It had been a month since I had graduated from high school, which seemed impossible. Every day was better than the last.
My boyfriend and I had been together for a month, and it didn’t seem real. He brought me flowers randomly or dropped off a book from an author he knew I wanted.
I went to his gigs every Monday at Lucy’s and traveled with them when they went a little farther out of town too.
“Mar! Come here and help with the banner.”
I groaned. “I’m not tall enough to do the banner. Can’t we do that later?”
“There’s less than an hour until people show up. I think we’ve waited as long as we can.”
My mother stood practically wrapped in a large Happy Graduation banner with a salmon background and rainbow letters.
“Where’s Dad?”
“Picking up the cake. I told him to get it yesterday, but you know how he is.”
I giggled. “Yes, I do.”
A knock sounded from the front door.
“I’ll get it.”
Wyatt stood on the other side, dressed in dark gray khaki shorts, a graphic T-shirt and his everyday wearing beanie. He held a present wrapped in blue shiny wrapping paper.
“Hey, boyfriend.”
“Hey, girlfriend.”
I giggled. I still never would get over saying that.
“Marley, stop being corny with your boyfriend and have him help with the banner. I’m going to be a walking sign soon if we don’t get it fixed.”
Wyatt chuckled and kissed my cheek, before placing my present on a chair by the door. “Sure thing, Mrs. Wix.”
Without even leaning onto his tippy toes, he tacked the left side of the banner to the column, then tacked the right.
Mom clapped her hands. “Perfect. Thank you.”
“Of course. Can I help with anything else?”
She shook her head.
“Good, because I wanted to show you something.”
He arched his brow as I drug him toward my room.
“I can’t imagine your mom wanting us in here by ourselves.”
I rolled my eyes. “It’s not for any reason like that. I found this cute little bistro that’s about halfway between New York and my college. We could meet there on weekends or our off days. It even has open mic nights if you all aren’t too busy touring.”
He wrapped his arm around my waist and pulled me closer. “Stop fretting about the fall. We don’t start touring until December and only a few things here and there. We have to put out a single and all first.” He kissed the side of my face. “And besides, I could never be so busy touring that I wouldn’t see you.”
“I know. But—”
“It’s your personality to plan and worry.”
I rested my head on his chest and nodded.
“Let’s see this bistro then.”
Clicking on my keyboard, the laptop whirred awake and displayed a Google Street View of the place. It was nestled in a small town in Pennsylvania and looked comforting.
“It looks like a cute place, although, I told you I don’t mind driving to UPenn either.”
“Yes, but in case it is too far, this is a good backup plan.”
“Okay, but that’s enough of that for today. We have a special woman to celebrate and I for one want to be first in line for that party.”
I giggled. “You’re silly. You know it’s mostly going to be my family.”
“I don’t care who comes as long as I get to celebrate you.”
No matter how many times he complimented me, my cheeks still flamed. “Well, just make sure to keep it rated G.”
He crossed his finger over his heart. “On my honor.”
I checked the time on my phone. “Sage should be here soon, and hopefully Claire and Jack too.”
“Claire will be on time, but Jack has never shown up early to anything in his whole life.”
I giggled. “Fine. Fine.” I gazed into those beautiful brown eyes with lashes that could land a plane. “I’ll miss you while in Greece. Why did my parents have to buy that as my gift?”
“Really? You get to go to Greece and you’re worried about missing me.”
I nodded. “It’ll be the longest we’ve been apart since dating.”
He tugged me close to his chest and settled his chin on my head. “Yes, it will. But then you can tell me all about the sights when you get back.”
“I guess. Do I have to wait to open my gift until later?”
He winked as he pulled us back to the main room. “Nope.” He passed over my present and my fingers fumbled with the wrapping paper. A box was inside, so I had to pry open the tape on the sides to reveal a salmon-colored T-shirt with the lyrics to our song, which even though was going to be heard by other people, still was more important to me than it would be to anyone else.
I hugged it to my chest and smiled. “Thank you. This is the best gift.”
He leaned close to my ear. “I figured you could wear it while you’re being, Marley the lead singer’s girlfriend and groupie.”
I laughed. “You wish.”
He tucked me against his chest and leaned down so our lips were millimeters away from each other. As his lips brushed mine he said, “I do wish. You’re everything I want, Marley June Wix.”
The touch and words sent shivers down my skin. How did I get so lucky for my first boyfriend? Wyatt was my perfect person, and I could spend forever making sure he knew it.