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Then I went back to my place. Even though we FaceTimed every day, I still missed her next to me. More than once during those FaceTime calls, she wore my jersey on her bed with nothing underneath it, so that helped at least.
Summer picks up her bowl to suck down the last of her broth. Fuck me is it an adorable sight.
“This really is the best ramen I’ve ever had,” I she says.
“I’ll have to make sure we work up another appetite like this tomorrow, so we can come back.”
A light rosy blush colors her face, and there’s a hint of naughtiness in her grin. “An interesting proposal.”
Proposal. That word sends a sort of jolt through me. Lately, I’ve found thoughts creeping up on me from time to time. Thoughts about what’s next for me and Summer. A year down the line. A couple years down the line.
Maybe it’s crazy to already be thinking about a life with Summer. A house, kids, the whole deal. But I do think about it. We’re still just in college, our real lives haven’t started yet, but there’s a rock-solid certainty in my head and in my heart that assures me Summer and I are going to live those lives side by side.
Summer waves goodbye to Kazu who’s standing behind the wooden counter. He gives a polite dip of his head back in response.
Summer bounces her eyebrows at me when we pass Cindy, the bookshop owner, walking into the restaurant right as we’re leaving. She told me how a couple weeks ago she saw Kazu kind of checking her out at Last Word.
We both turn around to glance through the big front window of the store. Maybe it’s just some kind of optical illusion through the glass, but I’m pretty sure I can spot him blushing as she approaches the counter.
“That’ll be something to keep an eye on,” Summer laughs as we walk down the sidewalk back to her place.
I chuckle. “I’m sure it’ll keep the town gossips busy.”
Summer gasps. “Ooh, I need to get plugged into the Cedar Shade town gossip network. That’s my goal for Spring semester.”
Laughing, I wrap my arm around her shoulders and pull her close so I can plant a kiss on the top of her head; the soft, silky strands of her golden hair feel like heaven against my lips.
We get back to her place and head upstairs to her room, where Salsa’s lying curled up in the box I brought over weeks ago.
I shake my head in astonishment. “She sure does love that damn box.”
We’ve decided that Salsa’s going to stay at Summer’s place. I’m going to stay at the house with the rest of the guys. Summer and Olivia love having Salsa around, and I’m still going to pay for all her food and litter and everything. It’s a good arrangement.
Visiting her gives me an excuse to go into Summer’s room even more often than I would otherwise, so that makes it a great arrangement.
Salsa leaps out of her box and curls around my leg as I place my hands on Summer’s shoulders and spin her to face me, so I can plant a deep kiss on her cherry lips.
“I forgot to tell you something,” I say, acting as if a thought just occurred to me.
“What?”
My lips tilt up. “I love you.”
She laughs and smiles—a sight and sound I’ll never get tired of. Not for as long as I live. “I love you, too.”
Our lips brush again. Salsa purrs, rubbing against my calf before moving on to curl around Summer’s.
To think, five months ago, I never would have imagined having any of this. This, love, was never part of my plans. Never what I saw for myself when I looked into the future. Now, I don’t know how I could live without it.
If someone told me the first time I came across one of her performances on YouTube that one day that girl would become my everything, so much more important than even hockey, I would have thought they were crazy.
Well, now I’m the crazy one. Crazy in love with the beautiful, talented woman wrapped in my arms. That’s one thing that’s never going to change.
