Chapter 17 #2
“You absolutely slay me.” I’m so enamored with this boy. “I love you too. So much.” A single tear slips down my face, one that he captures with his finger and places to his lips. Jayson is kissing my tears away.
Before I can finish expressing my appreciation for his extraordinary gift to me, we hear Hailey squeal next to us, Mom and Dad behind her.
Mom’s hand is covering her mouth as she looks at the old oak tree decked out like Christmas.
Dad reaches over and pulls her to his side, placing a kiss on top of her head.
“That’s the most romantic thing I have ever seen!” Hailey exclaims and snaps picture after picture of us and the tree. “Brea won’t believe this.” Jayson groans against my shoulder.
Jayson doesn’t notice, but his parents and Julien are standing on their front porch, arms linked together in a chain, watching us.
His mom is silently crying, and Julien is videoing Jayson and me.
He better send me a copy tonight. I allow myself a minute to take everything in.
Jayson’s warmth enveloping me from behind, the tree in all its twinkling splendor, both our families sharing in our romantic moment.
I think to myself—nothing will be able to top this moment.
Boy, was I wrong, as Jayson shows me later that night.
Dinner at Ana?s was unbelievable, and I’m a girl swooning.
Jayson has romanced me in so many ways and it hasn’t stopped.
He had bouquets of small yellow daffodils, my favorite flower because they represent renewal and look like sunshine, already waiting at our table in the restaurant when we arrived.
Knowing I’m allergic to dairy, he made sure they had homemade raspberry sorbet available for my dessert.
Once we arrive home, it’s past midnight and I am ecstatic to see the tree is still lit.
Mom and Dad didn't give me a curfew, which is completely shocking, but I'm not complaining. I don't want this night to ever end.
Jayson reaches to the back seat of his truck and pulls out a swirled hand-blown glass jar. Opening the passenger door for me, he helps me out.
“What’s the jar for?”
“We’re going to capture some stars,” he vaguely states, and we walk hand in hand to our tree.
He plucks down one of the origami stars and places it in the jar.
“For your collection,” he teases, referring to all the jars in my room that hold various things I’ve found over the years.
“It’s so you can open one and read it every day. ”
We take our time picking the paper stars from the tree and placing them in the jar. Jayson gets the ones that are higher up since I’m wearing a dress. Once we finish and the jar is full, Jayson takes my hand and leads me to the backyard.
“Um, where are we going?”
“Your evening, princess, is not over with.”
“A romantic walk in the backyard? How did you know that’s what I wanted most?”
“Nope,” he kisses me as we walk toward the forest.
“This isn’t going to turn into some lame horror B-movie scene is it? Clueless teenagers go out in the middle of nowhere to make out and are attacked by a chainsaw wielding mass murderer with a hook for his hand.”
“Who says we’re making out?” He winks, and I punch him.
“Okay, I give up. Where are we going? Oh!”
We stop at our old fort, the one Hailey and I built but belonged to me and my two princes.
Memories of our days playing out here together coalesce in my mind like a slideshow, one image after another after another.
Jayson is using the flashlight on his phone to help guide our way and, even in the dim light, I can tell something is different.
New plyboard has been put up and a proper roof is on top.
Jayson pulls aside a heavy tarp covering the entrance to the fort, and I notice the tarp has stars printed all over it.
“Hold on just a sec,” he says as he stops me at the entrance before going inside. A flicker of light appears and casts a shimmery glow around the interior. Jayson has placed more fairy lights inside which are draped across the tops of the plyboard walls and roof.
“Jayson, when did you do all of this? The tree, the fort?” I ask as emotion overcomes me
“Julien helped. I hope you like it.”
“You definitely win the prize for the most romantic boy in the world.”
In response to what I just said, Jayson brings his hands to my face, tipping it up, thumbs rubbing gentle circles next to the sides of my mouth.
My hands reach out and grab his arms from their own volition and hold on for dear life, needing his strength to anchor me before I get swept away in a tidal wave of emotion.
“Liz,” is all I hear before he kisses me. This kiss is different. It makes me float like my bones have been replaced with helium. The warm glow of the twinkling lights surrounding us casts shadows around the fort creating a dreamlike ambience.
“Princess,” he whispers down at me.
I look up into the beautiful gray eyes of the boy I have known for most of my life.
As if I weigh nothing, Jayson lifts me up in his arms and I press my nose against the crook of his neck.
We don't speak as he lays me gently down on a blanket; one I never noticed was there when we came inside the fort.
Jayson must have put it out sometime earlier today before we left for our date.
He settles on top of me, kissing my lips, my cheek, and down my neck.
Pushing up on his arms, he gazes down at me, his eyes questioning.
Without him saying a word, I know exactly what he's asking me.
Am I ready to take our relationship to next level?
It's something I've been talking to Hailey a lot about lately.
How do you know if or when you're ready to have sex for the first time?
Should I wait until I'm older? Should I wait until I'm married?
All I know is, this feels right. This moment with Jayson feels perfectly right.
I love him and he loves me, and I'm ready.
I give him an imperceptible nod, a smile blooming across my face. To prove to him I want more, that I'm ready for more, I reach down and pull his dress shirt from his trousers and slide my hands under it, then up his torso to his chest. I can feel his heart thudding a triple beat against my palm.
Jayson's body is beautiful. Swimming has given him wide shoulders, and strong arms and leg muscles. He murmurs words of praise and love against my bare skin, telling me how thankful he is that I said yes.
“I love you, Jayson.”
Jayson kisses me fiercely as he slides his hands to the back of my dress where the zipper is located.
“I love you, too, Liz.”