Page 42 of Only You

“Yeah.”

His lips touched mine, and my knees shook. Because I did like it. I really,reallydid.

The whole of summer seemed to live in the moment—hot and bright between us. Lips to lips, my heart pounding, everything dissolving away except for what mattered most.

Us.

***

After we kissedby the river, Daniel took me by the hand and led me and Milky Way back toward the house. Neither of us said much, we were both too giddy, smiling and laughing together. Over nothing, over everything. Over whatever this dizzy pure feeling was called.

When we reached the stairs up to the deck, Daniel asked, “Do you want to go up to my room?” His hands sought mine.

“Your room?” I gazed up at him.

“Yeah, it’s…it’s up to you.” He licked his lips, his breath hitching.

If I went upstairs with him, we’d kiss more, and we might even end up naked together. My heart trip hammered.Yes, I wanted that, but everything was moving so fast, too. I hadn’t even expected this to be a date…

Daniel caught my hesitation. “Or we could grab some cookies from the kitchen and go back up on the deck to talk about whatever. Anything. It doesn’t matter to me.”

“No,” I said, shaky excitement washing over me. “Let’s go to your room.”

Daniel’s smile, as easy as it had been this summer, took my breath away. “Let’s grab cookies too,” he whispered. “Now that I’ve mentioned them, I want some.”

I laughed.

Once a bag of Chips Ahoy had been retrieved from the kitchen, Daniel took my hand and led me back outside and then up to the deck. “We’ll go in this way. My room’s on the back side of the house anyway.”

On the deck, I grabbed my backpack. Daniel escorted me through French doors into an upstairs living space that adjoined a hallway. Hand in hand, we headed down a long hallway with multiple open doors.

While the downstairs spaces were decorated nicely, the areas upstairs, like the hallway, seemed unfinished. It felt like there should be pictures or art on the walls, but they were bare. Like no one had ever taken the time to choose anything. Or perhaps after Daniel’s father’s death, there hadn’t been enough money or inclination.

When we reached his room, he locked the door behind us and leaned back against it. I turned around, gazing at muted, calm blue walls, and the framed posters from bands I knew Daniel liked: R.E.M., The Church, The Waterboys, and The Cure.

“How long has this been your bedroom?”

“Since I was a teenager. The house I grew up in was different from this. It was large enough for all of us, but cozy. Like a big cottage.”

“So this place doesn’t feel like your childhood home?”

Daniel shook his head. “Not really.”

Taking my backpack off and putting it on his big desk by the largest window, I looked at the bookshelf next to it. It was full of textbooks, and a few books containing information about architecture, sample designs, and building plans. Above the shelf, there was a framed blueprint. When I leaned closer to see it better, Daniel said, “My mom had that done. It was my first design for a class.”

Stretched out on the wall above the window there was a colorful, framed banner that read,Danny, are you okay?

I laughed.

“Yeah,” he said, smiling. “Kevin gave me that back in high school. It’s still funny so…I keep it.”

“It’s great.”

“C’mon,” he said, motioning toward the bed. “Let’s sit.”

There was a beanbag chair by the window, and of course the chair at his desk, but he’d motioned toward the queen-sized bed. As I sat on the corner of it, I almost started chuckling. This was real, and it was happening. Somehow, despite everything, Daniel had forgiven me.

Daniel sat with his back against the headboard on his side of the bed, and he patted the space next to him before tearing open the bag of cookies.

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