“Wow!” Preach said as he pulled me close. “This is awesome.”
“Pretty nice for a small-town school!” I kissed his cheek.
“Admit it,” he said, spinning us around, “you love it here.”
“That, I do.” I wrapped my arms around his neck. I also loved having three-inch heels on. I was so much closer to those yummy lips. We had a lot of kissing to do in order to make up for the weeks we were apart.
“I call unlimited kisses tonight,” I said, kissing him again.
“Deal.” He came in and laid one on me that would have tipped me over had he not been holding me so closely.
“All right, all right. Get a room,” Oliver said, spinning by us with a girl in a black dress.
“It’s weird thinking this is our last school dance.” He shook his head. “Seniors. Graduation.”
“And our last track meet,” I said.
“Last regular seasonhigh schooltrack meet.” He nodded. “We might make state…”
My heart pinged a little at the thought that if he didn’t make state, this next track meet could very well be the last one for him. Ever. I’d get to keep running, but he didn’t have track or hockey moving forward. My heart felt like it had just been plunged into an icy bath.
“I’ve got a surprise for you.” Preach leaned back.
“Good one?”
“I think it’s a great one.” He kissed my cheek and then spun me.
I laughed and hugged him tight. “Do tell.”
“I got an invite to try out for the University of Wisconsin-Parkside track team.”
“What?” I shouted so loudly that Preach ducked. “Oh, sorry.” I patted his cheek. “Preach, really? That’s amazing! How far is that from UW-Madison?”
“Just under two hours.”
“Yes!” I tackle-hugged him. “Seriously? This is awesome! I can’t believe you waited this long to tell me!”
“Dad just told me before we left to come get you and Willow. Plus, I kinda wanted to wait so I could hug and hold you, you know?” He grinned. “Dinner, limo, not super conducive to this.”
I crushed my lips to his and kissed him like I’d never kissed anyone before. He was going to be close to me in college. He might get to keep running. Holy crap, this was amazing.
“Old Town Road” blared from the speakers, and a bunch of students near the stage started line dancing.
“Finally, fourth grade square dancing lessons are paying off.” Preach laughed.
I chuckled and swayed in his arms, ignoring everything around me, except him. My boyfriend. My Preach.
“So…I was wondering something,” I whispered, then kissed the skin directly below his earlobe.
“Yes. To whatever you have to say.”
I leaned back and grinned. “Really now.”
He winked. “What’s up?”
“Preach Armstrong, will you be my boyfriend?” I grinned. “Again?”
He cupped my cheeks with his warm hands and tilted my head. “Absolutely.”