Me: I’m alone. Come over.

Brody: Be there in five.

Holy Shiznit! I gotta get dressed.

I jumped around my room, pulling on my pants—pretty undies, check—and squirming into my sweater—lacy bra, check—I was just putting a swipe of cherry-flavored lip gloss on my lips—just in case—when he rang the doorbell.

I adjusted the sweater so it fell over the shoulder that didn’t have any bruises and pulled the door open. My breath whooshed out of me.

It should be illegal for him to look that good.

And then I got a whiff of him, and I might have actually seen those stupid little cartoon hearts float around his head.

“Wow,” Brody said. “You look amazing.” He walked in and shut the door behind him, his gaze never leaving me.

“I was thinking the same about you, Ace.”

“Nope. I’m definitely getting the better deal. Where’re your mom and Ralph?”

“Oh, Sunday is marriage day.” I used my fingers to make little air quotes. “No kid allowed. They went to Shipshewana to do… whatever it is people do there.” I shrugged.

“You’ve never been?”

“Nope.”

“Me either. We should go together,” he said.

Together. Yeah. Together. That’s a beautiful word.

“We should. Maybe one day after graduation. You know, when the weather is nice and we’d have all day.”

“Sounds like a plan.” Brody smiled. “Are you ready?”

I grabbed my military jacket and pulled it on. “Mm-hmm.”

We drove to a small pizzeria, picking up a small pepperoni to take with us to Brody’s aunt’s property.

“Hey, isn’t this the pizzeria we stopped at the night…?” I let my words trail off. I didn’t want to bring up that particular memory. The part of the night I spent with Brody eating pizza and listening to the radio while we talked was great. The beginning of the night, before Brody, hadn’t been.

“Yeah, it is.” He looked over at me and smiled, reaching for my hand and kissing my fingers.

By the time we got to Brody’s aunt’s property, the day, which had been full of sunshine, had turned gloomy. I looked at the sky. Gray clouds swirled over the sun like someone was stirring them with a giant spoon. “Oh, no. It was so pretty earlier. Did you bring your little DVD player?”

“No.”

“Well, what’s our back-up plan if it starts raining?”

“I don’t have one,” he said, looking over at me.

“Hmm.”

We drove to the field, and Brody parked the Jeep in the same spot we always used. I glanced at Brody and then out of the window. A large tent sat in the middle of the property. “Who’s here?”

“I don’t know. Let’s go find out.” He jumped out of the Jeep, came around, and opened my door.

“I don’t think we should hang around. I mean, if your aunt didn’t say anyone would be out here, we should definitely leave.” I didn’t move from my seat.

“I want to check on something first.” He grabbed me by the waist and lifted me out of the Jeep. Threading our hands together, he pulled me behind him.

“Wait, I don’t want to go over there.” I tried to push his hand off me.

“It’s safer than standing here by yourself.” He raised an eyebrow at me. Ugh, he was maddening.

“Fine.” I walked behind him, my faced buried in his shoulder. One hand squeezed his and the other wrapped around a belt loop of his jeans, following so close behind him that I kept tripping over his shoes. He walked to the back of the tent. I peeked around his arm and saw a boxy piece of machinery. “What’s that?”

“A generator.” He pulled a cord that looked like one on a lawn mower, and the generator roared to life. I jumped and looked at the tent, waiting for someone to come running outside. Brody laughed.

“What are you laughing at?” I asked through clenched teeth, still holding on to his arm with a death grip.

He was barely holding back his laughter. “Time to let you in on a little secret.” He framed my face and kissed my forehead. “I put the tent out here. I knew it was supposed to rain tonight.”

I opened my mouth before snapping it shut. I looked at the tent, then the generator, and back at Brody. “You did this?”

“Yes.”

“Why? We could have gone to a movie or something instead.”

He shrugged a shoulder. “You said you wanted to come here, and I wanted to give you what you asked for. Besides, you won the bet.”

I rolled my eyes. “It was really romantic until you added that.”

“You want romance? I’m going to romance the hell out of you tonight. Wait here.” He jogged to the Jeep and grabbed our drinks and pizza. I stood where he left me while he disappeared into the tent with the pizza. Seconds later, he came out. “Okay, come here.” He reached for me.

He stood behind me and placed his hands gently over my eyes. “You could’ve just told me to close my eyes.”

“You’d peek. Step up and over and bend down. Good.”

I could tell I was standing in the tent. The air was warmer and smelled sweeter. Brody let his hands fall from my eyes. I blinked and looked around, taking everything in. “This was what you were doing today when you said you were running errands?”

“Yes. You like it?”

I looked around, trying to find the right words to tell him exactly what I felt. ‘Like’ didn’t cover the jumble of emotions I was feeling. There was so much more to them than that.

I stood in the middle of a two-room, green canvas tent. The ceiling had clear twinkle lights—the kind you’d find at Christmastime—draped everywhere. It was covered. There was a small table next to me where Brody had put our pizza. A vase of fresh flowers and a candle sat in the middle of the table. I peeked in the second room, and there was a blow-up mattress covered in pillows on the floor in front of a small television and DVD player. More lights sparkled from the ceiling.

“I thought since we wouldn’t be able to see the stars, I’d make some for us to look at…” His voice trailed off.

“It’s beautiful. I just…” I shook my head, still looking at everything he’d done. All the little details he’d thought to include. “I can’t believe you did this.”

“I had some help. My aunt’s boyfriend helped me set-up a lot of it. This is his tent and generator. He said there was only one rule.”

“What’s that?” I turned to Brody.

He smirked and ducked his head, looking at me through his dark lashes. “You’d better not come back pregnant.”

“Huh.” I wasn’t sure what to say to that so I said the first thing that popped into my head, which was never a good idea. “Kind of hard since we haven’t even kissed yet.”

“Not impossible, though.”

“Hmm, true.” I looked at him and gave him a small smile. “Let’s eat before the pizza gets cold.”

“Okay.” Brody pulled my chair out for me, and I sat at the small table. He sat next to me, rather than across from me. Our thighs brushed against each other whenever we moved. Every so often, Brody would run his hand up my arm and over my bare shoulder, sending waves of tingles through my veins. It made talking, at least coherently, very difficult.

When we’d finished eating, he asked if I wanted to watch a movie.

“You said you didn’t bring the DVD player,” I said, narrowing my eyes at him.

“No, I think I said I didn’t bring the little one. This is a different player.”

“Technicality, Ace. Sure, a movie sounds great. What did you bring?”

“A horror film.”

I laughed. “Really? But it’s not dark out. Doesn’t that kill some of the scare factor?”

“Nah, it’s a gloomy and rainy day. You’ll still get freaked out and end up with your face pressed against my chest through the whole movie.” He bit his lower lip to keep from grinning.

That’s not a bad place to be.

The movie was scary, and Brody was right. I either had my head turned into his shoulder or the blanket over my eyes.