Page 37 of The Promposal

“And go where?” Would it be to the hospital? The place I suspected he’d been sneaking off to, like he had the day I followed him?

“I hadn’t thought that far ahead yet. Maybe we can catch a movie? Something to take your mind off things for a couple of hours.”

It sounded good, but with all the school he’d been skipping lately, I didn’t want to add to it. “You’ve been missing a lot of school.”

“I wouldn’t say I’ve beenmissingit,” he teased. “What can I say? I have a serious case of senioritis. We’re graduating, and I’m passing, and we’ve been already been accepted to UCSC. There doesn’t seem much point in going to school all the time.”

What about me? Spending time with me in class? Walking down the hallway hand in hand? Eating our lunches together? Was I not worth coming to school for?

And how completely insecure would I sound if I asked him any of that?

As if he sensed my hesitation, he said, “Come on. I’ll even let you pick the movie.”

“Yes! Romantic comedy, here we come!”

He let out a fake groan, and I laughed as he put his arm around my shoulders. We walked toward the exit, and I thought of how much I loved this. Feeling like I belonged to him as he held me close and that he belonged to me.

He kissed my left temple, and I sagged against him. Just a little. “I can’t believe I agreed to go see a romantic comedy. I must really love you, Evander Holyfield.”

And for right here, right now, that was enough. I might have wanted (and not wanted) answers, but I would go, and I would be with the beautiful boy I loved and just let myself live in that moment.

I’d already had one ugly confrontation for the day. I wasn’t in the mood for another.

CHAPTER TWELVE

Jake and I sat together as closely as we could in the darkened movie theater. There were surprisingly quite a few people in there with us despite it being the middle of the day. I tried to concentrate on what was happening on the screen, but I couldn’t. If I had thought talking to Jake on the phone about what was going on in his life was too scary, it was about a thousand times worse in person.

All my fears seemed more real when I could see and touch what I’d be losing. And I didn’t want to lose him. I wanted us to get our happily ever after, just like in this Chase Covington movie we were watching. Outside of the casts of John Hughes’s films, Chase Covington was one of my all-time favorite actors, but not even his swooniness could distract me.

I glanced at Jake who, despite complaining about my choice the entire drive over, seemed really into the movie. I thought about what Ella had said. About how she’d wished she’d known that her last date with Trent was the last one. Because if this was my last date with Jake, I wanted to enjoy myself. And not stress myself into an early grave.

I decided I wouldn’t even let his annoying habits get to me. Like how he took big handfuls of popcorn and dropped most of them on the way to his mouth or how he flattened the end of the straw of our shared drink, making it impossible to get any liquid out.

Slipping my free hand into his, I resolved to just live in this moment with him so that if nothing else, at least we’d both have this happy memory to look back on.

I rested my head against his shoulder and sighed happily when I felt his cheek against my hair. “I love you, Jake.”

He kissed my scalp. “I love you too, Tills.”

It was amazing how much his words reassured and soothed me.

Even though I’d been anxious and missed most of the movie, it was still pretty easy to pick up on what was happening. What was it that Jake had said to me when he summarized the plot of the movie version ofPride and Prejudice? Oh, right.He likes her. She likes him. They find out.Pretty much the plot of this movie, too.

The story drew to an end, and I couldn’t help but sigh as the hero pulled the heroine in for one final kiss.

When the lights came back on, Jake asked, “That wasn’t as bad as I thought it was going to be. Do you want to go get some ice cream?”

“How are you still hungry?” I asked him. “You literally just ate an entire large tub of popcorn by yourself.”

He patted his stomach, and I tried not to think about all the delicious muscles I currently couldn’t see. “There’s always room for ice cream.”

“I think ice cream sounds great. Let’s go,” I agreed.

We walked hand in hand out of the theater. When we reached the sidewalk outside, Jake mentioned the name of a soft serve place about three blocks away. The weather was awesome, as always. Bright sun, soft breeze, the air smelled slightly of the ocean—our surroundings were all picturesque and perfect.

It couldn’t have been more romantic.

“You seem ... a little off,” Jake said, kind of killing my vibe.

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