Page 36 of The One

“Not bad.”

“But not good either?”

My head dropped, no longer holding eye contact. “They want me to put school first.”

“And me second.”

I pulled my arms back and wrapped them around my stomach. “Something like that.”

“Is this going to get messy, Lainey?”

“No.”

“You sure?”

I let in more air and exhaled it out. “There’s no question in Dad’s mind that I’m going to college with you. He just wants me to make the right choice school-wise, you know? Like, if you want USC and I want Stanford, I won’t settle just to go with you.”

“Are you settling?”

“Definitely not.”

“Then, you’ll just have to make Dean’s List every semester, so he stays happy and off our backs.”

I laughed. “That would please him, for sure.” I glanced out the window, where Penelope was play-wrestling with one of the offensive linemen. A tower of beer cans—from what the grouphad already drunk today—was next to them. “I still think we should apply to the other two schools. Not as backups, but as possibilities. In case … I don’t know.”

“In case what?”

My stomach did a flip. “What if, at the last minute, we decide Stanford is a better fit?” Or if my dad threatened not to pay for school, but I wasn’t going to bring that up. “Or what if UC Berkeley is more our mood? I don’t want to be stuck, and I don’t want you to be stuck. I want to do this right … it’s a big decision.”

“Come here.” He pushed away from the table and tapped his lap. When I didn’t move, he repeated, “Come here, Lainey.”

A tingle suddenly moved its way through me. “Why do I feel like the second I reach you, you’re going to try to get me naked?”

He laughed. “Because you know me, and that’s normally the case.” He nodded toward his patio. “But I wouldn’t do that here, not when my teammates or siblings could see you. Even the thought of that makes me fucking crazy.” He leaned his elbows on the table and pushed his chest into the edge of the wood. “Come here.”

I rose from the chair and walked over to his side of the table, wrapping my arms around his neck, my lips positioned in front of his. “I’m here.”

He kissed me, softly at first and then with much more hunger. “This is what I wanted.”

He buried his face in my neck. I rested my face on top of his head, my eyes briefly closing as I breathed in his cologne. The woodsy and liquor combo was a scent I still couldn’t get enough of.

“Can I tell you a secret?” I whispered.

A secret I wouldn’t tell my parents.

A secret I wouldn’t even admit to Penelope.

“Of course.”

“I don’t care where I go to school as long as I’m with you.”

He lifted his head, which made mine do the same, and I gazed into his eyes.

“I fucking love you.” His admission earned him a smile. “College is going to be so much better than high school. Just wait. You’ll see.”

“Why do you think so?”

He pecked a spot close to my ear before he moved on to my cheek. “There won’t be football on my schedule—no practice, lifting—or even any work at Dad’s office to occupy my time. You won’t have a curfew either, so if we’re not in class, we’ll be together, and you’ll be spending every night in my bed.”