Page 107 of No Summer Hotter than You

But, instead of Shoua being interested in the rules we jotted down then, she immediately turned the paper over to the other side. There, I wrote a confession the day before we went up to the lake house in permanent marker. Its thick black ink bled into our contract as I scribbled haphazardly.

June 21st

Shoua,

I love you, I love you, I love you, I love you, I love you, I love you, I love you, I love you, I love you, I love you, I love you, I love you, I love you, I love you, I love you, I love you, I love you, I love you, I love you, I love you.

I’m falling in love with you, and you don’t even know it.

Love, Anthony

Shoua looked up at me with wide eyes as her breath hitched softly. “My dad used to tell Andy and me that if there was ever a time we couldn’t put it into words, then for us to write it out. So . . . I wrote it out,” I said. “I love you, Shoua. I love you, I love you, I?—"

“I love you too, Anthony,” she said back with teary eyes.

I let out a chuckle as I pulled her into me. She immediately kissed the shape of my lips in sweet little pecks as she whispered, “Sooner rather than later, indeed.”

“Yeah, I would’ve been yours in the long run,” I said. I leaned in the crook of her neck, drawing out my teeth against the sensitive spot behind her ear, smelling her coconut scent. Her breath caught in the back of her throat sexily, and I smiled. “And only yours.”

The End