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“Wait up,” she hollers, her voice echoing across the meadow and bouncing off the tree line in front of me.
I can’t wait for her. If I do, I won’t be there to see her face when she first sees the surprise I’ve been working on all week. Between exams and work, it’s taken me longer than it should have, but it’s finally finished. I hope she likes it.
As the trees break and the water comes into view, I slow down and turn to wait for Chloe. I hear her footsteps before I see her. She’s panting, having sprinted almost a quarter of a mile to catch up to me. When she comes to a stop in front of me, she bends over and rests her hands on her knees while she attempts to catch her breath.
“I’m. Going. To. Kill. You,” she says, each word enunciated between deep breaths.
“No, you won’t. Because you love me,” I reply, stepping aside so that when she looks up, her gift is the first thing she sees.
“Don’t be so su—”
Her lips are slightly parted in awe. I’m not sure if it’s my handwork or the large red ribbon that took me all day to wrap around it. Either way, it’s obvious she likes her gift the moment a smile breaks out across her face.
“Wyatt,” she whispers. “It’s gorgeous.”
“I was hoping you would like it. I figure if we want to spend any time here this summer, we need something a little more comfortable than the hard earth to sit on.”
Jumping into my arms, Chloe presses her lips to mine, mumbling a thank you as she begins devouring my lips. Pulling her closer, I stumble over to the bench hoping the stain is dry as I sit down with her in my lap.
Moving her legs to straddle me, she presses against me, and that’s all it takes to get my engine running. My body responds immediately, my hands gripping her hips and holding her against me.
When she attempts to grind against me, I let out a growl and pull her away, her loss leaving my lips cold.
“What did I do? I’m sorry,” she quickly says, scrambling off my lap and standing in front of me.
“Nothing,” I reply, reaching for her and pulling her back to me. She sits back on my lap but instead rests her back against my chest and looks out at the water, allowing me to wrap my arms around her and hold her close. “You didn’t do anything wrong. I was just getting excited, and I didn’t want you to think I was pressuring you. That’s all.”
“Pressuring me? Really?”
“You know what I mean. I’m sure you felt him, but it was more than that. My mind was starting to wander, to wonder, and I didn’t want you to think—”
“What? That you wanted to make love to me?”
“Chloe.”
“No, Wyatt. I hope you want to make love to me. Wanna know why?” Jumping off my lap for the second time in less than a minute, she turns to face me and waits for me to answer. When I don’t, she takes that as her cue to continue. “I want to be with you. I have for a while now, but I was scared to say something. I keep waiting for it to magically happen, for the moment to be perfect. That moment is here. We’re alone, together, in our favorite place. The stars are out, the lake is glistening in the moonlight. What could be more perfect than this?”
With Chloe, every moment is perfect. Her love is perfect. Our relationship, as imperfect as it may be when you look at it, feels perfect.
She’s right. This is our moment. Our perfectly imperfect moment. Because if I had seen this coming, if I had thought this was a possibility, I would have been better prepared.
“I love you, you know that. Not because you want to be with me, or the fact that I know how big of a deal that is for you, but because of who you are. You’re my perfect match. You make me want to be a better person, to dream a little bigger and aim a little higher.”
“I love you, too,” she replies, walking back toward the tree line.
“Where are you going?” I holler after her when I realize that she’s not stopping.
“You’ll see. I’ll be right back.”
When she finally makes her way back to me, she’s holding a lantern in one hand and two large objects in the other.
“What’s all that?”
“Camp,” she replies, tossing everything at my feet. “Can you set up a tent?”
Looking to Chloe, I see the devious gleam in her eyes. She was prepared for this moment. That’s my girl, always the planner. Ready to make any situation better at the drop of a hat.
“And if I say yes?” I ask, reaching for the bag that holds the tent.
