"I know." I lean down and kiss him. "I didn't know it could be this good."
"We're good together, Callie, in more ways than this." He grabs hold of my ass as he pushes up into me. "But for now, let's focus on this." He flips me over and we finish what we started, sharing yet another piece of ourselves.
Afterward, we lie there, our bodies entwined, catching our breath. My body is sleepy, but my mind is awake and wanders to Nash and the call he had earlier today.
I scoot up so that we're face-to-face. "How are you feeling?"
He smiles. "Do you really need to ask? I just had the best sex of my life with the woman I love, who apparently loves me too. You weren't just saying that, were you?"
"Why would I just say something like that?"
"To get me to sleep with you."
I laugh. "Yeah, because you never would've done it otherwise. You've wanted to have sex with me for weeks."
"Well, technically, since the moment I laid eyes on you, but I didn't think it would happen."
"I did." I run my hand over his smooth muscular chest. "You're hot, and I hadn't had sex forever, so it was bound to happen at least once this summer. I just never expected to fall in love with you." I smile. "Especially given the fact that you shot at me when we first met."
"For the last time, I did not shoot at you." He starts tickling me. "Say it, Callie."
"Okay, I will." I can barely get the words out I'm laughing so hard.
"You still haven't said it."
"Fine, you didn't shoot at me," I say, and feel his hands come to rest at my sides. "But your truck did," I mutter under my breath.
The tickling continues. "What was that about my truck?"
"Stop! I'm begging you. Please."
He ends the tickling. "Since you said 'please', I'll stop, but you better not be telling people I shot you or they'll think I really did. I'll end up in jail."
I kiss him. "I won't tell anyone. It'll be our secret inside joke." I take a moment to catch my breath, then look up at him. "Nash, when I asked how you were feeling, I was referring to what happened today with your mom."
He brushes a piece of hair off my cheek. "It's sad that she's gone. She was way too young to die. But I never knew her, so I'm not feeling the loss I felt after losing my stepmom. If anything, the loss I feel is a loss over the story I created in my head all these years. I always imagined my mom was out there somewhere, thinking about me, wanting to see me, but for some reason not being able to. Instead, I found out she never wanted me and never even wanted to meet me." He cups the back of my head, and looks me in the eye. "Today would've been a lot harder if I'd gotten that news alone. But having you with me when I got that call made it...not nearly as bad as it could've been."
I lay my head on his chest and try to figure out if I should ask him this or not. Now that we know how we feel about each other, I want to know what will happen after this summer ends, or at least discuss it. I'm going to miss him so much when he's gone.
He strokes my hair. "Why are you so quiet?"
"I was just thinking."
"About what happens when I'm done fixing the house?"
I lift my head up. "How'd you know that?"
"Because I'm thinking about it too. Now that I have you, I don't want to leave you."
"So what do we do? You have to go back to Chicago."
He pauses, his eyes on mine. "I want you to go with me."
"But I live here. I have a house."
"You can keep the house and come here whenever you want. But you shouldn't be living here. This town has nothing to offer you. You don't even know anyone here, other than Lou."
"What would I do in Chicago?"
"Would you consider going back to college?"
"Maybe. But I don't know if I could go back there after being gone for a year."
"If they knew why you left, I'm sure they'd understand. If it's too late to get in for the fall, you could go back in the spring."
"I guess, but I wouldn't want to live in the dorms again. I'd have to find an apartment."
"You could live with me. I have to get a new place anyway when I get back. We could get one close to campus."
"I don't want you having to live in Evanston just for me."
He smiles. "So it's the location that concerns you, not the part about living with me?"
I smile back. "I have to think about it. Maybe we could get apartments right next to each other and be neighbors again."
"We could, but I have a feeling one of those apartments would sit empty all the time." He gives me a kiss. "I'm not saying you have to live with me, but I do want you to think about going back to college. You only have two years left. You might as well finish."
"I know. I'll think about it." I lie on my back and stretch. "I'm starving. I think we need to eat."
"What do you want?"
"Something that doesn't take too long. I want to come back here later and do this again."
He slides me closer and kisses me. "You just made me love you even more."