Her cheeks turn pink, but she doesn’t look away.
I step closer, resting my hands on her hips. “About last night.”
Her smile fades a little. “I wondered when we’d get to this part.”
“What part?”
“The part where we establish that it was fun and we’re both adults and nobody has any expectations.”
I study her face. “Is that what you want?”
She hesitates.
That’s all the answer I need.
“I’m not going to pretend last night meant nothing to me,” I say. “And I’m not going to treat you like a temporary distraction because your contract has an end date.”
“Tate.”
“I know you’re leaving. I heard you the first ten times.”
Her eyes drop to the front of my uniform.
I hook a finger under her chin and gently lift her face. “But while you’re here, I want you. Not just in bed. I want to take you to dinner. I want you at my sister’s house when Jonas talks through an entire meal. I want to bring you coffee in the morning and hear about whatever you’re writing. I want all of it.”
“And when I leave?”
“It’ll hurt.”
She winces.
“But I’d rather have the summer with you than nothing at all.”
“You make it sound simple.”
“It is simple. I’m crazy about you.”
Her mouth falls open.
I hadn’t planned to say it. But now that the words are out, I don’t regret them.
“I’ve known you for less than a week,” she whispers.
“I’m a quick study.”
She laughs, but her eyes are shiny.
“I’m not asking you to change your plans today,” I tell her. “I’m asking you to let this be real while we have it. Give me the summer.”
Neely wraps her arms around my neck.
“Okay,” she says.
“Okay?”
“We’ll let it be real. For the summer.”
I kiss her in the middle of the host site, with Ollie operating a chainsaw nearby and Jonas shouting that he found a branch shaped like a dinosaur.
