I paced inside my room and rolled my neck, thinking about the conversation I’d had with her parents when she’d gone with her siblings to go pick up dessert. It had gone well, better than I’d expected. The black ring box was burning a hole in my pocket.
Teresa walked into my bedroom at the dorms with a smile I felt all the way down to my soul. Nine months of that smile, and I knew I wanted a lifetime of them.
“Sadie said bye,” she shared.
“They left?” I asked, and she nodded. Our roommates had not only fallen in love, they were practically living together.
I’d talked to Jason, seeing as he was in the same boat as I was. Graduation and the draft were right around the corner, and no matter what I did to try to grasp on to some kind of control over life and where the hell it was taking us, I wasn’t ready to burst the bubble we’d found ourselves in these couple of months and return to the real world. All he’d told me was that everything would work out.
That wasn’t enough for me. I wanted detailed steps to know how Teresa and I were going to manage that. The box in my pants pocket would help. Her parents agreed. I just wasn’t sure how Teresa was going to take it.
“Jer?” I shook away the panicked thoughts and looked up at my girl. Staring at her was dangerous, like looking at the sun. It always struck me right in the middle of the chest just how beautiful she was.And she’s ours,the beast in me rumbled.
“You okay? You were quiet when Jay and Sadie were here.” Of course, she would notice the way I’d been stuck in my head.
“Sorry about that.” I stood up and got off the edge of the bed, making my way over to her. The moment she was within reach, like I usually did, I pushed her body flush up against the wall, caging her with my own.
“Ooo… I think I know where this is going.” She wagged her eyebrows. “You feeling bossy tonight?” she teased, causing an internal war inside of me not to give in and fuck her right then and there.Focus, dumbass!
“I was thinking,” I announced. Her eyes widened with curiosity.
“Uh-oh, that’s dangerous,” she teased good-naturedly. But the longer she stared at me, and I stayed quiet, the more serious she became. “What’s up?” Her sass and attitude were gone as worry crept in.
“Don’t do that.”
“Don’t do what?” she asked defensively.
“Start worrying or jumping to conclusions.
“Should I be worried?”
“Cielo, how many times have I told you? I got you. You never have to worry.” I stroked the side of her face with the pad of my thumb. “You know I love you,” I started off, and she swallowed.
“But?”
“No buts.” I chuckled roughly, hoping my hands weren’t sweating with the fucking nerves I felt. “I love you,” I repeated, and she blinked.
“Okay,” she said slowly, her breathing a little different.
“And a lot of shit is going to happen in a short amount of time.”
“Right,” she whispered, her dark eyes dropping from my face, but I tipped her head up, forcing her to meet my gaze.
“Graduation. The draft. Moving. A lot of plates in the air.”
“Lemme guess, you want one less?” A hardness I hadn’t heard since we got together crept into her tone.
“Excuse me?”
“I swear to god, Jeremy Thomas Fletcher—“ My lips twitched. I loved how she said my full name any time I irritated her, always making up a different middle name when she did. “If this is you dumping me—“ Every cell inside of me stilled.
“Dumping?” My voice sounded hoarse to my own ears. “Are you fucking insane?” I asked. “Where is this coming from?”
“I don’t know.” She tried to push me away, but I didn’t let her. Instead, I picked her up, loving the way her hands always rested on my shoulders and her legs knew to wrap around my middle and trust for me to carry her. I sat my ass down in my computer chair with her straddling me.
“You and I are a done deal,” I stated. “No going back. No returns or refunds. No dumping. No usnotbeing together. That’s not an option, so get that shit out of your head.” She opened and shut her mouth, dark eyes set off into the distance over my shoulder.
“What am I supposed to think when you’re being all ominous?” Fuck, she had a point. I hadn’t thought about how I was coming off and ruining everything.
