Classics in Summertime

Dylan and I had been riding for fifteen minutes, through a part of my property in the woods in a direction that led towards his. I’d never gone that particular way before, and both Henry and I were anxious to see where Dylan was taking us.

“She’s a good horse, isn’t she?” Dylan looked back at me while he patted the top of Dakota’s head, a large smile on his face.

I nodded my head and smiled back at him softly. “She seems like it.”

“We’re almost there,” Dylan said as he turned back to the trail. The trees then opened up again, into a small clearing. Not too far away, the trees began again, but in that space was the small river that Dylan had showed me not that long ago.

Dylan hopped off Dakota once she stepped into the clearing, and he tied off her reigns onto a small tree at the edge. I followed suit and did the same to Henry, placing him a few feet away from Dakota.

The next thing Dylan did was walk over to me and grab onto my hand before guiding me in the direction of the river. The water was still passing over the rocks gently, and it was a beautiful contrast to the kicking horses behind us.

“It looks even more beautiful in the daylight,” I said, laughing as I looked over at Dylan. He looked back at me and smiled as he squeezed onto my hand more tightly.

“It does.”

He let out a nervous laugh before sitting on the bank of the river, pulling me down with him. The two of us sat side by side for a moment, just listening to the water, before I finally spoke. I ran my hand through my hair nervously, while my teeth were chewing on my bottom lip.

“So, what did my parents say?” I asked, looking over at him once before turning back to the river.

His hand, which had let go of mine a few minutes prior, reached back for mine again, and his finger was rubbing gently over my skin while he looked at me. I kept my eyes on the river and away from him, even when he started speaking.

“Nothing, really,” Dylan said, pausing for a moment before he continued. “It’s still a work in progress, Ev, but I don’t think we’ll have to sneak around as much.” He stuttered then ran his hand over the back of his neck. “I just told your dad how much you mean to me, and he made me promise I wouldn’t take you away from him.”

“He said that?”

Dylan nodded, chuckling as he shook his head. “And he told me I could call him Dave.”

I knew my dad. I knew he was stubborn, hotheaded and a lot like me. He was a tough one to get past, and I hoped Dylan knew that nothing about this was going to be easy.

“Well, that’s a good sign,” I said as I looked over at Dylan for the first time since he began speaking. He had the most gentle look on his face, and everything about him made me feel like everything was just going to be okay.

His smile widened and he nodded his head. “I thought so.”

There was a long pause with neither of us saying anything before Dylan dropped my hand, reached over and wrapped his arm around my shoulder. He pulled me closer to him, and I had to scoot against the rocks until our hips were touching. My head fell immediately to his chest, leaning against it while he wrapped his arm more tightly around me.

“I don’t think I could imagine a moment more perfect than this,” Dylan whispered as he drew small circles on my knee with his fingers. “I wish we could just stay out there.”

I bit my lip, my eyes watching the waves crash against the rocks beneath our feet while I listened to the rise and fall of Dylan’s chest. “So do I.”

“You could go with me if you want,” Dylan said, as though it flowed into our conversation seamlessly.

“What?”

“You could go with me to Cali, if you want.” He looked down at me and I looked up a bit, so our eyes just barely met. “I mean, not all the time, obviously – your dad will kill me – but I’d love to take you down there and show you around. I think you’d have a great time.”

It was insane that the more crazy promises Dylan made me the more I believed him. There was no doubt in my mind that he’d come back every chance he could, and I was more than certain that he fully intended to take me out to California with him. Dylan had made a promise that he was going to prove me wrong, and I fully believed he was going to do that.

I turned all the way around, so our eyes were meeting completely, and Dylan was just looking at me with this terrified expression on his face. It didn’t disappear until I nodded my head softly and his trembling lips were replaced with a soft smile.

I gave him a smile back and leaned up with one of Dylan’s arms still wrapped around my neck. My movements were slow and shaky as I kept leaning forward until our lips met and I felt Dylan’s smile deepen.

His lips were soft and sweet, and every touch of them against me made me want to melt into him. The worst thing I could imagine at the moment was having to pull away from him, but I knew that I had to. I gave him three more, small kisses before I finally pulled away from him.

When we pulled apart and I looked at him, his cheeks were a soft shade of red and he was still smiling. I nodded my head again and smiled back as I spoke. “I’d love to.”

It was going to be tough being with Dylan, but the one thing I knew more than anything else was that he would be worth it.