Page 87 of Love Me Steadfast
“Hey!” I cry.
“You gonna trust me next time?”
“Maybe.”
She grabs another berry from a vine out of sight and turns to me, her eyes shaded by her hat but a hint of a smile on her lips. “It’s a good one, promise.”
I open my mouth and she drops the berry in. The sweetness explodes on my tongue as the berry melts. “Wow.”
“See?” She smiles.
We spend the next hour filling our buckets, the shadows growinglonger. She tells me about studying for the upcoming PSAT, about the finale of her summer symphony and how the guy who runs it is organizing a trip for the kids to play in Europe next summer.
“How long would you be gone?”
Her nimble fingers flit across the vines. In order to keep up, I’ve had to abandon entire sections. “Three weeks.”
“Are you gonna try out?”
Up close like this, I can see each tiny freckle scattered across her nose.
“I have until February to decide, but I might as well audition. For the experience.”
We talk about football and how this is Theo’s last year while my bucket grows heavy and the heat of the afternoon softens, the sky turning a deeper blue. Theo’s been promised a partial academic scholarship to Western, but the only way he’ll be able to afford four years plus medical school after that is if football can pick up the rest of his undergrad. That’s my goal this year. Make him shine so they won’t be able to resist.
“Here’s a good one,” I say as the berry in my fingers falls from the vine with only the slightest tug—a surefire sign that it’s perfectly ripe.
I pinch it between my purple-stained fingers and offer it. She leans sideways and opens her mouth. Her hat is tipped back, revealing her inquisitive eyes. As she lets me drop the berry on her tongue, I savor the little moan of pleasure and her easy smile.
“Yum,” she says.
“You’ve got, um…” I shift my bucket handle to my left hand so I can point at her cheek. “Purple there.”
She cracks a mischievous grin. “Is it bothering you, QB?”
Now it’s my turn to roll my eyes. “Definitely not.” In fact, it’s cute as hell.
Her tongue slides toward where I pointed, but she’s not going be able to reach the place. “Where?”
Laughing, I touch the place just above her cheekbone with the tip of my thumb. “There.”
To my surprise, she swipes my cheek with her finger, then laughs. “There, now we match.”
“Hey!” I try to rub it off, but my fingers are almost black, and my attempt just makes Charlotte laugh.
So I grab a berry and squish it on her chin.
Her eyes widen in shock, and I have to clutch my stomach I’m laughing so hard. Which makes me miss her reaching into her bucket and throwing a berry at my face. For someone who sucks at sports, her aim is dead on, nailing me below my eye. It must be a really ripe one because it explodes on my skin.
“You mess with the bull, sweetheart, you get the horns. Is that what you want?” I wipe what I can with the edge of my thumb, then suck on it, never taking my eyes off her.
A surprise flash of heat flickers in her gaze and a pink blush colors her freckled cheeks.
We stare at each other for a tense moment, my heart pounding and a painful ache starting to pulse through my core.
Shit. I called her sweetheart again.
But I think she liked it. That, or watching me suck my finger clean.
