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“What is it?” I ask, transferring the reins to my left hand so I can take the papers in my right. Geiger snorts and tosses his head.
“Money.”
Breath leaves me in awhoosh. “Caleb…”
“I know, Lennon. I know you don’t want it. But I can’t just sit back and not do anything. I have the money. Let me help. You would do it for me.”
I swallow and look away. He’s right. I would, if our roles were reversed. But he’s the one who’sactuallydoing it. That’s different from a hypothetical handout.
“It doesn’t have to be for college,” he continues. “The account is in your name. Spend it however you want. Fix the farm up. Buy new yearlings to race. It’s yours.”
“It’s too much.” I haven’t looked at the dollar amount yet, but I’m sure it’s an obscene amount of money.
“It’snot,” Caleb replies. He glances down at the ground again, then back at me. One hand rubs the back of his neck. “I’m fucking serious about us, Lennon. If you say yes when I ask, a lot more than what’s in that account is going to be yours one day.”
Shock spreads through me. Marriage isn’t a topic that’s ever been broached between us. I had no idea it’s something Caleb has thought about.
“Oh,” is my brilliant response.
Caleb laughs. “Did I freak you out?”
“No. I just…we’ve never talked about it.”
“I know you’re not ready. I’m not ready either. We have a lot of other stuff to figure out first. But one day…”
“One day sounds good,” I tell him. God, if my freshman year self could see me now. When I dropped that form off, I never, ever would have imagined having the last name Winters one day.
Caleb steps forward and presses a kiss to my forehead. I close my eyes, absorbing his presence. “I’ve got to go. I have a film session tonight.”
I can’t believe he drove all this way, just to give me a packet of papers.
“Tellme what you’re thinking, Len,” he says. “Don’t shut me out.”
I hold his gaze. “I promise.”
“Okay. I’ll call you tomorrow.”
One final smile, and he turns to leave. I grab his arm before he can take a step and kiss him. It’s more than a peck. I loop my arms around his neck and bite his bottom lip. Caleb pulls me flush against his body, returning my passion.
Gallie whinnies impatiently, pulling on the reins I’m holding. I’m surprised I didn’t accidentally drop them.
We’re both breathing heavily when Caleb reluctantly pulls away. “I really have to go, Len.”
“Yeah, I know.” Now would be the obvious moment for him to remind me that if I transfer to Clarkson, our relationship wouldn’t be this series of rushed moments anymore. But he doesn’t mention it. Doesn’t push me. “I love you, Caleb.”
His face softens into my favorite smile. “Love you too, Len.”
They’re words we’ve exchanged plenty of times before. But I’ll never take hearing Caleb Winters tell me he loves me for granted. It doesn’t have anything to do with the fact he’s the only person alive whoIlove.
Caleb has the world at his feet. He’s choosing to include me in it. He makes me feel safe and adored, and to me that’s far more valuable than the contents of the bank account the papers I’m holding declare me the new owner of.
He kisses me again, the pull between us almost magnetic. We’re rarely completely alone like this. We’re at a lake with his friends or at a house filled with his teammates. When he stayed at the farm until Gramps’s funeral, I was too dazed to really register it was just the two of us here.
I fist the soft cotton of his shirt, trying to keep him here. To tether him to me. My reservations about attending Clarkson University have nothing to do with not wanting to spend every possible second with him, and I hope he knows that. I try to tell him with each swipe of my tongue against his.
Caleb looks pained when he pulls away for a second time. Gallie has started stamping the dirt with one hoof. “I really,reallyhave to go now,” he tells me.
“I know.”
