Page 93 of Ly to Me

Carver’s brows shot up. “Because George tried to steal mom from dad,” he said slowly, stretching the words while looking at me like I was the insane one for asking something that he seemed to think was obvious.

That’s when it clicked.

“They dated in high school?”

“Smile bigger for this one!” his mom shouted from across the porch.

We both did as we were told and his mom snapped photo after photo, then shuffled back into the house with Carver’s dad tailing right behind her as she clicked through the pictures.

Once we were alone, Carver spun me in his hold and captured my lips with his. The world blurred around us as he slid his tongue into my mouth, and for several long seconds, I forgot we were standing on his front porch.

He stopped kissing me and pressed his forehead to mine, the intensity of his look startling me.

“Car, what’s wrong?”

“If I told you they did date in high school, and got married real young, would that worry you at all?”

My face tightened in confusion. “I don’t understand why that would worry me. Am I missin’ something?”

He caressed my cheek, and as he pulled back, I could see just how severe his face had turned. It reminded me of the first few weeks when we started seeing each other, and I’d watch him practice his drills in the field with the rest of his JROTC classmates. He had a level of focus that was fitting for the Marines—intense and full of determination.

In a blink, it was gone. “It’s nothin’, Ly. Nevermind.”

The last time he told me it was nothin’, it definitely wasn’t that. But I shrugged it off and chalked it up to him being nervous about me meeting his parents.

Which I hadn’t officially done just yet.

“Wanna go inside for a bit? We have time.” His hand settled over mine, which had gone back to twisting the fabric along my side.

“Yeah, um…yeah. Yeah, that would be great.”

“That’s a lot of ‘yeahs.’” Gentle fingers swept beneath my chin, pulling my focus back to him from where it had lingered off to through the window. “You know, the last girl I took to prom has no evidence of it.”

“Whatgirl?”

He chuckled. “Harper Fuentes.” As he tucked a few strands of hair back from my face, I wondered ifHarper Fuenteshad a stylish up-do for their date, or if she was poor like me and had left it down and natural with only a butterfly clip holding half of it back.

No, she probably wasn’t a butterfly freak like you, Lyra.

“Wherever you just went in your head was fucking hot.”

I scowled and flipped him the bird. He laughed and made a playfuldon’t hurt megesture with his hands.

“And where isHarper Fuentesnow?” I asked.

He shrugged. “She was a senior, so I have no clue. Didn’t feel like keepin’ in touch after she sent dinner back four times andcomplained that I stepped on her feet, when reallyshewas the one who couldn’t dance.”

I snorted at the imagery, then rolled my eyes as he pulled me into his arms, sliding them down to settle right around my waist.

“You have nothing to worry about in that department,” he said.

“What do you mean?”

His brows lowered. “You know there’s only ever going to be you for me, right?”

My heart stopped at the words I wasn’t sure I’d heard correctly. Did he mean forever, or for now? I didn’t have anyone in my life who was forever. Forever meant accepting the other person’s flaws even if they changed. Forever meant knowing someone just as well as you knew yourself. We couldn’t be forever because his life was already perfect, and filling it with all my flaws wouldn’t be fair.

I tried to stop running that word through my head,forever, because he hadn’t said that. He said‘only ever,’ which was different.