Glory

He smiled widely over at her, allowing his eyes to scan her body quickly before snapping them back over to the road. The quick look he’d spared had caught her with one of her feet on the dash board, one of her hands threaded in her hair, and a big smile on her face as she tapped the fingers of her free hand against the cracked, leather seat of his truck. A song that was a favorite of theirs had come on as they were driving down the road towards the Dairy Bar and she’d immediately turned the volume up so he could feel the speakers thrumming against his back. The lyrics pumped out so loud that he wasn’t even bothering to add any sound to the words he was mouthing, as he knew that she wouldn’t be able to hear his horrible singing voice over the drum.

Stretching out before them was at least a few good miles of country road, something he’d been dreading before. A slip of paper rested in the pocket of his khaki shorts, not forgotten or even close to feeling like something other than a boulder. It seemed to be holding down his left leg and as much as he was trying to lose himself in the music, in the classic fun they were having now, those seven numbers had single handedly destroyed any emotion other than anger. He was trying to forget that she’d gotten some other guys phone number with the possibility of going on a date with him, but he was failing epically.

Of course they’d dated other people in the course of their friendship, but not in last few months in which his feelings had grown to what they were now. He couldn’t even begin to imagine what sharing her with another man would be like and, at that unimaginable thought, he ground his teeth together while constricting his hand around the steering wheel. If he had to share her-no, he stopped himself short; no, he would never consider sharing her with another guy, plain and simple. However unfair and immature it was, he’d simply back off a little, give himself space so he could find other things in life that could distract him. Talking to her less, though, and having fewer moments like the one they were in right now, didn’t sound appealing. He sighed, having paused in the singing he’d been doing, and ran a quick hand through his brown locks. This had now gone beyond anything that could be defined by the word easy; he’d now branched into complicated territory.

She reached forward and turned the music down when the DJ came on before turning her body so she was facing him.

“What happened to you,” she cheerily questioned. “You quit on me half way through!”

A small smile stretched across his lips and he glanced over at her again, trying not to get caught up in the way she looked with her hair flying around her from the rolled-down windows. He drug his eyes back to the road and shrugged a little.

“I thought a solo was better for the end.”

She chuckled and reached over to give his shoulder a quick shove, to which he felt his smile widened as a hearty laugh of his own flowed out.

The rest of the ride was spent with them engaging in conversations that varied between who their new favorite artist was to who they thought deserved to win an Oscar. He was angry about the little slip of paper that was in his pocket, but the kind of talk they were having was something that he could say was one of his favorite joys. No other person, no matter who they were, could ever take those away from them, even if he was to put a bit distance between them. A late night call every now and then was guaranteed, as she most likely would need advice on how to proceed with certain things in the relationship and he was the only person she felt comfortable enough with to disclose things like that to.

He caught the glimmer the lake water was giving off on the summer afternoon just as he was swerving into an empty parking space in front of a long dock, smiling appreciatively at just how much it resembled one of the pictures his father so beautifully painted. He cut the engine and swung his door open, reaching for the milkshake that had been resting in one of the two cup holder’s.

As he trekked down to the water’s edge, he could picture the delicate strokes the paint brush would have to make in order to rightly capture the way the sun danced on the lake’s surface. The gull’s that flew overhead would make for a magnificence accessory to the big, blue sky that widely stretched out above him. It was a scene that never failed to take his breath away and he mentally made a note to stop at the little craft shop in which he bought his father’s painting supplies in order to pick up a few painting tubes that he could use to persuade him into painting the scene for him.

“Gosh, I don’t think I’ve ever seen the sky so blue before.”

Her quiet comment drew him out of his thoughts and back to the present. He sent her a small smile and took a seat on one side of a stone picnic table that was just a few paces away from the water’s edge. She followed, taking to leaning her back against the table and resting her shoulder against his.

Sighing and reveling in the way her warm body felt pressed up against his, he allowed himself to pretend as if she was his. He knew it wasn’t smart, as later on his heart would be aching because he figured the real person she’d be cuddled up next to would be Parker Eddison, but he didn’t care. For right now, he was alright with wrongly deluding himself; he’d deal with the consequences later.

“I wish that we could stay here forever,” she quietly muttered.

He glanced down at her and sadly smiled when he caught her eyes. They were shining much as they water had been, though they seemed much more magnificent.

“Me too,” he softly responded.

She leaned her head on his shoulder and let out a content sigh.

They sat like that for what seemed like just a few minutes to him and when she pulled away from him to stretch out her long body, he frowned. He preferred to simply forget about the rest of the world and remain her by the lake for the rest of the night. Instead, she tiredly mentioned that she needed to start for her home because she was helping her mother with some sort of lawn care. He sighed and nodded before standing up.

When he made it to his truck and didn’t see her getting in on the other side, he paused and turned to glance around for her. He spotted her back down by the picnic table, bent over at the waist with her hair captured in one hand as the other ruffled through the thick green grass her sandals rested under.

“What’re you doing, Darcy,” he called.

“I lost a something that was very important!”

Confused but automatically ready to help her find whatever she’d lost, he idled back down to look with her.

“What’s it look like?”

“It’s a piece of paper with a phone number on it,” she said.

He paused in his hunched over position, his eyes widening a little as his thoughts when to the phone number in his shorts pocket. He hadn’t thought that she’d realize it was gone, but now that she had, he was at a loss at what to do. Did he give it back and simply just accept the fact that she would go on to date this man? Or did he pretend to be innocent of the papers whereabouts and try to talk her into abandoning it?

Mentally cursing when his conscious sounded, he shoved a big hand into his pocket and fished the piece of paper out. Begrudgingly, he held it out to her after giving her a gentle shove.

Frowning, she slowly took it and looked up at him with questioning eyes. He sighed again and ran a hand through his hair.

“I found it in the den when we were leaving,” he muttered.

“I’m glad I didn’t lose it, otherwise mom would’ve killed me. She’s been harping on me for weeks about getting this number; it’s as if she thinks no one else can mow grass.”

She shoved the piece of paper in her pocket and began heading up to his truck. Surprised, he stumbled after.

Had she said that she’d gotten the number because her mother wanted someone to mow their lawn? It was unbelievable to him, and as she slid into the driver’s seat, he felt as his twisted stomach began to untangle as realization set in.

“You got that number because your mother needs someone to mow her grass,” he astonishingly questioned.

“Yea, what else did you think it was for?”

He said nothing, only gave a quick shake of his head. She laughed loudly after that, causing his cheeks to heat up and him to frown again.

“You thought I got that number because I liked Parker,” she asked, laughing again when Nate said nothing. “I’m sorry, but, honestly, do you not know me at all?”

“I’ve known you all my life,” he muttered.

“Yes, which is why you should know that I don’t need anyone else when I have you,”

Her tone has turned serious now and she’d reached over to place her hand on his upper thigh. His eyes widened at that and he glanced quickly down at her tiny hand, up to her face. She wore a small smile and was staring at him with a look that he’d never seen before.

“I’ve been in love with you ever since we were little, Nate, but you’ve never shown me the least bit of interest. I may be going out on a limb here and am probably about to destroy everything that we have, but I don’t want you to ever think someone else has a chance of stealing me away,” she quietly whispered.

He wondered if this was all a dream, because it was only in those fantasies his made up did things like this ever happen. She was confessing that she had feelings for him, something he’d always wanted to hear leave her mouth, and it all just seemed a little to unreal to him.

It took a minute for him to accurately process things and determine that this was no dream, as the warmth he felt radiating from the hand that rested on his thigh was definitely not something his mind could so perfectly form. Eventually, he sucked in a deep breath and turned to look at her.

“You have no idea how long I’ve waited to hear you say those words,” he whispered.

She smiled and pulled her into his arms, laying a sweet, fiery kiss on his soft lips. His thoughts jumbled as he felt himself become lost in the girl he could finally call his and his emotions sprang from all different levels of happiness.

They spent the rest of the afternoon in his truck in front of the lake, cuddling, kissing, and laughing at the senselessness that had consumed them in earlier years. When the sun began to set, she laid back in his arms and they watched as the red ball of warm light start to sink down underneath the water of the lake.

He glanced down to peer at her face and felt as his breath was swept away. Her hair was framing her pretty features in slightly messy waves as her eyes were lazily watching the beautiful setting sun. Her lips were red from the afternoon of kissing and her cheeks held a rosy glow, the result of his shaking hands having trailed somewhere sensual. In that moment he realized that he wouldn’t get his father to paint the beautiful lake but her-his beautiful glory.