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Holding me close in his strong arms, he kisses me softly, his lips familiar but also somewhat new. I press myself against his chest and give in as he deepens our kiss, pulling me tight.
We’re both breathless when I pull back from the kiss, smiling and absolutely stunned.
“I miss you telling me what to do,” he mumbles, still a little tipsy. He cups my cheek and brushes his thumb over my skin.
“And you doing the opposite?” I close my eyes, savoring the feel of his touch.
“Yeah, that too.”
“We were so good together,” I whisper.
“The best.”
Opening my eyes, I say, “We can call an Uber. It’ll probably be John Hawkins, though.”
“Our old gym teacher?”
“Yeah. He’s Greentree Falls’s main Uber driver these days.”
I take out my phone and open the app. “I’d take a ride from anyone right now. Fucking Big Bird could pull up and I’d jump in the car.”
“Where are we even going?” I laugh, thinking this is completely crazy, but it just feels so right. I may have had too much to drink and seeing Erik might have gotten to me, but right now, all I want is to feel.
“We’re going to Marnie’s.”
That makes me laugh even harder. “Remember your senior year when we tried to get one of her cabins for homecoming and she called your mom and told her?”
“She was so pissed.” He laughs at the memory. “She chased me around the house with a wooden spoon and I thought she might actually try to beat my ass even though I was eighteen and twice her size. I kept telling her to calm down because I was worried she was going to give herself a heart attack.”
“She’s a good mom,” I say. “She asks me about the kids all the time when we see each other at Fox Foods.”
“She’s always liked you a lot.”
“Even after everything that happened?”
His expression is tender as he looks down at me. “She understood, Allie. Better than I did back then.”
A minivan pulls up beside us—our Uber. And the driver does end up being our old gym teacher, now bald and a little heavier, but still full of energy.
“Erik Zimmerman?” he asks as we get into the vehicle.
“Hey, Mr. Hawkins, how’s it going?”
“It’s John, please.” He breaks into a huge grin. “Never thought I’d be picking you up tonight.”
“It’s good to see you,” Erik says, taking my hand.
“You, too.” He glances at me in his rearview mirror. “And Allie Douglas. How are you?”
“I’m good.”
“Everyone buckled up?” he asks, checking our destination on his GPS.
We both confirm our seatbelts are on, and I feel like a teenager taking the requisite drivers ed course with Mr. Hawkins all over again. He talks to Erik about hockey the whole drive to Marnie’s, reliving the championship the Blaze apparently won a couple years ago.
I’ve never followed hockey. Every time I entertained the idea of watching one of his games on TV, I’ve chickened out because I figured it would be too hard.
Erik holds my hand the whole ride to Marnie’s, which is just outside Greentree Falls city limits.
“You kids be safe,” Mr. Hawkins says as he parks the car.
We assure him we will as we get out, and as he’s pulling away, Erik gives me an amused look.
“Don’t you feel about sixteen years old right now?” he asks me.
“Totally.”
He takes a cabin key out of his pocket, trying to read the keychain in the dim light of Marnie’s parking lot.
“Number six,” he says, keeping my hand in his as he leads the way.
The path to our cabin is covered in mulch. The earthy smell of it is one of my favorite things. I realize as Erik and I walk hand in hand by moonlight that I haven’t felt this mix of giddy excitement and total contentment since we were together.
“I really miss you,” I blurt out. “I know I said that earlier, but I meant it.”
“I really miss you, too.” He squeezes my hand, and looks down at me, his eyes slowly moving over my face to my hair and back again. “You’ve only gotten more beautiful.”
I snort out a laugh. “That’s nice of you to say.”
“Hey,” he says, making sure to catch my eyes. “I mean it.”
“Thanks.”
He points to a wood sign ahead. “There’s a turkey on that one; I think that’s it.”
I squeeze his hand, excited, and he gives me a quick grin before reaching down to pick me up. I squeal as he lifts me off my feet and jogs the rest of the way to cabin number six.
“I get to carry you over the threshold after all,” he says as he climbs the stairs.
Setting me back on my feet, he says, “Gotta get the damn door unlocked first.”
“I feel as excited as I did before our first time,” I admit.
“Me too.”
He unlocks the door and picks me up again, turning sideways to carry me into the cabin. I fumble for the light switch on the wall, finally hitting it.
