I grabbed her and pulled her close, crushing her against my chest. “Of course, I do. As soon as I figure out where I’ll end up, we’ll figure it out.” Even staying in town didn’t feel as scary anymore. If I had Bay, the void of my life after Greenwood High wasn’t a pit of despair, but a tunnel I’d come out on the other side of.

Catching her chin with my fingers, I tilted her head up and captured her lips with mine. The electricity I’d only ever felt seconds before the first play on the field ricocheted through my body.

The hum of her soft moan pinballed its way through my body, revving up every engine.

I broke the kiss first, when her fingers snaked their way under my t-shirt. Staring into her eyes, fear grabbed me in a chokehold, slamming me against the wall so hard my ears rang.

This was too good. She was too sweet. When did this all get ripped away from me?

She ran her fingers along the side of my face and stared into my eyes like I held the keys to the universe, like I was someone who could do anything. Holding her against me with her sugary-sweet taste lingering on my lips, I believed her.

With her in my arms, the unknown wasn’t some monster lurking in the dark, threatening to leave me battered and bruised. It was a place I could finally let my guard down completely.

But what happened when we graduated? When her California adventure changed what she thought of me? We were new. This was new, and as much as I wanted to leave an everlasting mark on her soul and in her heart, could we withstand the end of this chapter of our lives?

Jumping straight into college with a fresh-minted relationship seemed like a recipe for disaster.

I dropped my hand to the back of her neck and dove back into her kiss, desperate to widen the gap in her heart and wedge myself in before she was too far away.

A train was hurtling toward a ravine, and I was laying the track as quickly as I could, but what happened if I wasn’t fast enough?

24

Bay

He broke off his kiss and stared at me with worry clouding his gaze. The desperate edge of his lips and teeth against mine was still there as we panted, laying down on his bed.

I wrapped my arms tight around him, squeezing him as hard as I could. The solid mass of muscle barely moved, but I wanted him to feel my arms even after I left. Why hadn’t I taken my guitar outside the day I moved in? Hell, why hadn’t I taken it the first day of school and played it in front of everyone? With his chin rested on top of my head and his heart pounding against my cheek, playing and singing in front of the entire school didn’t make me want to puke. Not that I’d do it, but the thought didn’t send panic chills racing down my spine.