Jamie nodded. “Do you think he’ll still want to throw a football around with the crippled kid?”
I tried my best to hold in the tears, forcing a laugh and jabbing Jamie in the side with my elbow. “Well, he datesme, so I think his standards are pretty low.”
Jamie snorted in laughter. “That’s true,” he noted, wrapping an arm around my shoulders.
I felt a small smile break out across my face. No matter how bad things got, making fun of myself was always a surefire way to cheer Jamie up.
***
“I have to go”
“No you don’t.”
“I really, really do.”
“Nah,” Sebastian breathed against my collarbone. “I think you can stay a little while longer.”
His mouth trailed wet kisses up my neck as his hand worked its way beneath the skirt of my work uniform. I pressed back against the smooth leather of the passenger seat, cursing the confined space that was his Mercedes. I had no easy escape from his persistent, wandering hands and, while that was normally not a problem for me, right now I had to get home and finish a mountain of homework before school tomorrow.
Plus, I wasn’t in the best mood. He’d picked me up from the diner after my shift and driven us out to one of our favorite spots by the lake. In the summer, it was a hive of activity for daytime swimmers and late-night barbecuers alike, but the arrival of autumn left it still and quiet. With the moon casting a perfect reflection on the mirror-still water, it was perfect place to be alone to talk — ornottalk — depending on the mood.
Tonight had been a lot of conversation and very little physical interaction. As was the norm lately, our discussion had drifted to the coming end of senior year and college applications. Bash had applied to every Ivy League school, of course, and his father had his sights set on Princeton, where his son could carry on the family legacy. My parents didn’t even know I was applying to state school and, if they had, they’d likely have discouraged it.
Suffice to say, it wasn’t my favorite topic.
“I applied to another school today,” Bash told me, tracing one of his fingers across my upturned palm.
“Mmm,” I murmured noncommittally, not really caring which pretentious school was undoubtedly preening over his application at this very moment. I didn’t want to talk about the fact that in a year’s time he’d be thousands of miles across the country, in California or the northeast, while I’d still be in Jackson. Or, if by some slim chance I managed to snag a full academic scholarship to UGA, in Athens. The most likely scenario would find him returning home for his first winter break with a new collegiate, senator-approved girlfriend in tow, while I workedsixty hour weeks atMinnie’sin order to make ends meet.
“No interest in which school, huh?” he asked, calling out my indifference.
“I’m sorry, I’m being terrible.” I sighed, turning to face him with an apologetic look. “I’m probably the most unsupportive girlfriend of all time. Tell me, please.”
“I don’t know, maybe I shouldn’t tell you now,” he teased, one side of his mouth lifting in a half grin.
I looked at him with pleading, puppy-dog eyes until he caved.
“Fine, fine, I’ll tell you.” Bash grinned fully at me. “Go Bulldogs!”
I froze, stunned. “You applied to UGA?”
He nodded, a self-satisfied smirk crossing his face. “Well, it wouldn’t be showing much state pride if I didn’t at least apply.”
“Does your dad know?”
Sebastian’s grin faded slightly and he shook his head. “No. But I’m the one who has to spend four years getting a degree I don’t want in political science — I figure I should at least get to pick which school I receive the damn thing from.”
“You did this for me,” I whispered, grinning at him. I couldn’t believe it.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” He shrugged casually. “I happen to have a vested interest in the UGA football team. I have absolutely no opinion whatsoever about whether the girl I love happens to be attending that same school next fall.”
My world stopped as his words registered.The girl I love.
He’d said it, right? Out loud and intentionally? I hadn’t hallucinated or experienced severe brain trauma or fallen across some kind of dimensional shift into a world where our deepest desires were fulfilled?
My mouth was gaping like a fish and my thoughts were a tangle of elated disbelief as I tried desperately to formulate a reply —thereply. Because there was really only one thing to say.
But Sebastian didn’t give me a chance to say it.