I nodded. “Yeah. I know you will.”
“But teaching would be a great job when we start a family. Although once I’m an attorney, I think I’d prefer you to stay home with the kids anyway, so it doesn’t really matter what you decide to do for now. I never went to daycare and I don’t think I’d like our kids being raised by strangers.”
I nodded. His words rubbed me wrong. I was a seventeen-year-old virgin who’d lived in one place her entire life. I wasn’t ready to think about daycare. Between Mama and Alec, they had the rest of my life figured out, and it didn’t sound all that exciting to me at the moment.
“Are all the girls meeting us at the lake?” he asked.
“Yep. And Hayden and Ty are coming, right?”
“Yeah. I think Hayden’s going to throw the after-party for homecoming. His parents are going out of town.”
Coco had been working on the after-party for weeks. It was our senior year, and she did not want us to end up out at a bonfire on the lake in our homecoming gowns the way we had every year before now.
“That sounds good. And Karina can’t hang on you if I’m there, right?”
We’d argued over the fact that I’d heard she’d been all over him several weeks ago, and he’d apologized profusely and swore nothing happened. I believed Alec. He wasn’t a liar or a cheat. We’d been broken up when he’d been with Karina, and I couldn’t fault him that, though I hadn’t been happy about the breakup in the first place.
“I’ve made it very clear to her that you and I are together. You have nothing to worry about there.”
I nodded. I wasn’t the jealous type, but it bothered me that I had so many insecurities when it came to Alec and Karina. That wasn’t me, and I didn’t like how it made me feel. Was I just being jealous, or were these warning bells?
“She loves to get under my skin at cheer. She brings your name up at practice in conversation, knowing it bothers me. It shouldn’t really. What you had with her was nothing. I just hate that she’s shared something with you that I haven’t.”
He parked the car down by the water where we were meeting everyone. I could see a group of people already down there when I glanced through the windshield.
“One time, Addy. That’s the only time it ever happened. I regret it so much. I lost my mind when we were apart. And I want our first time to be special, because you deserve that. What Karina and I had was nothing. Honestly. I try not to think about it. Because I love you. Only you.” He leaned forward, pulling me over the console and settling me on his lap, shifting me so one leg fell on each side of him.
He placed a hand on my cheek and he studied me. “You believe me, don’t you?”
“Of course. I just think, I don’t know. Maybe you strayed because you wanted something that I wasn’t giving you. Maybe it’s time. I think I’m ready.”
He smiled and tangled his hands in my hair. “I don’t want you to feel like you have to rush it because of what happened with Karina. I’m not in a hurry, baby. I love you. We have forever together.”
I could feel his desire grow beneath me, and I ground up against him. Alec and I had made out more times than I could count. But we’d never taken things further. I’d never felt the need to rush it. I wondered if something was wrong with me, that I didn’t feel that physical need to take the next step.
“I love you.”
“Love you more, baby.” His mouth crashed into mine and we sat there kissing in the parking lot down by the water for a few minutes before Hayden pounded on the window. I jumped off his lap as heat crept up the back of my neck with embarrassment.
Alec laughed. “Come on. Let’s go join the party.”
“What were you two doing in there?” Hayden’s voice was all tease when we stepped out of the car.
I rolled my eyes and laughed. “Why are you being a creeper?”
He tilted his head and chuckled. “Oh, I’m a creeper now? I was actually looking for you. What’s the deal with Coco and Shaw? Is she going to homecoming with him? I was planning to ask her, but I see she’s always hanging out with him at school lately.”
My chest squeezed. Coco was definitely into Shaw these days, and I knew Hayden liked her as more than friends. Shaw hadn’t asked her yet, but she wanted him to.
“I think she is planning to go with him. But don’t you worry, I will find you a date.” I smiled up at him and Alec squeezed my hand as we made our way down to the water.
“Thanks, Addy,” he said with a shrug. Hayden was gorgeous and there was a slew of girls who would die to go to homecoming with him.
Alec wrapped an arm around me and pulled me close. “You’re the bomb, Adelaide Edington.”
I looked up to see him staring down at me with so much adoration, and I couldn’t hide the smile on my face.
It was a perfect day with my perfect guy.
Chapter Four
Jett
It was homecoming week, which meant a lot of extra shit to add to the list of things I didn’t feel like doing. I sat out on the hammock at my favorite spot on the lake after practice and just chilled. I liked to come out here when I needed to think and clear my head of all the noise. Tomorrow was a big game. We’d be playing our toughest competition in the state for homecoming, and everyone and their mother would be at the game. There were several recruiters coming, and the coach from TU had messaged to let me know he’d be there.
I’d asked Jessica Hall to homecoming—scratch that, Jessica had asked me about going together three times before Shaw and Jax convinced me to say yes. It wasn’t that I didn’t like the girl. She was fine. I wasn’t looking for a girlfriend, because attachments made you weak. And Jessica was a hookup for me, nothing more. Taking her to a dance made it feel like it was more than it was, and I didn’t want to give her the wrong idea. I’d never attended a school dance before now, but my two best friends claimed it was something that we should at least do once in our lives.
My guess was that Shaw just wanted to go with Coco, and he’d convinced Jax to take some chick he’d been hooking up with since school started, and then he’d gone to work on me.
I moved toward the water, skipping a rock across the lake. The sun was just going down and I took in all the old cypress trees surrounding me. The most vibrant reds and yellows and oranges decorated the trees, letting us know that fall was here. It was my favorite time of year. A peacefulness existed out here on the lake, that I’d never found anywhere else. Coach had called practice early so we could rest up for the game, and I was grateful to get a few minutes out here alone before it was too dark.