“Appreciate it. But I’m good.”
My shoulders sagged. He wasn’t going to confide in me. Had he ever though? If I thought about it, he’d always kept his personal life private. For as close as we’d always been, there was a lot he didn’t tell me about himself. Did he confide in Jude? I guess he did.
Jude released the bar and dropped to the ground then turned around to face me.
Jesse grinned. “Hey Lila. Have you heard—”
Jude pulled Jesse’s back against his chest and clapped a hand over his mouth, effectively stopping the rest of the words from leaving his mouth. “It’s not your news to share, little brother.”
“Oops. Sorry.”
“You’re good.” Jude ruffled Jesse’s hair to let him know he wasn’t angry before he released him.
Jesse picked up the jump rope from the floor and started skipping.
“You’ve got some fancy footwork there,” I said, stifling a laugh when my compliment caused him to speed up. Jesse was a show-off but he was still adorable and didn’t have a mean bone in his body so he got away with everything. As the baby of the family, everyone doted on him and he knew how to play on everyone’s affections.
“Hey you,” Jude said, gripping my hips and pulling me against him for a kiss. “Missed you.”
I looped my arms around his neck and kissed him back. “Missed you more.”
Brody groaned. “You two are making me sick. Get the hell out of here.”
Laughing, I pulled away from Jude. We’d become one of those sickening couples and I didn’t even care.
“So... what’s your news?” I braced myself for the inevitable words that would come out of his mouth.
“Let me take a quick shower and then we’ll go for a drive.”
“A drive?” He grabbed my hand and dragged me across the field, my stomach churning with anxiety. Why couldn’t he just tell me? Why prolong my misery?
Releasing my hand, he held the back door open for me. I brushed past him and stepped inside the air-conditioned house. In the kitchen, two peach pies were cooling on the countertop. Jude’s favorite.
“Leave your bikini on,” he called over his shoulder as he took the stairs two a time to take a shower.
Fifteen minutes later, he parked his truck on the side of the road near the swimming hole. “Why would you shower before we go swimming?” I asked as he grabbed two towels from the back of his truck and we walked down the trodden dirt path that cut through the trees.
“So you wouldn’t have to smell me on the drive.”
He tossed our towels and his T-shirt on a flat rock and kicked off his high tops, his eyes darkening as he stood back to watch me strip down to my red bikini. He hooked his finger in the strap and slid it up and down. “Love this little suit.”
“Yeah, I know. You picked it out.” My cheeks heated at the memory. Jude came into the dressing room with me.
“I have good taste.” He gripped my hips and pulled me against him, brushing his thumbs over my hip bones. “Next time you need to go shopping for a bikini, I’m your man.”
I tipped my face up to read his expression. “Next time I need a new bikini, will you be here to go shopping with me?”
Instead of answering, he kissed me then released me. “Let’s go for a swim.”
I grabbed his hand, tugging him toward me. “How about you just rip off the Band-Aid? When are you leaving?”
How much time do I have with you?
He ran his hand through his shower-damp hair and winced. “Two weeks.”
I stared at him. No. He didn’t just say that. He couldn’t have said two weeks. I’d heard him wrong. “What did you just say?”
“Baby. Don’t give me that look.”
I pulled away from him and wrapped my arms over my chest. “Don’t tell me how to look at you. You said we’d have a few months. You said your recruiter didn’t have a slot until the fall. We were supposed to have the entire summer together. Then I’d go to college and you’d go to boot camp.” I was hyperventilating. We had so many plans. We were going to make it the best summer ever. “Now it’s only two weeks?”
“Yeah.” That was all he said. Yeah.
“Is that why you went on that male bonding camping trip with Brody? Did everyone know? Am I the last to find out?”
“No, that’s not why...” He exhaled loudly.
“Oh, I’m sorry. Am I not allowed to ask why my boyfriend deserted me for three days?”
“Don’t be like that.” His jaw clenched, his eyes narrowed. “The shit with Brody has nothing to do with you. It’s his story to tell, not mine. If he wants to tell you, that’s up to him. And I didn’t desert you. I was only gone for three days.”
“And now you only have two weeks and I’m working... I’ll be working forty hours a week at the garden center and it’s too late to take that time off. Stella’s on vacation and I’m picking up her hours and...” I stopped and covered my face with my hands. It was too much. I couldn’t deal with the thought of him leaving me.
Arms wrapped around me and he pulled me close. “Hey. It’s going to be okay. I’m going to boot camp. I’m not dying. It’s not as if the doctors have only given me two weeks to live,” he joked.
“You don’t know that,” I said, my voice muffled by my hands.
His chest rumbled with laughter. “You’re acting crazy, Rebel. Come on. Let’s get in the water,” he urged. “I’m sweating my balls off out here.”
I snorted. “Better get used to it. Soon you’ll be sweating your balls off with a drill instructor barking out orders.”
How could anyone be looking forward to that? But he was. Apparently, I wasn’t moving fast enough for him. He swooped me up in one swift motion and tossed me over his shoulder.
“Let me down!” I pounded my fists
