Page 2 of Forever My Boy

I wanna be holdin’ you

When the dawn is breakin’ through

As yesterday fades with the moon

And forever fills up this room

I wanna wake up with you

I listen and absorb the words, wondering where they came from. How did he learn to write a song?

“How did you get your song on there?”

“It’s a crappy recording,” he says. “But the player did an okay job.”

Player? Like a football player?

“You’re going to move mountains at Texas, Liam. You’ll break all their records and win the Heisman.” My fingers rub up and down, along his T-shirt.

“There’s more to life than football, Jojo.”

He’s funny when he says this. For as long as I’ve known him, he’s always been about football. It’s his dream, and then he sold it to me. We’ll be the couple you see on television, living the American Dream, only more modern.

“Sure, there is,” I say, laughing.

Liam’s quiet for a moment and then leans forward to start his truck. He shifts out of park, and I suppose if he needs to drive, I need to move off his lap. Only, I don’t want to and think if I stay where I am he never has to leave.

Reluctantly, I slide off his lap but don’t go far. He doesn’t allow me to. He holds me, the best he can while he drives me home. My tears come in hot streams, and I know if I don’t stop crying, I’m going to start sobbing. I’m an ugly crier and he doesn’t need to see me like this.

When he pulls in front of my house, I expect him to shut his truck off. To come in and have breakfast even though my parents are dicks, I still want him at the kitchen table eating my mother’s runny eggs and overcooked sausage.

“I love you, Josie Preston. You own my heart. You stole a little piece of it the moment I saw you and you’ve taken the rest every day since,” his voice breaks as he stares out the window. I sniffle and wipe the wetness from my cheeks.

He opens the door to his truck and steps out, tugging me behind him and right into his arms. His hold on me is tight, but not enough. I want to crawl into him and stay there for an eternity. Liam presses me into his truck. It’s one of my favorite things he does. His hands roam to my ass, squeezing it.

“God, I’m going to miss you,” he says as his lips crash into mine. The kiss is rough, and then smooths out as our mouths and tongues move together. I cup his cheeks, hoping my fingertips remember the feel of his stubble.

“I gotta go, babe.”

I nod but refuse to let him go. He can’t leave me.

Liam puts his hands over mine and kisses me again. “I love you, Jojo. You’re forever my girl.”

He pulls my hands away from his face and I unleash an ungodly sound from my throat. Liam jumps into his truck and pulls away without rolling down his window and saying goodbye again. I stand there, in the middle of the street, and wait for the red taillights of his truck to light up.

They don’t.

I hear the front door open but don’t care to look to see which of my parents is standing there. Crossing my arms over my breasts, it’s the only way I can hold my heart into place. His red truck disappears down the road. Even now, I can’t hear the roar of the engine.

“Breakfast is on the table,” my mother’s voice says.

“I’m not hungry.”

“You need to eat,” she says. “Pining over him will make you sick.”

Then maybe he’ll come back.

She goes back into the house while I stand there, watching the roadway.

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