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“Not even if you get to kiss Winters during it?” Jake persists.
“Caleb is pretty amenable to kissing me even when we’re not playing childish games,” Lennon tells him.
I chuckle as I hold the stick out to the open flame. Jake lets out a resigned sigh, then sets about roasting his own dinner.
The hot dogs disappear quickly, as do the marshmallows Colt runs back to the house to grab. Jake heads inside as well, returning with a guitar I’ve seen him strum before. I know for a fact he learned how to play as a way to get girls, but he’s actually pretty decent now.
He starts off with a couple of country songs, then transitions into a Mumford and Sons one I’ve heard before but don’t know the words to. Lennon does. Her soft soprano mixes with Jake’s deeper baritone, adding to the bird calls and lap of lake water that were our only soundtrack before.
Like swimming earlier, singing is something I randomly discovered Lennon is really good at. I’d heard her hum along to the radio in the barn, but it wasn’t until we were driving in my truck one day and she started singing along that I realized she’s better than average.
She and Jake duet for another few songs before Lennon’s head droops on my shoulder. I hide a smile. I’m pretty sure the one time I called her after ten p.m., she was already asleep. It’s nearing midnight now, and neither of us got a full night’s sleep.
“Bed?” I murmur.
Lennon groans as she snuggles closer.
“We’re headed in,” I announce, standing with her in my arms.
“Cool,” Colt replies. “I’ll be ready for bed in like fifteen minutes, if you could come back to carry me in then.”
I can’t flip him off while I’m holding Lennon, but I’m pretty sure my face conveys the message.
Climbing a dirt path in the dark carrying someone is a challenge, but I manage to make it to the door. Lennon groans again when we reach the bright lights of the cabin. I walk through the living room and down the hall into our bedroom, closing the door with my foot before lying her down gently on the bed. When I start to stand up, she doesn’t let go. Her hands are clasped behind my neck, clinging to me like a monkey.
“Len,” I whisper, pulling back enough to see her face. Her eyes are wide open, her lips curved up mischievously.
“I don’t want you to go anywhere,” she murmurs, tightening her grip. I could easily break through her hold, but I don’t.
A lump forms in my throat. I know she’s not just talking about right now. She means next week, when I’m supposed to be back on campus. Next month, when I’ll still be at Clarkson. Next year, when I’m not sure where I’ll be.
“I’ll always come back, Lennon.”
“Do you promise?”
The vulnerability in her voice pierces right through the center of my chest. I shift so I’m supporting my weight on one arm while my other hand brushes across her cheek. “I promise. You’re the one thing I’m sure about. You’re my home. All the other stuff, it doesn’t matter. We’ll figure it all out.”
She gnaws on her bottom lip. “It’s your senior year. You shouldn’t be wasting time driving back to Landry and—”
“Len. Stop it. It’s what I want to be doing. If I could, I’d drive back every weekend.”
The anxiety on her face finally recedes. “I’m in this, Caleb. You’re better at saying how you feel and you’re making more sacrifices and—”
“Le—”
“Wait. Let me say this. I was wrong, back in high school. I didn’t believe you. I didn’t believe in us. And I’m so grateful…” Her voice breaks in the middle of the word, and she inhales before continuing. “I’m so grateful that you did. You’re the best thing that’s ever happened to me, Caleb Winters. I want you to know, whatever happens this year, or next year, I’minthis. I’m all the way in. You could get drafted to a team that plays on Mars, and I’d wait twenty years for you to get back from space.”
I didn’t think it was possible to love Lennon any more than I already do. But the warmth in my chest is more powerful, more consuming, than anything I’ve experienced before. “Only twenty? What if the spaceship took a wrong turn and it took me twenty-one years to get back? I’d come back and find you with another guy?”
She rolls her eyes and shoves my shoulder. Since it’s holding up all of my weight, I quickly drop my other elbow so I don’t crush her. “Way to ruin the moment.”
My smile mirrors her reluctant one. “I think you’re pretty good at saying how you feel.”
“Roll over,” she whispers. “I’ll show you too.”
And I know that’s the end of any serious conversation.
CHAPTERTWENTY-FIVE
