“I want to be with you, but we can take things slow. I know school is your priority right now, and I’m looking into a number of opportunities with various start-ups in the Valley. I haven’t decided if I want to work or if I just want to invest, but I’ll keep myself busy and out of your hair. I’ll get my own place—”

She holds up a hand and glares, effectively silencing me with one look.

“You’ll do no such thing,” she quips.

“Wait. What are you objecting to? Me getting a job, or—”

“You getting your own place!” she exclaims. “That won’t work, Dem. My schedule is packed as it is, and if you’re planning to work in the Valley, we’ll never see each other!”

She lowers her voice and continues.

“If we’re going to do this, then I’m all in, too. You’ll move in with me. We’ll spend every minute of free time together. If you’re gonna be here, be here. Be with me,” she appeals, squeezing my hand again for emphasis.

My heart practically leaps out of my chest.

“Get the fuck over here right now,” I demand, pulling her arm gently until she’s rising up and joining me on my side of the booth.

I can’t hold out any longer—I have to kiss her. The moment our bodies connect, sparks fly, and the connection that was forged up against a clock tower and hidden in an alleyway erupts into so much more. I kiss her like there’s no tomorrow. Then I slow my pace and kiss her like we have all the time in the world. When I finally pull away, I keep her face cupped in my hands.

“Do you know that I love you?” I ask as I catch my breath.

She bites down on that pouty lower lip that I’ve fantasized about for weeks before replying. “I do now.”

“You didn’t know before?”

She smiles sweetly and kisses me again, wrapping me in her arms before whispering in my ear.

“I knew it,” she confesses. “I just wasn’t willing to admit it to myself if we couldn’t have forever. I love you, too, Dempsey Haas.”

My insides light up at her declaration, and I’m tempted to pull her onto my lap right here in the middle of this damn coffee shop until I remember she said her place is just two blocks away.

“We can have forever now,” I vow. “It’s you and me, baby girl. We were always meant to be more than just one summer.”

Dempsey

Epilogue: Two Years Later