Page 68 of Duke's Daring Bookworm
“Didn’t expect to see you,” Mr. Jameson said. “Are you here to apologize for the party?”
“Yes, sir.”
“You can sit on the porch.” He waved at the porch swing and then stepped outside to work more on his front flower bed.
“I’m sorry,” I said as soon as we were sitting. She sat so close to me, and I wanted to reach out and wrap my arms around her. I didn’t know when I would see her again, and that thought frightened me.
“What happened there? I still don’t…” she didn’t finish, but I understood what she wanted to ask, anyway.
“I fucked up. Worse than I ever have.” She didn’t contradict me or try to placate me, and I was glad about that. I don’t think I could stand it if she tried to make me feel better after everything that happened.
“I’m joining the Marines. I need… I don’t know, structure, discipline, something. I can’t turn out like him.” She knew who I meant. That was the beauty of knowing someone your entire life, there weren’t secrets. She knew everything about me, except, apparently, how I felt about her.
“Oh. Will I… will I see you before you go?” She grabbed my hand and held it tight, like she could keep me here just by that touch alone.
“I leave right after graduation.”
“Oh.”
“I’ll be back.” My hand burned where she held it, and I soaked in every bit of that touch I could. I had a feeling I would need to hold on to it for many years to come.
“Of course.” She leaned over and gave me a kiss on my cheek. Jenkins waved to me then. There was still more we needed to do before basic training, and I was running out of time to do it. “Please be safe, Sam. I don’t know what I would do without you in my life.”
I vowed to myself that she would never need to find out. I would do whatever I could to be in Lily’s life forever.
Chapter Twenty-Six
PRESENT DAY
Iforgave you for that night,” Lily said as we stood in the maze, the crickets our only companions. We had stopped dancing, but I couldn’t let her go. Not now, after all this time. “Almost right away. By the time you came to tell me you were going to the Marines, I’d already forgiven you.”
I closed my eyes and pulled her close. I knew this. Looking back, I could see it clearly, though at the time I was hurting, lost, and confused. I kissed her forehead, needing to be closer to her. I moved to her eyelids, her cheeks, her nose, and finally her lips, needing to taste her, to know she was mine, at least for now.
“Can we go home? I’m tired of the party and I have ideas I want to try.” I knew exactly what her ideas were, and I could never say no to her. I wouldn’t even dream of it.
“Your place or mine?” I let hergo, but grabbed her hand and led us out of the maze. She hadn’t gone far, but had found one of the corners that could trap a person if they didn’t know any better.
“As long as it isn’t here, it doesn’t matter.” I knew ‘here’ meant this house and not the maze. On the way out, I picked up her shoes and cell phone.
“Oh, that’s where those went.” She laughed, easy and light, and took them from me. A weight I didn’t realize I carried lifted, just a little.
“You mean you didn’t leave your phone almost in the fountain on purpose?” I teased her, hoping to ease this tension between us a little more.
“Of course, I did. How else were you going to find me? I needed to leave breadcrumbs.” She sat on the edge of the fountain and let me help her put her shoes back on. I kissed the inside of her ankles before helping her stand again. I liked it better when she was barefoot, when she was just Lily, perfect and my best friend, but we had to walk over gravel, and I didn’t want her to hurt her feet.
I waved Jenkins down when we walked by the garage. As expected, he had stayed up, ready to take us away from here. I needed to give him another raise.
“You don’t have to say goodbye to anyone?” She asked with a look on her face I couldn’t quite figure out, somehow unsure and resigned.
“No. I told you earlier, I did everything I needed and the rest of the night I was yours.” I ducked in beside her. We were in the back of the big limo, the one we only used for nights like tonight.
She slid over to me as soon as I closed the door and rested her head on my shoulder.
“How private is this limo?” She looked at the privacy screen between the front and back. She played with thebuttons on my suit, and my heart rate picked up as I followed the direction of her thoughts.
“Very.”
“Will you tie me up with my panties and fuck me in here?” I nearly choked on my spit. She always surprised me.
