Page 25 of Reckless Youth
Cam was my strong superhero while Sage was my tender-hearted, yet tortured soul.
And I loved them both.
I stretched out a hand to cup Sage’s scruffy cheek, my fingers lingering over the jawline before I flicked my thumb over his bottom lip. He surprised me by tasting the pad of my thumb with his tongue before he sucked it into his mouth.
I replaced my thumb with my mouth, kissing Sage soundly and thoroughly, as he returned it in kind.
Then I pulled away, leaving Sage with his mouth open and eyes half-lidded, and kissed Cam just as thoroughly.
At that moment, I knew our lives would never be the same, but there was nothing I could do to stop the momentum.
Or the feelings that grew between us.
Chapter 13
“I’ve decidedI’m not going to college,” Cam announced, as the three of us laid out on blankets by the river.
It was early April, but the spring weather had warmed the earth and kissed the skies with its blazing sun and heat that only the south can give that time of year.
Sage’s eyes narrowed, and my mouth dropped open, eyes popping like wide-saucers.
“What?” Sage and I both exclaimed simultaneously, my voice two octaves higher than his.
Cam flopped on his belly, the sheen from his sweat glistening all along his exposed back. He’d filled out so much this past winter, bulking up with weights and getting ready for swimming and baseball season.
His head cradled in his locked arms, face turned toward Sage and me. I openly stared, waiting for him to explain.
“I’m going to enlist in the Air Force.”
It didn’t surprise me to learn he was going to follow in his father’s footsteps, but it was a shock that he’d leave behind a college education, one that he had expressed wanting.
Cam was smart and well-educated and had a scholarship waiting for him. Plus, we had decided we’d be going to the same college. In March, I’d received my acceptance letters to both Emory and Vanderbilt and had chosen Vanderbilt for a plethora of reasons, but mainly because Cam would be there, too.
While Sage wasn’t going to attend school, his plans were to move to Nashville to begin his music career. My heart had soared that day when we’d realized we’d remain together even after high school and there was even a possibility of moving in together. The idea had my heart soaring.
But Cam’s announcement broke our pledge to one another. And subsequently shattered my heart.
I bolted up from my spot beside him, jumping to my feet, ready to march off toward my house.
“You can’t go. You promised me, Cam Lucas. You promised you’d always be there for me.”
I began to run, crying as I did. When I stopped just short of my house, I heard footsteps come up behind me. It wasn’t Cam who followed me, but Sage. My body was still warm from the sun, and my breathing labored, but I shivered until he threw his arms around me in a supportive embrace.
No matter what turmoil he had going on in his own world, Sage was always the one to calm me down. Soothe my aching heart. He’d sing to me when I was feeling down or depressed. Even though I had everything in life – loving parents, a good home, a good life - and he was born with the short end of the stick to be raised by a hateful man, who didn’t know how to love a son, Sage still knew how to love.
“Shhh. It’s okay, sweetheart. Let it go. There’s nothing we can do to change his mind. He’s gonna do what his father wants. It’s important to him to make his father proud.”
I was crying and in an angry state of mind. My tears streamed over my cheeks, dropping like rose petals onto Sage’s T-shirt covered chest.
Gripping onto the soft cotton with my fists, I sobbed quietly, letting out all the anger and hurt that brewed inside, all the while being reassured by my best friend.
“He’s made up his mind, London. If he doesn’t do this, he’ll feel guilty and thenhe’llbe unhappy.”
I sniffled and snorted disgruntledly. “What about my happiness? Our happiness? How can he do this to us? Leave us like this at the last minute, breaking all his promises and our plans?”
Sage stroked my sun-drenched hair with one hand, the other gently caressing my back.
“I don’t know, babe, but I’m sure it wasn’t easy for him, you know that. He always weighs all his options before making a decision and I’m sure it ate at him. He has his reasons and we need to support and respect them.”
