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I kiss him again. “How ironic. Just when you start to like it here, I feel the urge to leave.” We laugh, and we’re both wiping away the beginnings of tears in our eyes when he grows serious again.
“Soph, I talked to the real estate agent. I want to buy a house here in Longdale.”
At my sharp intake of breath, he smiles.
“I was not expecting that,” I say.
“I’m going to need your input. Basically, help me pick one out. Please?” He bites down hard on his back teeth, his gaze simmering with heat. “We could even purchase the house you’re living in from your grandparents, if that’s what you want.” He kisses me, and there’s a hitch to his breath. “I can stay at Alec’s place for awhile until we…well, until we’re ready to be together permanently.”
“Mmmm. Together permanently? That’s my favorite of everything you’ve said to me today.” I just might want he and I to buy the only home I’ve ever known. Eventually. If we get married.
I’m so happy, so supremely happy.
He kisses me again, and I only pull away because I have one more thing to say.
“I love you, Oliver,” I whisper. “I always have.”
“I love you, Sophie.” His eyes are gleaming with wonder. “And I always will.”
Chapter 34
Oliver
Sophie is in my arms.
Midway through one of our epic kisses on the sofa of my rental, she gasps and pushes me away. “I almost forgot.” She stands from the sofa. “Come with me,” she says before making her way to the front door.
As long as it’s with her, I’ll go anywhere, but our long-time friendship necessitates some teasing. “The last time you told me to follow you, you gave me a spoon.”
She throws her head back in a laugh. “Yes, I did. Prepare yourself because this might be even more exciting than that.”
“I’m not sure that’s possible.”
At her protest, I press her closer to me. “I mean it. That you saved the spoon and had it in your car…” I shake my head. “It means a lot.”
“Do you want to know what means a lot to me?” she asks. “Claire told me what you said to my grandparents. Oliver, to have you stand up for me like that is…it’s overwhelming. It’s incredible.”
“I’ll always stand up for you. I want to love you and protect you. Always.”
Wherever she’s taking me has to wait a minute or ten. Because now my lips are on hers again and I can’t pull away.
***
She’s made me promise to close my eyes, and I can feel her glance over at me every so often while she drives.
I feel the car slow and hear her flip on her blinker. As we turn, the surface of the road grows a little rougher, and I can smell the lake. It’s something wild, carefree. It gives me images of childhood sandcastles and rafts, but the more recent memories with Sophie are at the forefront of my mind.
“Keep ‘em closed!” she admonishes while climbing out of the driver’s seat.
She opens my door and places her hand over my eyes. “Watch your head,” she says after unbuckling my seatbelt. It’s not until I’ve climbed out of the car and she removes her hand that I see where we are. “Shake, Shake, Shake?”
The purple plastic tables look to be scrubbed clean. The cement pad attached to the walk-up building has been power washed. A long line of customers snakes it way from the window.
“Hungry for a milkshake?” Sophie asks, threading her fingers through mine. Warmth radiates from her hand and up through my arm.
“It’s the season’s opening day?” I ask as we make our way to the end of the line. In the distance, Longdale Lake is crystal blue with foams of white along the rippling waves.
“Yes, it is,” she says. She lets out a slow breath. “It’s odd to think I don’t have to drive Scott around. I feel kind of lost. And I’ll have to go back to the county offices and organize everything…but not today.”
