“And they don’t know you like I do.” He twirled a lock of my hair around his finger. “There’s a whole world of people out there who have no idea how amazing you are.”

I stared into his eyes, still feeling like I’d wake up at any second and the past three months would all be a dream. “The most important people know.”

He smiled the kind of smile that made me forget to breathe. The hint of dimples he’d deny until the day he died dented his cheeks and softened all those sharp, hard lines he wore most of the time.

Then his face turned serious. He stared into my eyes and licked his lips.

“I don’t want you to say anything, okay?”

“Like, ever again?” I smiled, but he still wore the serious face that made my stomach leap into my throat.

His finger ran across my lips. “Smartass.”

I nodded.

He let out a breath like he’d been holding onto that for a while. “I love you, Bay.”

My startled gasp was muffled by a long deep kiss in our private prom at the overlook. The L word.

The words lodged in my throat. I’d already lost so much, and in two weeks we’d graduate and I’d lose even more. Leave it up to Dare to make me wish I had longer in Greenwood.

We danced again and every time I opened my mouth to say the words, he kissed me instead. It wasn’t the worst way to shut me up. On the drive back to my house, we held hands like he never wanted to let me go.

I never wanted to be let go.

Stepping out of his car, I took his hand and he walked me to the front door.

Still wearing his coat, I rested my hands on either side of his neck, brushing my thumbs against his skin. His pulse jumped wildly under my touch.

Leaning in, I pressed my lips against his, delving deep into the full Dare tasting menu.

I infused that kiss with the three words I couldn’t say—not yet.

His hands were on the sides of my face and his lips were hungry, seeking and deepening it until I was lightheaded, clinging to him to keep my feet under me.

Resting his forehead against mine, he gave me one more kiss as I stepped into my house and closed the door behind me.

The flash of his headlights ran across the front of house, and then he was gone. Walking up the steps to my bedroom, I couldn’t help wondering if there hadn’t been another first we’d somehow skipped over tonight. He’d been the perfect gentleman and I swore, if he penned a letter asking my mother if she could accompany us on our next promenade around the grounds of a manor neither of us owned, I’d lose my mind. All my best-laid plans to get laid hadn’t worked, so it seemed I’d need to take a much more direct approach to keep my football player boyfriend from leaving town with the lingering question of who would be my first still hanging in the air.