Page 20 of Forever Yours

And it gave me hope that everything was going to be okay.

CHAPTER 7

In the last five minutes, the horizon had lightened in an arch of slate blue with a pale-yellow halo, signaling the imminent rise of the morning sun.

“It’s just up ahead.”

“That’s what you said a mile ago,” I panted.

I hadn’t run with Julien in a while, and it showed. I was in shape, but not inJulienshape. He ran every freaking day, sometimes twice, and that wasn’t counting all the miles he logged on the soccer field. He looked fresh as a fucking daisy, whereas I was dying. Sweat that had nothing to do with the stifling humidity poured into my face and stung my eyes. My legs felt like two of those inflatable wacky tube men blowing around in a stiff wind. And my lungs literally burned. I was also sleep deprived. I hadn’t stopped going from one place to the other since Dad and I packed up the SUV yesterday morning and moved me into my dorm.

“I swear it’s right up ahead once we crest the hill. Perfect spot to watch the sunrise.”

He said that without pause, whereas I couldn’t string two words together without wheezing like I was having an asthma attack.

“I… want… a donut…for break… fast.”

Julien threw his head back and laughed. Full and loud and beautiful. And that right there was why I would put myself through this horrible torture every damn morning if he asked.

He leaned over and kissed my sweaty cheek. “I’d say you earned it.”

“Damn… right… I… do.” And coffee. Lots and lots of coffee.

When we got to the top of the hill, Julien reached for my hand and brought it to his mouth for a kiss.

“This is one of the places I wanted you to see.”

During our long daily talks over the past month since he’d been at CU training while I was still in Highland, Julien spent his free time exploring the area. Long walks, longer runs. Trips to the beach which was a short thirty-minute Uber ride away. That was one of the appeals of CU: its proximity to the Outer Banks and the gorgeous white-sand beaches of coastal North Carolina.

I’d been to Topsail Island a couple of times with Julien and his family. Dad would also take me camping at Cape Hatteras every year during the summer before school started. We didn’t go this year. He suggested it several times. With everything going on with the guys and wanting to spend every second I could with Jessi before she left for New York, I told him it could wait until next summer.

I realized yesterday right after he left that I was a dumbass. Who knew how many more beach trips he and I would get to take together? Dad was also alone for the first time ever, just like me. He worked long hours as a sheriff doing a dangerous job. I had Julien, Fallon, and the guys. A roommate and a college full of people around me. Dad had no one. Who would take care of him with me gone?

“Where’d you go?” Julien asked, pulling me down to the grass to sit between his legs.

Lost in thought, I hadn’t noticed where we’d ended up. The top of the world, or as close as we could get to it at this elevation, which wasn’t that high, but the scenic beauty laid out before us made up for it. Long grass the color of wheat bent in the breeze. Wildflowers offered bright pops of color in reds, yellows, and purples. The green grass we sat on was surprisingly prickly, not like the soft Bermuda grass that covered the campus grounds. There was a lone oak tree that looked like it would provide little shade against the midday sun, its trunk and branches twisted at odd angles.

Julien wrapped his arms around my front and pulled me to him.

“Get ready,” he whispered near my ear, like anything louder would ruin the serene moment.

Just as he said it, the top of the sun crested, blinding and intense. A new morning. And it was awesome.

And very, very bright. I left my sunglasses in the dorm along with my phone. Putting a hand up to shield my eyes, I glanced over my shoulder at Julien.

“Thank you for bringing me. I haven’t watched a sunrise since the last time Dad and I went camping.”

He kissed the tip of my nose. “I saw this hill from the balcony of the condo.”

He pointed straight ahead and to the right. The CU campus and the small college town it was nestled in stretched before us, and it took me a second to locate the buildings that made up his condominium complex. Everything looked so different from this perspective.

“You need to start jogging with me again, then we can watch the sun come up every morning together.”

That startled a laugh out of me. I liked my sleep. Waking up at five in the morning to run ten miles, no matter how gorgeous the sunrise, wasn’t something I wanted to do on the regular. But I’d do it for him.

“Maybe.”

Running his fingers through the damp curls at the back of my head, Julien said, “First day of class tomorrow. You excited?”

---