When Summer Ends (64 page)

He laughed. “Cutie, don’t stress. There’s plenty of time for
everything. Not sure why you would need to change though, those are my
favourite jeans,” he commented. He leant over and trailed little kisses up the
side of my neck, as his hand traced my leg from my knee to the top of my thigh,
making my body tremble and my eyes to close involuntarily.

I silently wished time would pass faster. I didn’t even want
to go to dinner; all I wanted was what was happening after, when we would go
back to his place. I wanted the intimacy and the closeness; I wanted to renew
the bond that we’d been missing for the last six months.

“You like all of my skinny jeans,” I muttered breathlessly as
he nibbled on my collarbone.

He laughed, his breath blowing across my skin making it
prickle with sensation. “Very true,” he confirmed. He kissed my neck one more
time before pulling back and stretching the scarf between his hands, smiling at
me reassuringly. “Turn your head and let’s get going. Don’t worry, Cutie, we’ll
have plenty of time to eat and stuff tonight.”

I sighed and chewed on my lip before turning in my seat,
letting him place the makeshift blindfold over my eyes. He tied it tightly at
the back of my head. I smiled and touched the soft fabric with my fingertips,
pushing it off of my nose so I could breathe properly. Will gripped my
shoulders and turned me back to face him, adjusting the scarf until he was
happy with it. “Perfect,” he stated, before capturing my lips in a soft kiss.

I smiled and sat back, playing with my fingers, wracking my
brain trying to think of somewhere he would want take me as a surprise. It had
to be somewhere remote because we literally took no risks at all with people
seeing us out. So I knew it wasn’t going to be to the mall, or a ball game or
anything populated like that. The only place I could think of was the field
that he once took me too for a date, one of the best nights of my life where we
had danced in the dark with only the car headlights shining. I actually hoped
it was there, I hoped we were going to lie on the hood of his car and listen to
some cheesy love songs while he held me tightly.

By the time the car stopped I was so apprehensive that I
felt a little sick. We’d been driving for a good forty minutes since he
insisted that I be blindfolded.
Where on earth is he taking me? This can’t be
our field, could it? It was only ten minutes’ drive, tops. Unless he’s driven
around a few times so I had no idea where I was, maybe he’s trying to trick me
or something.

I chewed on my lip as I heard his door open, and him
fumbling with something at the back of the car, maybe getting something out of
the trunk, or putting something in there.

When my door opened a minute later I jumped out of my skin,
and he laughed quietly. “Here, take my hand, Cutie.” His hand closed around
mine. I frowned behind the blindfold. He wasn’t going to let me see still? Where
the heck were we?

“Why can’t I just look now?” I whined, pouting.

Something brushed against my lips lightly, I barely had time
to realise that he’d kissed me before he pulled away again. “Because I want to
see the full effect of the surprise. This is supposed to be romantic,” he
answered, giving my hand a little tug, signalling he wanted me to get out of
the car.

I stepped out and let him blindly lead me to wherever it was
that he deemed ‘romantic’. The wind whipped my hair around my face, making me
hunch my shoulders against the slight chill.
Hmm, I really should have
brought a jacket.
Will stopped walking and let go of my hand. I smiled,
thinking we had reached the desired destination, but instead of taking off the
blindfold, he draped something around my shoulders. I clutched at the soft
material and pulled it tighter around me, smelling the familiar beautiful yet
manly smell that was solely my boyfriend. He’d obviously given me his hoodie. I
grinned and pulled it to my face, breathing in his scent.

He laughed and took my hand again. “Stalker,” he teased,
making me walk again by tugging me along gently.

We walked for a few more minutes. The ground was a little
uneven under my feet, I had sneakers on so I had no idea if we were on grass or
dirt, but it was bumpy so I knew we were definitely off road. He stopped again,
almost making me walk into his back.

He let go of my hand and grasped my shoulders. “Stay right
there. Don’t move,” he instructed, his voice stern.

“Did you just use your teacher voice on me?” I joked,
sticking out my tongue like a five year old.

He laughed and pressed his lips to mine, kissing me
passionately before he pulled away from me, leaving me alone and clutching his
hoodie around me tightly against the slight wind. I could hear him fumbling
around near me. I stood there patiently, waiting for him to tell me it was all
right for me to move. In total honesty I kind of wished this moment would last
forever, my birthday was incredible so far, and I wanted it to last forever, so
he could take all the time he wanted.

Something cold brushed against my lips making them part as
the smell of fresh strawberries hit my nose. I felt my mouth fill with water,
and I heard a little moan then realised it came out of me.

“Open,” he whispered, kissing my cheek lightly.

I opened my mouth and the chilled strawberry was popped
between my teeth. Instinctively I bit down, the sweet juice hitting my taste
buds. His lips closed over mine as soon as I had swallowed the berry, the taste
was almost heady with his lips pressed against mine. He licked the corner of my
mouth where there was probably a little of the juice. My senses seemed to be
heightened with the blindfold. Experts always said that, that if you took away
one sense then it made the others stronger. It definitely made the taste stronger;
I had never tasted anything more delicious in my life.

As he kissed me I felt him fumbling with the knot at the
back of my head, untying the scarf. I kissed him fiercely, clutching at the
belt loops of his jeans so he couldn’t pull back from me. I felt the soft
material being pulled away from my eyes, but instead of pulling back and
opening my eyes I pressed myself to him tighter, savouring the last few seconds
before the kiss broke. I treasured every single one of Will’s kisses; I treated
each one like it was the last in case he never graced me with another one.

He pulled back and kissed the tip of my nose. “You can open
your eyes now, Cutie,” he whispered.

I smiled as I cracked my eyes open, wincing slightly at the
sudden brightness after being in the dark for so long. The first thing I saw
was his face, inches from mine, a beautiful smile on his lips. His grey eyes
were burning into mine and held such a passion that it almost knocked me
sideways. I reluctantly dragged my eyes from him, to my surroundings.

Emotion swelled over me, my heart was literally aching as my
stomach trembled. My eyes filled with tears as I looked at what he’d done.
Romantic wasn’t the word to describe this scene, it was more like perfection.
It was the epitome of all things romantic and spectacular.

We were at the top of break point, the highest point in
town. We were at the edge of the cliff, he’d laid out a blanket with a few
cushions scattered around too. A bunch of red tulips sat at the edge of the
blanket, already in their own water. A picnic hamper rested in the middle with
the lid off, I could see the box of strawberries on the top. I could also see
most of my other favourite foods in there too; I chewed on my lip as a tear
fell down my face because this special guy had gone to so much effort, just for
me.

“Want to sit down?” he asked, stepping away from me and onto
the blanket, nodding for me to sit down first. If there had been a chair, he
would have pulled it out for me, Will was a little old-fashioned like that, but
his dad was exactly the same from what I’d witnessed. The saying was certainly right
in their family, ‘like father, like son’.

I sat down at one end of the blanket and looked out at the
spectacular view of the town. It was beautiful, I’d actually never been up here
before and that made it all the more special for me because I was doing it with
Will. I watched as he pulled out carton after carton of food, glasses, plates, and
cutlery. He’d thought of everything.

When he pulled out a bottle of champagne I raised one
eyebrow at him. “You do realise I’m not old enough to drink that yet,” I
teased.

He laughed. “Yeah, one birthday at a time. I just thought we
could have a glass to watch the sunset with. You don’t have to if you don’t want
one. I brought alternatives…” He tipped the hamper so I could see what was left
inside and I burst out laughing when I saw a bottle of banana milkshake, my
favourite kind of course, and a bottle of Dr Pepper.

“I’ll have the alternative for now. Maybe I’ll have the
champagne later then, if we’re staying here to watch the sunset,” I mused,
shrugging.
How did I get so lucky to get a guy like Will? I really, really
don’t deserve him.

He smiled and poured me a glass of milkshake and grabbed a
Pepsi for himself. I helped him open all of the cartons of food, marvelling how
he seemed to have made every single one of my favourites. “You make this all
yourself?” I asked curiously, eyeing the pasta salad warily. Will wasn’t
exactly the best cook.

He laughed and dug a fork into the pasta, spearing a couple
of pieces, and then held them up to my mouth. As I opened my mouth I silently
prayed he wouldn’t give me food poisoning. I was pleasantly surprised by the
flavour of it, it was delicious. “I cheated and had my mom make most of it. I
thought it was better to play it safe rather than us be sorry later when we’re
both throwing up,” he admitted, laughing sheepishly.

I got up to my knees and moved so I could kiss him, smiling
at him gratefully. “Thank you.” Was all I said, it was all that needed to be
said, at least I hoped that he knew how grateful I was, because I couldn’t find
the words to express myself better than that. I was literally rendered
speechless by him and his thoughtfulness.

We ate and laughed, talked and flirted. Everything was
perfect. As the wind picked up, he pulled out another blanket, wrapping it
around my shoulders. When I couldn’t eat another bite he packed everything away
into the hamper, before turning back to me with a huge smile on his face.

I looked at him curiously, wondering what caused that
expression. He held out one hand to me, opening his fist to reveal a little
black box the size of his palm. There was a red ribbon stuck on top.

I closed my eyes and smiled as I shook my head at him. “You
really shouldn’t have bought me anything.”

He rolled his eyes. “I wanted to, so just shush,” he stated,
moving his hand closer to me, silently telling me to take the gift and open it.

I took it from his hand, revelling in the soft, velvety feel
of the box on my fingertips. I bit my lip excitedly, knowing that it was a
jewellery box and that he had already said he wanted to get me something I
could keep. I was so excited that I could barely remember how to breathe.
I’ll
get to wear this, whatever it is, everyday and think of Will.

“You’re not getting any younger,” he teased, laughing and
scooting closer to me so that his legs were either side of mine. He hooked his
hands under my calves and moved my legs so that they were draped over his, and
were practically wrapped around his waist. His face studied every inch of mine
as his hands rested on the tops of my thighs, squeezing gently as a prompt.

I smiled and opened the little box. My breath caught in my
throat. Inside the box was a little gold charm bracelet. The links were
delicate and intricate, there was one little charm hanging off of one side of
it. I reached out a shaky hand and rubbed my fingertip across it, turning it
over so I could see it better. Suddenly I realised what the little charm was.
It was the sign for Pi, the maths symbol. I bit my lip and looked up at him in
awe. I guess the charm was personal to him, something that kind of symbolised
something that he loved, so it would be like I was wearing his sign in a small
way. It was beautiful.

“This is incredible, thank you so much,” I croaked. Tears
pooled in my eyes but I tried not to let them fall.

He smiled and cocked his head to the side. “You like it?”

I leant forward and pressed my lips to his, kissing him
gratefully, tasting a salty tear so I must have lost the fight with myself not
to cry. “I love it,” I whispered against his lips. I gripped the little box
tightly in my hand so that I didn’t drop it. I was already in love with this
little bracelet, and once it was on my body I was never taking it off.

He smiled at me happily. “Good. I wanted to get you
something you could keep. I’m really glad you like it.” He brushed his hand
against my face, wiping my tears away softly before kissing my forehead. “I
love you, Cutie.”

I closed my eyes and gripped the front of his shirt, pressing
myself to him, tightening my legs around his waist, just marvelling over this
guy actually being mine.
He’s just too incredible for me, surely.
“I
love you too. Thank you so much, Will. This is just beautiful,” I breathed,
kissing the side of his neck. I pulled back and held it out to him. “Put it on
for me?” I requested, wanting to get the incredible thing on my arm as quickly
as possible.

He grinned and plucked the bracelet from the box, unclasping
it and wrapping it around my offered wrist. I smiled at the feel of the cool gold
against my skin. The little Pi symbol hung against my wrist, shining in the
last rays of the sun.

He kissed me again until I was literally feeling like my
insides were turning into mush. I was like a quivering mess, and the only thing
that was keeping me upright was his arms that were wrapped tight around my
waist.