Page 67 of Love You Like This

“What?” She lowers the can. “What do you mean?”

“You make this sexy little moan and do a happy dance every time you crack one open.”

“No, I don’t.” She tilts her head completely puzzled.

“Oh, you do.” I lean over and press a quick kiss to her lips. “It’s so fucking adorable.”

“I’ve never noticed.” She peers over the side of the cooler. “What else do you have in there?”

“Cheese.” I hold up a bag of her favorite pepper jack. “Crackers, berries, and chocolate chip cookies.”

We set everything between us and go to town on the food. Being out on the water always makes me ravenous. There’s a good chance I’ll be swinging through the drive-through on the way home, but this will tide us over.

We chat about everything and anything as we munch and watch the sun moving lower over the horizon. There’s only one thing we have both avoided talking about at all this summer. What’s going to happen when we each leave for college. I don’t want to stop this, but I also don’t want to push a relationship on her, especially when our parents are still married.

Honestly, I’m not sure I want to keep hiding us, either. It’s not like we grew up together or something. We are both legally adults at this point. Is it really that big a deal if we tell our parents? I don’t want to spend years living a double life.

As twilight creeps across the beach and even more people pack up and leave, we stay right next to each other. The playlist I created for her plays on my phone while she rests her head on my shoulder. I’ve added all the songs that she loves, a few I think she’d like based on those, and then some of my favorites that she knows. I hope she plays it and thinks of me when she’s gone.

“I can’t believe this is our last night together like this,” she says.

“I know.” I kiss her forehead. “But you’ll have so much fun at UCLA.”

“Yeah.” Her voice is laced with melancholy. “Are you set on Berkeley?”

“I think so.” I look out over the water. “It’s a good program.”

She links our fingers and presses a kiss to my shoulder. “When do you leave?”

“A few days after you.” I force lightness into my voice. “At least Dad and Suzette will have time to themselves again.”

She grunts. “I don’t think it’ll change anything. They’ve spent so much time apart this summer that I’m guessing there’s weeks until Mom loses interest.”

“Really?” It’s hard for me to imagine someone not appreciating my dad. For someone with so much power in Hollywood, he’s really solid. There are no casting couch rumors, no scandals. Just a widower focused on his work and family.

“Yeah.” She sighs. “It sucks because I really like your dad.”

“He likes you, too.”

“Would he like me if he knew what we’re doing?”

“I don’t think it’d change his opinion of us.”

“It’d be weird for them, though.”

“For everyone.” I reach over and turn her head toward me. “But not for me. I love you, Jade.”

Her eyes widen at my confession, lips parting as her eyes search mine. A few heavy seconds pass as she just stares at me. “I love you, too,” she finally says with wet eyes.

“Really?” My heart feels like it’s about to burst free from my chest.

“Yes.” She launches herself on top of me.

I fall onto my back as she settles on top of me, kissing me with a fervor I haven’t felt from her before. Even in moments where we get carried away and sneak into a closet or room for a quickie. My dick perks up at the proximity of her barely covered pussy positioned right over him.

“Let’s go to the car,” I say against her lips. If she keeps grinding on me like this, I’ll end up on a list I really don’t want to be on.

She stands and grabs all the trash while I fold up the blanket. She tosses the garbage in the bin and helps me shove everything in the back of the Jeep. I press her against the side of the car and cover her lips with mine.