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LETTIE
We splashedaround at each other a little more before getting out. I felt my eyes linger on Tuck and the way the water dripped from his chest and down his stomach. Next thing I knew, I was peeking toward the bulge in his pants, but then I looked up at the sky, trying not to be obvious in my lingering stare. I sprinted to the blanket, lay flat on my back, and closed my eyes, feeling the heat of the sun on my skin.
“This place is really great. Thank you for bringing me here.”
“You’re welcome. I’m glad you like it.” He leaned over and opened the box of donuts, gesturing for me to grab one.
I picked up the green one and took a bite. I chewed and relished in the deliciousness of the flavor. “Wow,” I said, holding my hand over my mouth. “This is amazing. I’m not going to lie, I wasn’t sure—considering it’s green—but wow, I’m glad I tried it.”
“Pistachio is one of my favorites.” He looked over at me, his head tilted slightly before he looked down and chose a donut for himself. “And you know, things aren’t always what they seem. Look at you, for instance.”
“What about me?”
“I never would have pegged you for a girl who would jump into a lake fully dressed to save a guy she just met who wasn’t even drowning, but here we are.”
“I’m never going to live that down, am I?” I asked, taking another bite.
“Probably not. I am guessing we will be talking about this day fifty years from now.”
“Oh, really? You think we’re going to know each other in fifty years? That’s a really long time.”
“I have a feeling we are going to know each other for even longer than that.”
I paused, licking the icing from my fingers in a way that would make my mother cringe. “Oh, yeah? And what makes you say that?”
Tuck shrugged. “Don’t you just feel it?”
I did. I knew exactly what he was talking about even though it was absolutely ridiculous. We had only known each other for a day, and yet I had a feeling we would spend many more of them together.
I sat up, crossing my legs in front of me and taking another donut. My mother wasn’t there to slap my hands, and there were so many flavors in that box that I justhadto try.
“Hmm,” I said, pondering him, looking him over. His shirt was in a pile next to us, and I spotted a pack of cigarettes lying next to it. “I don’t think we’ll know each other for very long at all if you keep smoking.” I raised my eyebrows. “I told you, they’ll kill you.”
He chuckled, grabbing another donut and taking a large bite. “Hopefully not for a long time. Still plenty of years to laugh about you jumping into the lake.”
“I bet you don’t even like smoking. You only do it to try and look cool and dangerous,” I mocked, smoking with just my fingers before I blew raspberries. “Which, for the record, you don’t. Quite the opposite, actually.”
Tuck laughed. “I don’t need totryto look cool. I just do.”
I shook my head. “Oh, yeah, I forgot, you’re the town hunk. You know, you haven’t smoked one cigarette since I’ve been with you. If you liked it so much, you would have lit one of those up.” I gestured to the pack.
He tore a piece of the donut off and popped it into his mouth. “I know you don’t like them.”
I looked up at him, watching the way his gray eyes sparkled in the sunlight that poked through the trees. I liked the way he looked at me. Most boys at my school looked at me as though I were a prized heifer, one to show at the fair and win the big blue ribbon. I was nothing more than an achievement or a game to them, but not Tuck Anderson. He looked at me as though I were a person. As though every moment with me should be cherished.
No one had ever considered how I’d felt about something. At least not in a way that mattered. My opinions had always been brushed off like a passing breeze.
I pulled at my wet shirt. “Well, you should quit completely. It’s bad for you.”
“I’ve heard that somewhere,” he replied. “But okay. I will,” he said matter-of-factly.
I bit the inside of my cheek, trying to decide if I believed him. There was no way that Tuck was going to completely stop smoking just because I told him to. I did not possess enough power to be that persuasive.
“Liar,” I challenged him.
He leaned in closer to me and brushed a piece of my hair out of my face. I could feel my pulse quicken. My blood was pounding so hard, I could hear it flowing through my veins.
His voice was quiet. “I wouldn’t lie to you.”
