Page 20 of The Right Time

Lucas turned to me, his hand soft in mine. “Your call. But we both know what you want, and this isn’t it.” He was right. But there wasn’t any other option. Not one that would spare me from being sidelined for graduation season.

“Lady’s choice?” The weak question slipped out my lips, the get-out-of-jail clause of this silly game. Any person had an option if they wished to ignore the selection of the bottle and pick another person—a rule Amy had created because she had just started dating Eric and refused to kiss another boy.

I watched Brad’s shoulders sag, my selection a surprise to no one. “Lucas.”

I ignored the cries of Shocker from the group and pushed down the rapidly forming blush on my face as Lucas led us to the closet.

It really was a closet. A pantry closet. Shelves stocked with canned goods, rice, flour, and a hundred other items in the tight space. A hastily thrown blanket sat on the cramped floor. I slipped down to the cool tile as Lucas stepped around me and lit the candle sitting on the lowest shelf. The door shut behind us, and Lucas flicked off the light, and I thought for a second to ask him how many times he’d done this.

Instead, I asked him the more pressing question on my mind. “Why did you…”

“Because…” he started and stopped. “Because I know Brad isn’t the guy you would want in here with you.”

“It’s just a game. A silly game that would be over in seven minutes.”

Lucas rested his hands on my bare knee. My heart skipped at the intimacy of this moment. “Seven minutes that would change our future.”

“Our?”

“Yes, ours.” The hesitation was gone. This was the man who owned my heart. The rare teenage boy who spoke without hesitation, who shared with me his innermost thoughts—who hid nothing from me. “What happens to you happens to me. Don’t you know that by now? We are and always will be connected. I wasn’t going to sit out there for seven minutes and allow our future to slip away.”

“It would take a lot more than seven minutes to change our future,” I joked, needing the humor to lighten the mood. Being this close to him, with the candlelight and his hand on my knees, had me thinking of things best friends shouldn’t think of.

“You don’t really believe that?” he asked, his tone making me question myself.

“How is that possible?” I answered with a question of my own.

“Watch.” His word of warning came too late. His lips were on mine before I could figure out what was going on. Lucas Hobbs was kissing me. Me. His best friend. His next-door neighbor.

His lips were soft, his movements gentle, not rushed. Another followed it and then another, each savory kiss taking me on a journey of discovery. Each kiss painted another part of the picture that slowly came into view.

It only took seven seconds for my mind to get over the shock. It took only seven more seconds for my body to realize this was what it had always desired.

With each kiss, I relaxed. The initial shock dissipated with the whimper of desire from my throat. Each kiss stirred a dormant need that lived just below the foundation of friendship we had built.

My lips parted, and his tongue swept in, and I knew he was right. I didn’t need seven minutes. I wouldn’t need one minute to know my entire future had shifted. A new door opening to the possibilities I didn’t have the courage to let myself see as real. A future that had always included Lucas but now in a whole new role.

His hands framed my face as our kisses grew in intensity. Grunts and groans filled the small space as we blew past first base and headed toward second. It was fresh territory for me—for us—and I reminded myself to enjoy every second. I lost count of the number of kisses we shared. I lost count of the number of affirmations Lucas whispered in my ear. You’re incredible. I’ve wanted to do this for so long. I can’t believe we’re finally doing this.

And then it was over. The sixty-second warning knock on the door. The giggles from the girls, the chuckles from the guys, and our perfect little world evaporated.

“Everything can change in seven minutes,” Lucas grunted, adjusting his T-shirt, which was half-off.

I reached under my blouse and adjusted my bra, the heat of the blush still on my cheeks. The trajectory of my future had shifted and now pointed in a new direction.

He avoided eye contact as he helped me to my feet. I missed that first clue, but there was no mistaking the second one. He pressed his back to the door, blocking our exit.

“I deferred my freshman year.” He spat out the words, and I knew I wasn’t the only one racing off to a different future.

His news caught me off guard. Lucas and I didn’t have secrets. Or at least none that big. He had gotten a full scholarship to a school thousands of miles away, our dream of going to the same local college disappearing the day the letter arrived. Lucas had always been concerned about the cost of college. His parents had scraped and put away a bit of money, but it would never be enough for four years at the local university. The scholarship was the answer to the guilt he felt for taking money he knew his parents could use. He was more than willing to self-sacrifice the dream we had joked together about since middle school. Tuition, room, and board completely covered for him; all he had to do was exile himself to the other side of the country, away from his family.

Away from me.

With his mention of a deferral right after us kissing, it could only mean one thing. He’s not ready to leave me. He wants an us.

I pressed my hands in prayer against my chest and looked up at his concerned eyes. “I didn’t know you were thinking of a deferral.” I stepped closer to him. “Does that mean we get to do this again and again—at least for the next year?” My question wasn’t subtle, my need for another kiss growing as I took another step toward him.

His hands met mine, halting my progress. “I told my parents to keep the college fund money to put into that retirement fund they keep putting off.” His non-answer was the first clue that penetrated the love cloud hovering over my head. “They only agreed after forcing me to take one-third and go see the world, something they both wished they had spent more time doing themselves.”

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