Page 14 of One More Round

I catch up to her near the bottom of the ladder.

Grabbing her arm, I spin her around.

"Dang it, Gia. Talk to me.”

Tears stream down her face as she looks at me.

"Gia," I whisper.

"I'm leaving, Simon. You can't tell me you love me right before I leave and expect everything to be OK!"

I open my mouth to reply, but she stops me.

"No. That's a shit thing to do and I kind of hate you for it."

I scoff at this. She could never hate me. She must see the mirth in my eyes because she huffs, lifts her hands, and pushes me in the chest.

"Really. I do."

I grab her hands and hold them in place.

"No, you don't."

Another eye roll, but this time she doesn't try to pull her hands away.

"You love me, G. Admit it. Finally admit it out loud."

Her eyes start to water, and her face begins to soften.

She nods as fresh tears start to fall. I pull her to me, wrapping my arms around the only girl I'll ever love.

I kiss the top of her head and take a deep breath, trying to commit her smell to memory. Two weeks ago, I would have told you I would always know her scent: orange blossoms. But now … now that the day is near that I won't get to see her every day … now I fear I'll forget, and that's the last thing I want.

She pushes away slightly and looks up at me.

I don't know if we've ever been this close. This intimate. We hug. She rests her head on my shoulder as we gently hold hands.

She looks longingly into my eyes and whispers to me.

"Simon, I love you so much it hurts. It's breaking my heart that I have to leave you."

I gulp. Hearing her say it sends a jolt of electricity through my body. Instinctively, I pull her even closer to me.

"I didn't want us to say it because it makes it all more real. And so much harder to leave," she tells me.

She pulls her bottom lip into her mouth and I can't help but break eye contact to look at her lips. I want to taste them so badly.

Without thinking, I lean down and brush my lips against hers.

A small gasp escapes from the very lips I've thought about kissing for years.

I push my luck and kiss her again, this time with more confidence. She whispers my name. Then her arms are around my neck and she is kissing me back with fervor.

I push my hands through her hair and pull her as close to me as possible.

This isn't my first kiss. But the other girls? They were just practice. I've been waiting for this kiss my whole life.

I nudge her lips with my tongue and she opens them willingly. We stand in my backyard, under the old tree house. The moon, still high in the sky, is just now replacing the sun for the day.

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