Sierra would agree to be my wife. I’d be told to kiss my bride.
I’d do it. And I’d never stop.
I couldn’t wait for that day to come.
Jeremy and I were supposed to be going to some country concert in Pensacola. I spent the day getting ready, having changed at least seven times. I finally decided on a little yellow sundress that highlighted my tan. My hair was in loose waves. It was Jeremy’s favorite style, and it was quickly becoming my own. By the time I was ready and pulling my cowgirl boots on, I was anxious to get the night started. Jeremy had been gone for the past two weeks at football camp, and I was itching to see him.
When the doorbell rang, I practically ripped the door off its hinges to get to him. I was surprised to see Jenna standing on my porch. I glanced around her, trying to spot my boyfriend, but he was nowhere in sight.
“Hey, Sierra. Jeremy wanted to tell you he was running late. Chris and I are going to go grab something to eat first, so we’ll just meet you two there. Okay?”
I tried to hide the disappointment on my face, but I knew I was failing. A week without Jeremy’s kisses was like a week without sunshine. And I desperately needed some Vitamin D. Or, in this case, some Vitamin J. I had no idea how I’d lasted two weeks without him.
“I can just come with you guys, He can meet us there.”
“No!” she shouted a little too quickly. “Umm, I mean, Jeremy wanted to go separately. Here,” she said, handing me an envelope before glancing at her watch. “Open that in precisely five minutes.”
I frowned when I saw my name scrawled in Jeremy’s handwriting. “Jenna, what’s going on?” I asked, but she was already darting down the steps and across the driveway.
She hopped into Chris’s car and gave me a final wave, and then they disappeared from sight.
Sighing, I plopped down on the top step and bided my time, waiting a long, agonizing five minutes until I could rip the envelope open.
Sierra,
First things first. Wipe the frown off your face. Yes, that frown. I know you’re probably wondering what’s going on, and I promise I’ll explain soon. I missed you these past two weeks, and I often found myself wondering how I ever lasted two and a half months without you last year. I don’t think I’ll ever be able to handle a long separation again. So face it, sweetheart, you’re stuck with me. For life. I don’t want to hear any complaining, either.
I just want to say thank you for taking a chance on me. On us. Every day I wake up, I’m thankful you’re mine. Every night when I go to sleep, I pray that you always will be.
Where you go, I go. But, for now, let’s have a little bit of a role reversal. I’m down at the gazebo. Will you go where I go? See you soon.
Jeremy
I reread his wo
rds three times, my heart melting into a little puddle every time. God, I’d missed him. I shot up and took off, sprinting all the way across the neighborhood until I got to the gazebo. Before I entered the walkway, I took a few deep breaths.
When my heart stopped racing, I drifted towards the gazebo. The sun had set, but lights came from the structure. As I got closer, I saw that Jeremy had strung white Christmas lights around the wooden frame.
He was standing in the sand, watching me intently. The next few minutes were a blurred whirlwind at the time, but I’d remember them with stunning clarity for the rest of my life.
“And that’s part of why I love you.”
My world stopped spinning at his words.
No, that wasn’t right.
My world started spinning, as if I’d been tilted off my axis and I’d needed Jeremy to put me back on my correct path again.
I blinked twice, trying to relive the last few moments. Replaying the words Jeremy had just said to me. But it was no use. No matter how many times I said them to myself, they didn’t seem real.
“You love me?” I asked, needing to hear him say the words again.
And he did. Over and over again until my heart was full of the love he was proclaiming.
That’s when I launched myself at him and told him my truth.
I loved him, too.
I’d loved him for half of my life.
And I knew I would love him for the rest of it.
I might have only been sixteen, but I knew that, for the rest of my life, however long or short that would end up being, I would never love anyone else the way I loved Jeremy.
THAT NIGHT, WHEN I was lying in bed, I replayed Jeremy’s words repeatedly in my head. Anxiety began to set in low in my belly as I wondered just how things were going to change. If they even were. I had no idea what expectations he might have had now that we’d both admitted we were in love. I loved Jeremy, but I wasn’t ready to push our physical relationship forward. At least, not yet.
