Prologue
Penelope
Age Eighteen
“And what did the coach say?”
“He said I need to report the first week of July so I can start training with the team.” Jacob reaches over, grabs my hand, and lifts it to his lips as he continues to drive. And every time he does that—kisses the back of my hand—I fall a little bit more in love with him.
Riding in his truck, one of my favorite places to be, I look over at my boyfriend. He’s driving me home where my parents are waiting on us for dinner. It’s just a few weeks before graduation, and the anticipation of our future together is making my heart race every time we talk about it. “It’s all happening, babe,” he says. “Everything that we want and have worked for is coming together.”
Shifting my body in the seat so I can tuck my legs under me and turn in his direction, I study his profile the same way I’ve done for the past two years. “This was the plan, Jacob. This is your dream. You know just as much as I do that hard work pays off, baby—you and I are living proof of that. And the support of our town has only pushed you to make your dream come true. Soon, everyone will know who Jacob Peterson is.”
“It’sourdream,ourfuture, Pen. Ohio State is one of the top seeds in the nation for college football. It’s my gateway to the NFL. And the fact that you got in and we won’t be apart for four years is just the cherry on top.”
I clear my throat. “And don’t you forget that I’m giving up UCLA for that,” I tease, even though I don’t feel salty about that at all.
He smirks, glancing over at me before shifting his eyes back to the road. “I won’t. But I also don’t want you to hold it over my head, either.” Brushing a hand through his light brown hair, he exhales heavily. “Are you sure you’re still okay with giving up that school, Pen? Because if you really want to go there, we can make this work.” The cool spring air blows right through the open windows of the truck, making my hair go wild while I try to catch his gaze again. “I don’t care if we have to do long distance. I don’t want you to give up on your dreams for me and then resent me down the line. But—”
“Jacob, stop.” He leans back in his seat while clenching his jaw, silence descending on us for a moment. “It’s just a school, and I know that if I were that far away from you, I’d regret it. I’d be miserable. Wherever you are is where I want to be, too.”
That blinding smile of his is back as he exhales, his whole body relaxing. “You are the only thing that matters to me, Penelope. Well, you and football.”
“I was gonna say...” I laugh out loud, my eyes drifting out my open window and over the residential roads of our small Ohio town, soaking up the distant sunset that’s painting the sky in hues of oranges and pinks. Watching the sun rise and set is one of my favorite things in the world, and it only reminds me to soak up this precious moment even more.
“Sure is a beautiful one tonight, huh?” Jacob asks when he catches me staring at the colorful sky.
“It’s funny how it happens each day, and yet, no two skies are the same. I can’t get enough of them.”
“And each time I watch you stare at one, it makes me even more grateful for all the sunrises and sunsets I get to experience with you—and every one that is yet to come.”
Love spreads like a warmth through my body as I look out the windshield, taking in the only place I’ve called home since I was born. Sure, there’s an entire world out there to discover, but once Jacob entered my life two years ago—the new student in school who caught the attention of every girl—some kind of cosmic shift took place, and I knew my life would never be the same. Girls from every grade threw themselves at him, but his eyes landed only on me. And after I made him work for it, of course, I realized that home wasn’t just a place—it could also be a person.
And so Jacob became my home and the biggest part of my life moving forward.
“What’s your mom making for dinner tonight?” he asks, pulling me back to the present as we get closer to my house.
“Chicken enchiladas.”
“My favorite.”
I smirk. “I know. That’s probably why she’s making them. I swear she likes you better than me sometimes.”
“Wouldn’t you rather your parents like me than not?” he asks on a chuckle.
“I don’t know. Sometimes I think the fact that they actuallylovethe boy I’m dating has prevented me from being able to tap into my rebellious side. I always envisioned myself singing “Papa Don’t Preach” at some point while I’d get to argue with them about how much I loved some boy they didn’t approve of. And because you’re basically the best guy on the planet and treat me with the utmost respect and adoration, I don’t get to fight with them.” I shoot him a teasing glare. “In all honesty, you’re cramping my teenage-girl style, Jacob Peterson, and now it’s making me question things.”
Jacob throws his head back as he laughs. “God, you’re something else, Penelope Klein.” He pulls my hand to his lips again and reverently presses a kiss to my skin.
Two years of dating has made us closer than ever, especially as we talked about our futures beyond high school and what they would look like. We ultimately realized we wanted one with the other person in it. Jacob made it very clear that I was the girl he wanted to marry, even after I challenged him on that declaration for several months. But when I finally gave in to what I felt for him and offered him all of me in return, I knew he was the man I was supposed to be with.
Even though the idea of being someone’s wife was never an aspiration of mine growing up, visions of a life with Jacob became all I could think about—following him to Ohio State, being behind the scenes when he gets drafted to the NFL, becoming a football wife to the top quarterback in the League, having little miniature Jacobs and Penelopes that every married couple in America would envy because our kids would be the cutest fucking kids on the planet, and creating a life and empire with the boy that made me rethink everything I thought I’d wanted for my life.
We aren’t naïve. We know the odds are stacked against us. We know people think we won’t last six months as a couple once we get to Ohio State even though we’ll be on the same campus, that the allure of dating someone new or the stress of classes and him playing on the football team will tear us apart.
But what we have is the real deal, young love that is strong enough to stand the test of time.
Unfortunately, though, time wouldn’t be on our side...