Him (18 page)

We have a short wait for our table. Will sits next to me
, and I gasp when he puts his hand on my thigh again, grateful for tablecloths.

"Are you alright
, dear?" my mother asks.

"Oh, um
, my seat is cold." I shiver.

"It is cold in here
," my father agrees. "You should have brought a sweater."

Will slips off his jacket and helps me put it on before putting his hand back.

"What a gentleman," my mother gushes at Brian. Will moves his hand further up my leg.

He
chokes on his water when I return the favor and put my hand in his lap. "Are you alright?" my dad asks.

Will gulps then says
, "Fine, sir. Just went down the wrong pipe."

"So polite
," my mother gushes over Will. "Don't you think Sarah looks pretty tonight?"

"Mother
," I shriek.

Will
squeezes my leg. "Yes, Mrs. Miller. I think she looks beautiful tonight and every night. I’m the luckiest guy in the world."

My mother looks at me with an expression like
, 'see, even Will says you're pretty.’ I roll my eyes. If she only knew. Will's hand stays on my leg our entire dinner. We are so stuffed my parents end up taking our cheesecake to go so we can eat it tomorrow. Outside of the restaurant, we all hug before Will and I take off. I notice Brian saying something to him so I ask him about it once we're in his car.

Will
cringes. "He told me he's going to chop off my hand if I can't keep my hands to myself and that he's not ready to be an uncle."

Will laughs at my horrified expression and pu
ts his hand back on my leg. It's a thirty-minute drive out to the lake house. I am Will's navigator and read off directions from a print out Bravo gave him. It makes me happy to know he's never been here. I've always heard these parties can get a bit crazy. I press the button to open the sunroof and tilt my chair back to look up at the sky for a couple minutes until I need to pay attention to road signs again. The driveway is already overflowing when we get there. Will parks a ways down the street. I reach into my bag and pull out some flats to change into. He carries both of our bags in one hand and takes my hand in his other. Bravo's name is really Brett, but his dad is military and is teaching him the letters for his name like Bravo, Romeo, Echo, Tango, Tango. Brett liked Bravo so much his dad started calling him that, and soon so did everyone else. I had never been to one of Bravo's parties. They are always invite only, and while Will is always invited, he never goes.

Will finds Bravo and finds out what room we'll be staying in. Bravo gives
Will a key to lock it, telling him to keep it locked so other party goers don’t try and use the bed. Eww. When Bravo leaves, Will locks the door behind him and tackles me.

"You look so hot
," he groans in my ear as he kisses my neck.

I tug on his hair until he pulls back to look at me
. "Kiss me," I demand, wrapping my arms around his neck as he lowers his lips to mine. He's on top of me, but he still doesn’t feel close enough. I loosen his tie and start unbuttoning his shirt. Once it's unbuttoned, I pull it and his undershirt loose from his pants.

He stops me
. "Sarah, why don’t you go to Gainesville or Athens Tech, and we can get a place together in the fall?"

I wiggle out of his grasp and stare at him openmouthed
. "Did you just ask me to live with you?"

He tugs me back towards him and holds me close
. "I don’t know how to be away from you."

"I just
—" I don’t know what to say. I know I love him, and I know he loves me. Will Price just asked me to live with him. What's funny is, dating or not, my parents would probably be all for it. But he's supposed to be living in the dorms this year. "I can't live in your dorm. Besides, the whole point of me staying home is to save money."

"I'll pay for everything."

"Alright, Daddy Warbucks. We both know that is not happening."

"Do you not w
ant to live with me?" He starts chewing the side of his lip.

"Of course I do."

"Then we'll figure everything else out." He he starts tucking his shirt back in. "We should probably go downstairs for a little while."

"Let's just stay here
," I plead.

"Nope
. You are going to that party. I just need to give you a giant hickey first."

I swat at him and pull away
, shaking my head. He gives me his best pout until I lean forward and nibble his lower lip. He looks shocked for a moment, then kisses me fiercely. I just want to stay here.

"Let's make a deal
," he suggests, rolling me over onto my back.

"What kind of deal?" I whisper as he lies on top of me.

"We go to the party for an hour and then hurry back here for the rest of the night."

I press my hips against his
. "Why don’t we just not go out there and stay in here all night?"

He chews the corner of his mouth before dropping it to mine
. "You drive a hard bargain."

I'm just about to ask him if that means we can stay in when the doorknob to the room turns.

I gasp, but Will says. "Don’t worry. It should be locked."

Then we hear a knock and Bravo on the other side
. "Are you guys coming down or what?"

I roll my eyes when Will calls out
. "We'll be down in a few." He looks back at me.

"Well
, I guess it would be rude to stay up here the whole time," I admit. "One hour?"

"One hour
," he confirms.

It feels like everyone's eyes are on us as we walk down the stairs to the party. Will has my hand in his
, and I cling to it. He has to sense I'm freaking out because at the bottom of the stairs he drops my hand and puts his arm around my shoulder, pulling me flush against him. We can hear Bravo's booming voice in the kitchen and head that way.

When he sees us in the doorway
, he smiles. "Wasn’t sure if you guys were ever coming out of that bedroom. Damn."

I turn my face into Will's chest as I feel my cheeks redden. Will lifts my chin with his fingers and drops a sweet kiss on my lips. His expression so vulnerable
, I put my arms around his neck and pull his lips down to mine once more. Will gets a beer and grabs me a cola. We walk around for a bit, his arms never leaving my shoulders.

In each room we walk into
, Will makes a point to talk to everyone and ask about their plans for the summer. I shake my head, trying not to laugh at him, but I love it. He's only doing it so they'll ask what his summer plans are, and when they do, he pulls me closer and tells them he plans on spending every spare second with me.

Vanessa, a girl from my calculus class
, chimes in. "Are you guys going to stay together once you leave for school?"

Will
doesn’t hesitate. "Yes, and don’t worry about us. We’ll make it. Plus, I'm trying to talk her into coming with me."

After he has made sure every person at the party is crystal clear that we are together
, we make our way out onto the back deck. It has a wooden walkway built off of it that leads to a dock. We walk out on to it and sit together on a bench. There is a clump of trees off to the right of the deck, and Will points out the occasional firefly. There is a full moon out, and we watch its reflection dance across the surface of the lake. It is beautiful with the exception of some bugs, intent on making a meal out of me.

"Has it been an hour yet?" I joke.

He rolls his eyes, and we head back towards the house. I don’t know why I feel so out of place. I know almost everyone at this party. It’s just that I know I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for Will. He had always offered to take me parties when we were still just friends, but it never appealed to me. Before kissing him was an option, I'd rather just hang out with him at my house or go get ice cream. Will is talking to a couple of guys he had played lacrosse with. I excuse myself to find a bathroom. He asks if I want him to come with me, which makes me laugh because I'm pretty sure I can handle it.

I find Bravo and ask him where the bathroom is
. Once he tells me, I'm glad I asked. I never would have found it on my own. The bathroom had been a later addition to the house and built in underneath the staircase. I’m washing my hands when someone knocks on the door. I hurry to dry them and open the door to turn the bathroom over to whoever knocked.

"Well
, if it isn't SPT."

I don’t say anything
, and Jessica rolls her eyes. "So where's Will?"

I shrug and turn to walk away. The last thing I want to do is get into it with her tonight.

"Did Will tell you?"

I look back
. "Tell me what?"

Just then
, I feel an arm wrap around my waist and look up to see Will glaring at Jessica. She smiles and goes into the bathroom.

I nudge him with my shoulder
. "What was that about?"

He shakes his head
. "Ignore her."

I laugh
. "I try. She just makes it hard to."

Will's arm
is back around my shoulder, and we walk into the living room. A couple girls from our class come up to say hi to Will. One of them, Jordyn, seems to be almost flirting with him right in front of me.

She rests her hand on the forearm of the arm not around me
. "Will, I can't believe you and Jessica broke up." She glances at me.

He lifts his arm and rubs the back of his neck so she isn’t touching him anymore
. "We did. You know Sarah and I are together now, right?"

She plasters on a fake smile
. "I always thought you guys were just friends."

"Definitely more than friends."

"Aren't you going away to school, Will?"

"I am
." He pulls me closer to him.

She nods
. "I just always heard that long distance relationships never work."

He feels me stiffen against him and looks down at me
. Keeping his eyes on mine, he says, "We'll be fine."

Bravo comes up behind
Jordyn and rests his chin on her shoulder. "Dude, Will, you need another drink. Sarah, you drinking?"

I shake my head and walk with Will so he can grab another beer. There are a couple of guys doing keg stands. I've never done one, not that I have any plan to, especially in a dress
, but it's fun to watch. When one guy drops down, I turn my head to say something to Will, but before I do, his lips are on mine. I turn in his arms, coiling mine around his neck as he straightens, lifting me. Even though we are in a crowded room, all of that noise and distraction just falls away. His lips, his tongue, his hands gripping me all overwhelm me. My eyes open and look into his as he slowly lowers me till my feet are back on the ground.

He presses his forehead to mine, eyes locked
, as people whoop around us. Bravo pushes a cup into Will's hand. His eyes flick up to him, and he nods and thanks him before placing a soft kiss on my lips. I lean my head against his chest as he drinks his beer. He's standing tall with his shoulders back, his free arm around my back. He feels warm and smells really good.

I look up at him
. “Has it been an hour yet?"

He grins, pulling me towards the stairs.

"Aw, come on, guys," Bravo calls out behind us. "You guys aren’t going upstairs already. The night is young."

We ignore him
, only focused on each other. Will locks the door behind him as I lay across the bed, laughing when he takes a running start and leaps onto me. Since our first night together, our times together have been rushed, stolen moments while our parents aren’t home. We take our time tonight, exploring each other since there is no reason to rush. Will knows my every expression, how to make me fall apart and put me back together again. I know him too, his body, his scent, the look that crosses his face, and the way he holds his breath right before he explodes. We eventually fall asleep coiled around each other.

Sometime during the night
, we both start at a loud knock on our door.

Will reaches over to flip the light on
. "What the—"

"Will
, man, open up." We hear Bravo through the door.

Will
pulls on his boxers and gets out of bed, and I pull the covers closer to me. He cracks the door. "What's up, man?"

"Dude, I'm so sorry to bother you, but someone fucking hit your car."

"Fuck," Will hisses. "Give me a minute to get dressed. I'll be right down."

He closes the door in Bravo's
face. I get out of bed and start to get dressed.

"You don’t have to come down
, babe," Will says as he pulls his pants on.