Chapter 13
I hate how fast the summer flew by, but I did get to experience my very own summer romance, thanks to Jayson.
He took me on picnics, to see a production of Shakespeare in the Park, and gave me many more secret midnight dates in our tree.
He would leave me small presents on my windowsill to find when I woke in the morning.
Little trinkets like polished pebbles from the creek, wildflowers from his mom’s garden, paper butterflies, and stars with little love notes written in them.
If I wasn’t already desperately in love with him, I would be after all the attention he has showered on me the past month.
And like he promised, we’ve had many more next times.
I blush as memories of this summer play in a loop.
We’ve experimented and fooled around—a lot—without going all the way.
We decided we wanted to take it slow, not rush into sex and let things work themselves out organically.
Exist in the moment. It makes each time we touch, every kiss, every spoken word of love, that much more special.
Since we returned from our beach trip, Jayson has been working hard to rebuild his relationship with Ryder.
Every day, he goes to Randy’s garage to help Ryder work on his new car.
Jayson says that they don’t talk much, just wordlessly work side by side.
Ryder has also been coming around more often, mostly to hang with Julien, but he no longer leaves the room when Jayson walks in.
Things are still strained between them, but I feel they’re at least going in the right direction.
“Ow!” Hailey yelps, sucking her thumb in her mouth. “I hate camping! Stupid tent!” A few snickers follow.
“Hales, cut it out before you break all the poles in half,” I call to her.
“It’s not like it’s rocket science,” I reply, trying to fit a bendy pole into a fabric loop.
Actually, I think it really is like rocket science, or at least you need a degree in astrophysics to figure out how the heck to put this thing together. Oh my gosh, this is hard!
Jayson comes up behind me and places a kiss on my shoulder. “Oh, poor baby. Need a man’s hands to help you out?”
Stepping aside, I tell him, “Be my guest.”
After ten minutes of enjoying watching him struggle to put my tent up and failing, I smirk at him. “Oh, poor baby,” I mock. “Need a woman to finish the job?”
Jayson lunges for me and tickles my ribs. “I always finish the job.”
“I wouldn’t know, would I?” I playfully sass back, wriggling away from him.
“Oh, now you’re really going to get it,” he declares, and I run for my life, giggling like a schoolgirl.
“Julien, save me from your brother!” I shout and run over to him, throwing myself on his back for protection.
Out of nowhere, a blast of water comes hurling across the backyard and drenches us.
Hailey and Elijah have turned on the garden hose and are laughing hysterically as they douse us with frigid spigot water.
Pandemonium ensues. We chase each other around the yard, dodging the spray from the hose.
Ryder playfully jumps on Elijah and tackles him on the ground.
Jayson yanks me off Julien’s back to carry me football-style to safety behind a tent, and Brea and Hailey struggle to pull the water hose away from each other.
Thankfully, Mom leaves us towels on the back patio to dry off with once things settle down.
After finally finishing putting up the tents, we roast marshmallows and make s’mores using the grill, because we don’t have a firepit like the one at Ryder’s house.
I’m not going to complain. No matter how you make them, burnt, melted, gooey marshmallows are the best, and I eat ten of them.
It’s too late in the summer for fireflies to be out, but the cicadas have emerged and are creating quite a racket.
I look around at all of my friends and a feeling of contentment washes over me.
Jayson is sitting beside me holding my hand on his thigh, while everyone else is sitting in lawn chairs talking.
Someone taps me on my shoulder, and I turn to see it’s Ryder holding my acoustic guitar. “Play for us?” He smiles and hands me my guitar.
I haven’t played in front of a group since the cookout at Ryder’s years ago. I usually just play with my dad or sometimes with Ryder.
“Go on, Liz. Show us what you got,” Jayson says, releasing my hand. I’m greeted with claps and whistles. I stand to take my guitar from Ryder and as he hands it to me, I feel his pinky finger curl around mine. He pulls me to the middle of our circle before taking his seat.
“Okay, here’s one,” I say and start playing the melody to “Shape of You” by Ed Sheeran. I love it when everyone joins in to sing because it makes playing the song more fun for me.
When we finish, Elijah exclaims, “Damn, Ry. I didn’t know you could sing.” Ryder shrugs, embarrassed. Hailey requests I play one more song.
“Hmm. Oh, I’ve got the perfect one.” I wink at Jayson. He’s not the only one who can be romantic.
I sit back down in my chair next to Jayson and turn toward him.
My fingers tenderly pluck at the strings in a gentle melody before lightly strumming the music for “The First Time I Ever Saw Your Face” by Roberta Flack.
My voice starts soft and low, then grows with intensity and power as I sing the words about a woman who experiences her first kiss, her first touch, her first all-consuming love with the man she desires.
Jayson and I stare into each other’s eyes as I sing the love song just to him.
I notice how his chest starts to rise and fall deeply, how he swallows hard, how his eyes change from silver to black, reminiscent of the night he came to my room and kissed me for the first time.
By the end of the song, when my voice drifts off into the summer air.
“Jesus, Liz,” Jayson breathes. He gives me such a heated look, my heartbeat stumbles and my legs go weak. Oh. I look forward to sneaking into his tent tonight.