Total pages in book: 98
Estimated words: 93312 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 467(@200wpm)___ 373(@250wpm)___ 311(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 93312 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 467(@200wpm)___ 373(@250wpm)___ 311(@300wpm)
I take off through the woods that are lush and green now that the snow has melted, heading for the barn. We haven’t been out here in a while now that we don’t have to hide, and I’ve missed it. I slow my steps once I get closer, noticing something different. The wood looks newer, and it doesn’t look like it’s on the verge of collapsing.
“Thayer?” I call out, pushing the door open, finding him standing there in his signature black shirt and jeans with his hands stuffed into his front pockets. “Oh my God,” I say, not believing my eyes. Everything looks brand new. There’s an actual floor for one, and two couches—the original one and a new one—with blankets and pillows thrown across them. A coffee table sits in between them, and twinkle lights hang from the rafters above.
Thayer walks toward me, scratching the back of his neck. “What do you think?”
“I love it,” I say, meeting him halfway. Everything is all fixed up. I bet the roof doesn’t even leak anymore. It’s still our barn, just cozier. And definitely cleaner. Thayer takes my hand, pulling me over to the old couch before he sits down, tugging me onto his lap. I sit on his thighs with my knees on either side of his legs, and his palms grip my thighs.
“Hi.”
“Hi,” I say, leaning in to press my lips to his. “This is amazing.” I look up at the lights, my hands braced on his shoulders. “But why?”
“I fell in love with you here.” He leans forward to kiss the column of my neck, causing goosebumps to prick my arms. “It’s where you told me you loved me.” Another kiss. This time to my collarbone. “Where I felt you from the inside for the first time,” he says, his hands sliding around to squeeze my ass. “And I’ll probably fucking end up marrying you here one day, too.”
I bite down on my lip, trying not to cry as he sucks and licks the sensitive skin on my neck. A vision of a sixteen-year-old Thayer on the day we met pops into my mind, his brooding yet curious eyes inspecting me as I slipped inside the barn to get out of the rain.
It was my third day living at Whittemore, and I was bored, exploring the property when I stumbled upon it. I hadn’t even met Thayer before then, and I was fascinated with him from the moment I saw him. Who would’ve thought we’d end up here?
“I love you,” I say, my fingers tracing the tattoo on his shoulder. “I love you so much it hurts sometimes.”
“I love you,” he says, his hands sliding up my back, hitting the envelope sticking out of my pants. “What’s this?”
I smile, almost having forgotten. “I have something for you, too. Open it.”
His eyebrows cinch together as he opens the envelope, pulling the letter out. His eyes scan the paper, and I see the moment realization sets in.
“UMass?” His eyebrows jump up to his hairline.
I nod and Thayer smiles—really smiles—and it feels so good to see him do that again. It feels even better knowing I’m the one who put it there. UMass is a mere mile from Amherst, and I ended up getting a Division II athletic scholarship for volleyball. It’s a partial scholarship, but it’s better than nothing.
“You’re moving in with me,” he states it as a fact rather than a question, tossing the letter to the table in front of us.
“We’ll see.” I laugh, knowing I’ll be moved in the day I graduate.
Leaning over, he lays me on the couch, his hips fitting between my thighs. His mouth covers my nipple over the fabric of my T-shirt, sucking it into his mouth and my back comes off the couch, arching into him. “I can be very convincing.”
My mom was right. Finding a love like ours is like catching lightning in a bottle. And I’m never letting go.