july
“Hello?” I pushed open the Stokeses’ front door. I knew Madison was at the beach with Peter—I was meeting them there in a bit—but just in case, I thought I’d better be careful.
“Down here,” Derek called from his room.
I walked down the steps, and as I turned the corner, there was Derek holding a pink cake with blazing candles, a party hat tipped at an angle on his head. A goofy smile lit his handsome face.
“Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday dear Olivia, happy birthday to you!” he sang.
I clapped my hands in delight and ran to him. “You remembered!” I threw myself at him, and he deftly moved the cake out of the way, setting it on the edge of his dresser before I managed to dump it onto the ground.
“Wait, blow out the candles!” he said, laughing.
I made a wish—obviously for Derek to be in my life forever—then blew them out in two breaths, which was fine; everybody knew those wishes weren’t real ones.
Derek leaned down and trapped my lips in a delicious kiss. “How could I forget your birthday?” he murmured against my mouth.
His breath lifted the hairs of my neck as he trailed kisses from my ear to the hollow of my throat.
“Here.” He handed me a small, wrapped present. “Open it.”
I unwrapped the pink paper and lifted the lid on the box. Inside was a tiny silver heart charm with our initials etched on either side.
“I know you always wear the bracelet your mom got you, so I thought you could add this charm to it.”
“I love it!”
I slipped the charm on the bracelet and threw myself at him so we went crashing backward onto the bed. He covered my face with tiny, gentle kisses, his breath warm against my skin. I looked in his eyes and felt like I was dreaming. But I was awake, and he was all I could see.
He made me feel whole, like there was nothing else I needed.
He pulled me close, tucked me tight against his chest. I knew I needed to meet Madison at the beach, but I didn’t want to leave yet.
“I love you,” I whispered, tilting my head to look into his eyes.
He leaned down and kissed me on the nose. “I love you more.”
We lay like that for a moment, and something passed between us that I would never forget.
My future.
× × ×
For all my lack of attention to it earlier, the cake was beautiful. It had layers of chocolate cake and a pale pink frosting decorated with pastel balloons. Derek grabbed a wad of toilet paper from the bathroom and we used it as napkins as we ate giant wedges of cake with our bare hands.
“Toilet paper as a plate,” I joked. “Classy.”
“Hey.” He laughed, bumping me with his shoulder. “If it means I don’t have to leave your sexy body to run upstairs and get plates and forks, I’m all for it.”
He swallowed and licked the frosting from his lips. “So, what are your birthday plans today?”
“Well, I’m meeting Madison and Peter at the beach pretty soon, and then later my mom’s taking me out to dinner at this fancy French restaurant in Seattle.”
“That’s good. You said you wanted to go somewhere new, right?”
“Yeah, I’m just surprised ’cause she’s always afraid to go into Seattle. Like it’s this vortex of evil.”
“What made her change her mind?”
I shrugged. “Dunno. But the really good news is she finally said I can get my license, so I’ve made an appointment to take my test next week. Yay!” I was so excited I accidentally squealed a little. “Can I practice in your car?”
“Sure, as long as you don’t crash it!” He elbowed me playfully.
I threw a pillow at him. “I’m not that bad!”
Derek ducked and laughed just as my phone rang.
“Olivia?”
It was a strong, masculine voice. One I almost recognized but not quite.
“Yes?”
“This is Gavin Montgomery.”
“Oh, hi, Mr. Montgomery.” I looked at Derek, stunned. He moved closer, and I held the phone away from my ear so he could listen too.
“I wanted to invite you to have lunch with Kendall and me today. I’m sorry I was short with you last week, and I thought lunch would be a perfect opportunity for the three of us to get to know each other a little better.”
My mind raced. Mom and I wouldn’t go out for my birthday dinner until after she was off work. I’d have to come up with a good lie for why I couldn’t go to the beach, but this was too perfect to miss.
“Works for me,” I said.
We arranged to meet at the Black Cat Diner in Laurelwood, and I hung up.
“Did you hear that?” I squealed. “He wants to meet me! Maybe he’ll tell me the truth now.”
Derek nodded and chewed a mouthful of cake, his eyes never leaving mine.
“What?” I wiped at my mouth self-consciously.
“Nothing.” He shook his head, his eyes gleaming hungrily.
“Did you hear what I said?”
“Yeah. We have another hour before we have to go.”
He reached and pulled me to him, and I smiled.