Page 50 of From Me to You

She tapped a finger along her folded arm. “You are right. Let’s get this over with.”

“You need to wear this again. It will remind him of that night.” She wiggled her eyebrows as she lifted that little white lace dress that I wore to the Red Rock Hall. I blushed as I thought about that night—my first kiss with Jay, my very first kiss ever. Katy evidently grilled me more about that night, and I couldn’t help but confess to her that we did kiss that night.

“Really? Would he even remember it?” I asked as I took the dress from her. The soft, smooth fabric glided over my fingers.

“Emmie would never forget anything about you, so yeah, really. Trust me, it is the best strategy.” She winked.

“Okay,” I mumbled, placing it in my bag.

“Next.” She clapped. “We need lingerie, very hot lingerie.”

This was going to be a long day. I exhaled.

“Girls, I made cream soda for everyone,” Aunty M hollered from downstairs a while later. Katy had finally helped me packeverything that I needed. Which wasn’t a lot. According to her, the lesser the better.

“Coming, Aunty M,” I called out as we all trotted downstairs.

“Thanks. Honestly, this is the best drink ever. The second-best, at least. Sorry, Marie, but nothing can beat Lola’s chocolate milkshake,” Katy moaned, chugging her drink.

Aunty M’s cream lemon soda was the one good recipe that she learned from Grandma. Katy wouldn’t be praising her if she had Aunty M’s healthy chocolate milkshake.

“This is really good, Marie. Thank you,” Lily said with a small smile on her face.

“You should take some for the boys.” Aunty M handed us a pitcher of the creamy goodness.

The boys, aka The Four Foxes, were currently practicing at Jay’s garage. I gladly took the pitcher from Aunty M because it was a great excuse to see Jay, even though I just saw him about two hours ago. Is it possible to miss someone that you already had in your life? Yes, I think it was.

The girls and I made our way to the garage. Loud music blared through the door as Jay’s beautiful, soulful voice filled the air. They were singing one of their new numbers, ‘Love Like Hell’, which soon became one of my favorites, but I didn’t love it as much as I loved ‘Brown-eyed Girl’—a song that would always have a special place in my heart.

We entered the room and took a seat on the futon. The guys still played on. Jay’s eyes were glued to mine the minute I walked in. I sighed happily. God, I loved him. I loved watching the band practice— it was like our very own concert. Only much more raw. Much more real.

Jay was on me the second they finished. Sweaty and all. But, oh, so delicious.

“Jay!” I giggled as he lifted me up, mashing me against his toasty warmth.

He pulled his face away from my neck and took my mouth in a long, deep kiss that electrified my soul.

“Hi,” I whispered as we came up for air.

“Hey, sweetheart,” he whispered back, still holding me as he placed a soft kiss on my nose.

I tightened my hands around his neck. “I brought you Aunty M’s cream lemon soda.”

“Hmm,” he said, still showering my face with soft kisses.

“Get a room or not. I would like to see you guys do the needful. I don’t mind,” Mikey chimed.

It felt like I was being doused in a bucket of cold water when I realized that we were not alone. I peered around Jay and saw that everyone was watching us with a knowing smile on their face.

I flushed scarlet as I tried to pull away from Jay. Who wouldn’t let me go and instead pulled me into his side and dropped his hand around my shoulders. I buried myself by his side.

“Fuck off, asshole,” Jay said as he flipped off Mikey. “Now where is Marie’s lemon soda that my girl got for me?”

Soon we all settled in as the guys had their drinks, which they finished in less than a minute and went in for seconds.

“I need to meet the woman who made this,” Mikey moaned, chugging the soda.

“I don’t think Evy would want you to meet her aunt, Mikey,” Matt explained.

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