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11: Linc
Then
“Do you believe in destiny, Linc?”
I’m lying on the grass of our special place, the rose garden where it all began, with Lottie’s head on my chest as she sits between my legs, sprawled out as we always do. It’s late and everyone else is settled for the night. It’s my favorite time of day when we can just be together without me having to pretend that Lottie isn’t everything to me.
I can’t remember a time when she wasn’t, but everything changed last summer with one simple kiss. Her first and, for me, the only one that really mattered, and since that day we’ve been us. We know her mother wouldn’t approve and I understand it. I’m three years older than Lottie at eighteen and Mrs. Miller wouldn’t understand that I want to preserve her innocence as much as she does.
Well, I guess that’s not strictly true, I want Lottie with a fire that burns my soul, but when I take her virginity, it will be because it’s the right time for her, not because I can’t control my need for her.
A dig in my ribs has me looking down into big green eyes that see into every part of me. She’s always had the ability to really see me, not the boy the world sees.
“Linc, did you hear me?”
I tickle her ribs and roll us in the cool grass until I’m hovering over her body, encased by her slim thighs. “Yes, I was thinking, give me a second, Miss Impatient.”
“Really? It felt like you were zoning out.”
“I was not and to answer your question, no I don’t believe in destiny.”
Lottie wrinkles her nose and frowns at me. “I do.”
“How so?”
I trace the pattern of her initials into the bare skin of her belly where the short yellow top separates from the denim of her shorts. Goosebumps break out on her skin and I smile, loving how she responds to my touch.
“Well, what are the chances of us meeting? You’re richer than Hades, go to a posh school, and run with the upper echelons of society. Then there’s me, a nobody who just happened to be born to the housekeeper.”
“Hey, don’t fucking say that. You aren’t a nobody, Lottie. You’re everything to me.”
If anything about this girl drives me crazy, it’s that Lottie has no value in herself. She truly believes she’s nothing, and it doesn’t seem to matter how hard I try and tell her different.
Rolling her eyes she spears her fingers through my hair, her nails scratching on my scalp, making me groan. “I know that I’m that to you, but nobody else will ever see that and you know it.”
“They will, Lottie. In time, they’ll accept we’re together and we can stop hiding it.”
“Your father will never accept it.”
“My father is a dick, and I don’t care what he thinks.”
“Yes, you do, Linc and I get it. He’s your dad.”
I push up so I’m away from her distracting touch, and look her in the eye as she lays in the grass watching me. “I don’t. I mean it, Lottie. I hate him and I don’t care what he thinks. There is nothing he can do to me that would make me change how I feel about you. I love you.”
It isn’t the first time I’ve said it to her, and I never tire of the softness I see come over her face when I do. She’s so beautiful she takes my breath away.
“I love you too, Linc.”
I hear the hesitation in her voice and want to wipe it from her thoughts. I don’t know what else I can do to convince her of my feelings. Then an idea hits me. It’s a big statement and I know it will be a lot, but people will see us together and know how serious we are.
“Come to senior prom with me.”
Her eyes light up and I know I want to do everything in my power to keep that look on her face for the rest of my life. I might be young, but I know what I want and that’s Lottie forever.
“Really?”
I grab her hands and pull her up so we’re both on our knees face to face, and I cup her cheeks in my palms. “Really. Come as my date and then the world will know who you are to me.”
