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I nod again. "Of course, Luce, you're my girl. It's my job to take care of you."
Her eyes glaze over with tears again.
I wanted to kick myself for making her cry. But before I can say anything, she wraps her arm around my neck and brings me down for another quick kiss. She pulls away and says, "I really like you, Cameron."
I grin. "Yeah?"
"Yeah," she says dreamily.
And then my heart begins to race.
My palms begin to sweat.
And all I can hear is the blood pumping in my ears.
"Good," I respond, and then inhale a huge breath. "Because I'm kind of in love with you, Lucy."
Her eyes bug out. Her jaw drops to the floor. "What?" she breathes out.
I lift my chin and fake a confidence that doesn't exist. "You heard me."
Silence.
It's the longest three seconds of my life.
Then finally, "Cameron, I love you so much."
And then she kisses me.
Five weeks, three days and eight hours later, I touch boob.
***
"I've been thinking," she says, snapping her bra back on. I've parked the bus near her dock on her lake. It seems fitting—considering it's become our spot.
I crack a few windows in the bus, and then sit back down next to her. She lays her head on my lap and looks up at me. And I can't help but smile. "What have you been thinking?"
She lifts her head to kiss my bare chest and then starts tracing hearts over it. "I think I want to wait. For sex, I mean. I was thinking about what you said, you know... after Penisgate."
I laugh. "Penisgate?"
"Yeah, you know... all scandalous things end in 'gate'."
I suppress my smile. "Yeah."
"Okay, so after Penisgate... I got to thinking... and I think you're right—about being ready... emotionally. I don't think I am yet."
"Okay, so we wait." I shrug.
"If that's okay?"
I roll my eyes. "Of course it's okay, Luce. I'd never make you do something you weren't ready for. You know that."
"I know," she says, kissing my chest again. "The thing is I don't want to promise you a time or date or anything, because I can't tell, and I don't want you—"
"Stop," I cut her off. "You don't need to promise anything. When it happens, it happens." And as the words leave my lips there isn't an ounce of doubt in my mind that I'd wait forever for her.
"What?" She must see that my head’s somewhere else because she asks, "What are you thinking?"
My mind's racing with so many thoughts, so many emotions—that I struggle to find the words. I struggle to speak. "It's dumb."
She reaches up and runs a finger across my jaw. "Tell me anyway."
I lift my knees, causing her head to rise. I kiss her softly, knowing that our lips are raw from making out for so long. "Luce..." I blow out a breath and ignore the ache in my chest. I don't know what it is, or why it's there. "Sometimes I think that this—you and me—this could be as good as it gets for the rest of my life and that would be perfect. I feel like I've loved you for eternity, and it's not even close to long enough. Even now, when it's summer and there's no school and we can spend every second of every day together it doesn't seem like enough. Do you think it's normal? To feel that? To be sixteen and feel like your life begins and ends with one person?"
She shakes her head slowly. "It's not dumb," she says. "And I don't know what's normal. I know that I love you, and I know that I feel sorry for all the people that never get to experience the kind of love we have. Even if it's short lived."
My brows bunch. "You think ours will be short lived?"
She shakes her head slowly. "I don't think anything can ever get in the way of our love. Ever."
-LUCY-
There's a banging on my bedroom door—or so I think. When I open my eyes I'm not in my room. But the banging is incessant.
"What's going on?" Cam blinks rapidly, trying to wake himself. The banging won't stop.
"LUCY!" Dad's voice jerks us both awake. "LUCY!" he shouts again. He's slamming his palm on the back window of Cam's bus.
"Oh my God, Cam. We must've fallen asleep!"
He doesn't speak, his focus solely on my breasts. I look down. "Shit," I whisper. I'm not wearing a shirt, just my bra.
"LUCY!"
I find my shirt and rush to put it on, even though I know it's too late. Dad's face is pressed against the window, I'm sure he's already seen us. And Cam—he's shirtless, too.
"Nothing happened," he rushes out. "We didn't do anything wrong." And even as he says it, I can see the panic in his eyes. "We just need to explain it to him, okay? It'll be fine."
He puts on his shirt and opens the door. "Mr. Preston," he starts, his hands going up in surrender. "We fell asleep. I'm sorry. It's my fault. I should—"
"Shut up!" Dad growls. "Just shut up, Cameron."
"DAD!" I try to get off the bus but he grips my arm tight and roughly pulls me down. He uses so much force I fall to the ground. "Dad, stop! You're hurting me!" I get out of his hold and try to straighten.
Cameron's arms are around my waist, helping me to stand upright. But I can't. Dad's pulling me away again.
