“How many weeks are left in the season?”
“Eight, which is right around the time of graduation, right?”
“Yup,” she says with a nod. “Still don’t know what I am going to do about that.”
“I do. You’ll walk, and we’ll all be in the audience, cheering you on.” She doesn’t agree or disagree, so I go on. “What are your plans for afterward?”
She looks over at me after taking a big gulp of her horchata. “Afterward, what?”
“Graduation.”
“Hopefully working.”
“So, you won’t leave for the summer?”
She shakes her head. “No. I’ll be here,” she says, putting her cup down and then pulling her hair up. “Well, if I get over myself and go home to see my family, and then I’ll be in Nashville for a week.”
“You should. I know your mom would love it.”
“She would. Are you going home this summer?”
I bite the inside of my cheek. “I guess that depends on this.”
She pauses in the middle of fixing her hair. “This?”
“Me and you.”
“Us…is this?”
“It is,” I say, holding her gaze. “I won’t want to leave you if we’re still together.”
She nods slowly, licking her lips. “I wouldn’t want you to go either.”
I reach out, pinching her chin. “Which is why I told my mom I probably won’t be coming home.”
Her lips curve. “You told your mom about us? ’Cause I have not told my parents.”
“No, I haven’t. Just that I’m dating someone incredible.”
She chuckles. “Don’t set me up for failure, Owen.”
I give her a look. “I’m not.”
She pulls her gaze from mine, and we continue eating in silence, just the roar of the waves crashing against the shore. The sun shines on us a bit, and I love how her eyes sparkle. Her makeup is light, and again with the scrubs. I’m unsure if she wears anything else. I’d love to see her in some shorts or maybe even some nice tight pants. Anything to show off her curves.
When her phone starts to ring, she makes a face. “Oh, my dad is calling. One second,” she says as I take a bite of my burrito. I nod as she answers. “Hey, Dad. Yeah, fine. Actually, in about thirty minutes. Yeah, full day. Then work. Oh, really? That’s awesome. Tell them I’m so proud. I’ll text them both too. It’s super cool. Yeah, for sure,” she says, and her eyes are full of such happiness. I don’t know how she has been so closed off from them, but I’m thankful that’s changing. I know how much she loves her family, and they love her even more.
When she grins widely and laughs, I smile at her. I reach over, cupping her thigh, and she leans into me, kissing my jaw. I flash her another grin before returning to eat. I love burritos.
“I’m not sure yet. I don’t know, Dad. I just don’t want everyone to make the trip for it. It’s so pointless. I know. I don’t know. Okay. Yeah, I know. I’ve been talking to Mom about it. I want to see everyone too. Let me figure out my life. I know. I’m sorry I’m so wishy-washy. But, um, Dad, can I call you back? I’m actually out with someone, and I’m being rude on the phone. Yes, the someone is a guy,” she says, grinning at me, and I wink. “No, I will not tell you about said guy. Because! It’s new. I do think you’ll like him. I like him. No, I haven’t told Mom yet. Thanks. Okay. I miss you too. Love you.”
She hangs up and exhales. “Sorry about that.”
“Didn’t your dad hate me?”
She laughs, hard. “He did, but so did I.”
“Because you wanted me so bad. Totally different.”
She snorts. “I guess. I’m actually kind of nervous about him finding out about you.”
I make a face. “Why?”
“Because he doesn’t like guys, especially after all that crap with Taco.”
I hate Taco, and I don’t even know the fucker.
“I know he’s worried something will happen to me.”
“Not when I’m around,” I promise. “And you can tell him I said that. Or I will, at graduation.”
“Ruthless,” she says, resting her chin on my shoulder.
“Yup.” I turn to kiss her just as the door slides open and Dart announces himself.
“Keep it in your pants. I’m out here now.”
I kiss her anyway, and when I pull back, she’s grinning. To Dart, I say, “Fuck off. What are you doing up?”
“You two are loud as hell. Woke me up.”
“Oh, sorry,” Angie says, giving him an apologetic smile. “Want some churros?”
He nods. “I do, actually.” He sits down and then points to Angie. “Did you like your plant?”
She beams. “I did! It’s amazing! I almost didn’t want to leave her.”
Dart blinks and looks at me. “Wow, you’re dating a crazy plant lady.”
I nod. “A hot, crazy plant lady.”
“The best kind of plant lady,” he says and then gets up. “I gotta take a shit.”
I laugh as Angie shakes her head, and Dart heads inside. “He’s a character.”
“He’s a mess,” I interject, finishing off my burrito.
She wipes her hand on a napkin and then makes a face. “I need to wash up.”
“Come on,” I say, and together we clean up everything and head inside. As she throws our trash away, I put our drinks on the counter and look toward the bathroom to see that Dart’s still in it. “He’s in there. You can use mine.”
“Okay,” she says, following me through the living room. We walk into my room, and she points to the beds. “You weren’t kidding. You have two beds in here.”
I nod as I look toward my brother’s bed. It doesn’t have bedding on it, and the whole half of the room looks bare, while mine is all set up with bedding and pictures of my family. “Yeah.”
“Why don’t you push them together to have a huge bed?”
I shrug. “Just in case Evan comes back, I want his space to be ready for him.”
“That’s sweet,” she says, reaching out to hold my bicep. “I don’t think he is, though.”
“I don’t either,” I agree on an exhale. “But just in case.”
We share a grin, and I take her hand, putting it in mine and pulling her to the bathroom. Before we can get there, though, she stops me. “You play?”
I don’t have to look to know she is pointing to my guitars. “I do. I don’t sing, though. Evan is the singer.”
“I didn’t know that!”
“Yeah. All of us play guitar. Posey and Quinn play other stuff too.”
She walks over to the three guitars I have hanging up and runs her fingers along them. “These are beautiful.”
“Thanks. They are all my dad’s that he’s given me.”
She looks back at me. “You should play for me.”
“Maybe I will when you don’t have class in ten minutes.”
She looks at her watch and makes a face. “I could skip.” But even I don’t believe she’d do that. She makes another face. “I’m lying. I gotta go.”