It felt like a light bulb clicked in my brain as I stared at Tatum. “You are so right. So, so right. I always assumed that that was what I would do. I would graduate from high school and go to college. I’d never planned on being an actress or anything like that. All that stuff came out of nowhere.”

Tatum nodded. “But the things you’d wanted back then, you still want now. It’s like having unfulfilled dreams. Or parts of your life you always thought you’d have and then they got taken away from you. The want doesn’t go away simply because the opportunity did.” He shrugged, obviously completely getting it. Maybe because he’d lived it too.

“How’d you get so smart?” I kicked playfully at his leg with my foot, and he grabbed on.

“How’d you get so dumb?”

I opened my mouth to say something in response, but all I could do was laugh. And then I couldn’t stop.

“Your turn,” I told him through my laughing fit.

“For what?” He raised his eyebrows and smirked at me.

“To tell me what you wanted to do after college.”

“I can’t.”

“You can’t tell me?” My stomach instantly tensed up. I had just shared so much of myself with him, and he didn’t want to share this with me?

“Not here. I’ll show you when we get back to the barn.”

Curious, I was practically dancing in my seat with impatience. “Let’s go back there now then.”

“Nah. Not yet. You’re not done flying through the trees.” He pushed at my back again and I sailed into the humid air.

“I can’t remember the last time I’ve been on a swing. How come we forget how fun they are?”

“We forget all kinds of things once we grow up. But I knew you’d like it.”

As I pumped my feet, my brown hair blowing all around me as I floated, I thought about how quickly my relationship with Tatum had changed. How all it took was one kiss in the middle of a bar to change everything between us.

I recognized how truly happy I felt being here with him in these moments. The feeling felt new, different somehow. Was I stupid to want it to last?

College Applications

Paige

We headed back through the woods hand in hand before walking into his mama’s house, saying hi, grabbing a sandwich, and going right back out the front door. Mrs. Montgomery’s gaze dropped to our locked hands, and she smiled before making eye contact with me. I blushed and bit back the grin that tried to escape, but failed. I wanted to talk to her about all this, but right now wasn’t the time.

Back in the barn, I started to head over to the couch to sit down, but Tatum stopped me. “Nope. Go over to the desk and turn on the computer.”

Narrowing my gaze, I gave him a questioning look. “Why?”

“Don’t argue with me or I’ll call you that name you hate.”

I grumbled and he laughed, then walked away as I pressed the button to start the aging PC. Placing a plate with a sandwich in front of me, as well as a glass of sweet tea, Tatum nodded toward the screen. “So?”

I didn’t get it. “So, what?”

“Where do you want to go to college?” He folded his arms across his chest as he waited for my response.

“Where do I what? I don’t know!” I shrieked a little too defensively, and he threw his hands up in surrender.

“Don’t bite my head off, Paige. I’m asking you a question you should already know the answer to, don’t you think?”

Heat crept up my neck and flooded into my cheeks. I felt like an idiot. I’d talked and fought for the chance to go to college for so many years, but I’d never actually taken any of the steps to do it. I looked away from Tatum’s knowing stare. “I’m not sure where I want to go.”

“Well, figure it out.” He pointed to the Internet icon.

I paused for a moment. “I always thought I’d want to get as far away from everyone as possible. But now I don’t think I’d be happy if I went that far away. Is that stupid? Do you think I’m a wimp? I bet Quinn would call me a wimp,” I said, babbling.

“Why would I think you’re a wimp?” His hand caressed my arm and chills appeared.

“I don’t know. It’s just that I’ve been fighting with my agent over this for so long. And now that I’m actually thinking about doing it, I don’t think I want to go away at all.”

Tatum squinted at me. “What do you mean you don’t want to go away?”

“I just mean that I still want to go to college, but I think that I actually want to do it in LA. I don’t want to completely give up one thing for another, and I’ve worked too hard to build the career I have to just walk away from it. And I don’t want to, but I also want something normal. I want to go to college and do college things. I guess I just want it all,” I said slowly, realizing that I didn’t want to give up on acting completely.

Actually, I wanted options and I wanted control, in all areas of my life; I was tired of everything being decided for me. There had to be a way where I could have all the things I wanted without losing my career.

“Makes sense to me. You want to control your destiny. You want to have a say in your life. And you should.”

“So should you,” I added, realizing now more than ever that our situations, while completely different, had similar themes.

“I wouldn’t even know where to start anymore. I’ve been out of school for so long, basically doing nothing but running Dad’s shop. What the hell would I major in? What would be the point?” His voice sounded so deflated, it tore at my heartstrings.

“Well, what did you want to do before? You never did tell me.”

“Don’t laugh, all right?” he warned before getting up off the couch.

“Okay,” I said slowly as he walked away.

Tatum reappeared and sat on the couch with an acoustic guitar in his hand. “I love to play. My dream was to write and produce music,” he confessed, and I was dumbfounded. I had never seen this coming. Tatum had never even hinted at me that he loved music or wanted to have anything to do with it.

“Have you written anything? How well do you play? Do you sing too? Will you play something for me?” The overload of questions spilled from my lips as my curiosity and excitement built.

Tatum settled the guitar on his lap and began to strum a hauntingly beautiful melody. Lyrics filled the space between us as he sang along to the words he wrote, although not always loud enough for me to understand. I sat there staring at him, the red feeling inside me starting to burn. This incredible man who had been through so much had the most beautiful singing voice and talent, and I’d had no clue.

When he finished playing, I closed my mouth and smiled. “Tatum, you have an amazing voice. You can really sing.”

He lowered his head briefly before looking into my eyes. “Thanks, but I don’t like singing and I’m not comfortable singing in front of an audience, obviously. But I love writing the melodies and sometimes the lyrics. The way everything comes together and creates this piece of music that no one’s ever heard before…” His eyes danced with excitement. “It fires me up.”

“I can tell.”

“So, what did you think?”

“You’re incredibly talented. And I’m not just saying that because I like kissing you. I really mean it.”

He leaned forward and sat his guitar on the floor. “You like kissing me?” he teased, his lips inching closer.

“Did I say like?” I sucked my bottom lip between my teeth. “I meant love. I love kissing you,” I said before pressing my mouth against his. My tongue darted between his lips and met his as I moved toward him. He lifted me out of the chair, his hands splayed across my ass and my lower back, and I wrapped my legs around him.

Tatum moved us to the couch and I sat straddling him. I pressed my hips against the hardness growing beneath me, my body yearning for his. Our mutual confessions made me feel closer to him, and I wanted to shred every bit of clothing that kept our skin apart, but even I knew it was too soon. My hips moved faster as our mouths matched the rhythm I was setting. I silently wondered how far he’d let me push him before he told me to stop.