My heart starts to slow to a steady rhythm because this is so much better than the scenarios that were running through my head.

“I didn’t tell Ry or Bri, but I met with him over the summer, and he kept in touch with me. He invited me to audition, so I sent in a video and”—he pauses and I realize I’m holding my breath—“I got invited to do an in-person audition, Ash, for both their music and theater program.” The excitement in his voice is clear, and it’s so wonderful to hear it erases any anger I have that he kept this a secret for so long.

“That’s incredible. Does the football coach know?”

His smile drops just slightly. “He does. He said it will be tough, but you don’t really focus on your major until junior year, and he said players have done it before.”

“Really? See? And you were worried.”

He sits up a little straighter, his hand never leaving my leg. I can tell he’s happy, and I see the relief in his body language. I can’t help feeling the same way. As much as I don’t want him to go, I want him to get everything he wants even more.

“I still can’t believe I made it to the next round. I sang a song with my guitar for the video audition and figured it would never work, because it wasn’t from a musical or anything. I know this sounds lame, but I pretended I was singing it to you.” On that, his eyes meet mine. I can’t wait any longer.

I slide my body so I’m now sitting on his lap with my legs wrapped around him. I push my fingers through his hair and show him just how much I care about him through my kiss.

“Not. Lame,” I say through breaks between our kisses.

His hands slide down my back. There is so much passion, longing, and urgency in our kisses. I wish we could do this openly, but having to hide has made the time we are together even more special. Here, surrounded by such beauty, is so much better than making out by the lockers in the hallway at school.

“I have to tell my parents.”

“Yeah, you need to. How do you think your dad will take it if you get in?” I ask while he runs his hands through my hair. There is something about his fingertips running over my scalp that I can’t get enough of.

“I don’t know,” he says between kisses, “but we’ll find out, I guess.”

“What about baseball?”

“I can’t do both. I’d have to choose. Professor Murray said you have to be in either the fall or spring show, so if you can’t be in the fall show, it’s okay, but then you have to be in the spring play.”

“Oh. Are you okay with that?”

“I think I am. I mean, you have to do what you love, right?” I know he’s repeating my words, but he says them as second nature as his kisses trail down my neck.

In this moment, I feel in my bones he’s going to be fine. Telling his dad might be hard, and giving up baseball may be even harder, but he’s following his heart, and that’s all that really matters.

“I love you,” he whispers, “and I have something for you.” He pulls back and smiles.

My lips are raw in the best way. I know my hair is a mess, but I couldn’t care less. Todd’s hair is sticking up, and I try not to giggle at how carried away we just got. Then he turns around, and my heart stops when I see what he’s holding. There in his hand is his class ring with what looks like ten pounds of athletic tape wrapped around the bottom of it.

“I want you to have it.” He holds it out to me.

I can’t do anything; I just sit there motionless. I don’t think I could move if I tried.

“Is this a good shock or a bad shock?” he asks, trying to hide his smile.

I just look at him and then the ring, his eyes, the ring, eyes, ring, and I nod my head.

“Good, then?”

I still can’t say anything, so I smile as he grabs my hand, prying it open, and places the ring on my middle finger. With all of the tape wrapped around the band, it actually fits perfectly.

I shake my head in disbelief. “Thank you.”

“It looks good on you. Since we won’t be together for a few weeks, I wanted to give you something that reminded you how much I love you every time you look at it.” He gives me the warmest smile. “It looks almost as good as my jacket.” He pulls the jacket down so my arms slide out of it.

Before I know it, we both are undressing each other, and then we lie in Mark’s truck bed, surrounded by wool blankets underneath us and beautiful fall trees above us. Everything is crisp: the air, the sound of the fall leaves rustling, the wind lapping against the water’s surface. I hear it all, relishing in being wrapped in Todd’s arms.

He’s leaving soon. Too soon.

“Guess we’re going to be late for class.” He smiles down at me, making no effort to move.

“Guess so.”

“Let’s see”—he puts his hand out, palm up—“class?” Then he puts his other hand out as if he’s weighing something. “Or stay here?” Both of his hands go up and down, but “stay here” rises above the rest. “Oh, looks like stay here wins.”

I wrap the arm resting on his bare chest tighter around him and lean into him, nuzzling my face into the crook between his chin and shoulder. It’s like it was created especially for me. I love to breath in his scent, and it’s the perfect place to do that.

“Well, since we’re staying, let’s go swimming.”

“What? We need to get Mark’s truck back eventually, and you have practice. Coach won’t let you practice if you miss school.”

“Oh, but I didn’t miss. I was in homeroom, and so were you, remember? Come on.” His fingers intertwine with mine, and we both look down at the new foreign object now on my hand instead of his. The smile that forms on his lips will stay with me forever.

He raises his eyebrows. “It’s right where it should be,” he says, running his thumb over his ring.

“I love you.” I kiss him, biting his lower lip as I pull back.

Before I know it, the cool water is rushing around us. Luckily it’s not freezing since it’s been warmer than usual this year. There is some movement to the water, and now that we are in it, it’s not a lake; it’s more like a larger opening attached to a stream. It has a steady flow to it. Nothing scary, just creating some motion to the water as it splashes around us.

“Do you think we are allowed to actually swim in here?”

“Why not? We both know what we’re doing.” He pulls me closer. “You are on the swim team.” He gets even closer. “And I’m pretty sure I already saved your life once in the water.” He smiles and kisses me, pulling us both down so we are under the water, still kissing.

When we both break the surface again, my heart skips a beat at the beauty of his crystal blue gaze. I push the hair hanging in his eyes back to get it out of his face. He does the same for me, and our eyes lock. It feels like he can see right into my soul, unlike anyone else in this world. Then his eyes shift to my arms and his hands slide over them.

“Cold?”

“I’m good,” I answer, getting closer to him. “Just keep me warm.” I snuggle into him and lose all track of time.

We feel the sun beating on our faces as we float in the water, the coolness of the water kissing our skin as it moves around us. It’s just us, as it should be.

“How long do you think we’ve been in here?” he finally asks.

“No idea. But I don’t want it to end.”

“Me, either.” He kisses my head. “But I do need to get back for practice.” He locks his fingers with mine, and his eyes focus on his ring now on my hand. His smile makes my heart soar. Then he kisses me as deeply as I need him to, because this will be one of our last kisses for a while, and we both know it.

He pulls me toward land, and we both run for Mark’s truck as our skin retaliates against the cool air. We wrap ourselves in the wool blankets, since now that we are out of the water, we are both shivering.

Todd reaches for his phone to check the time. “Crap. We’ve gotta go. Practice starts in fifteen minutes.”

“I guess we officially missed the rest of school,” I say with a smile as I quickly pull my jeans back on. “How are you going to explain being wet when you get to practice?”