Whatever It Takes (17 page)

“
Just lay with me.” He does and I rest my head on his chest over his heart. “Jake?”

“
Yeah?”

“
Can we listen to 'Fall'?”

“
Sure.” He leans over and finds it on the iPod. Once he is back in place, I close my eyes and let the pain float on the waves of the music. The song plays three times before I prop on my elbow and look at my love.

“
I love you.”

“
I love you too, Sweetness.”

“
No. I love you. I love how you open the door for me. I love how affectionate you are. How caring, loving, and amazing you are. I love every single piece of you. You've stood by me through the good and the bad and I honestly don't know how I would have made it through this without you. I can only hope that I can give you the same amount of love and strength that you give me.”

Jake leans forward and kisses me. A hot, long kiss. I happen to glance at the clock, blinking on the iHome and realize that we missed the ending of last year and the beginning of this year. Oh well. It was spent in the best of ways.

20

Jake

Emily's words bounce off the walls of my skull even after she's fallen asleep. I
could
can feel, hear, and see the love. She has left me speechless. There was no other option than to kiss her. Words were lost, hidden in the depths of my heart, surrounded by love for Sweetness.

I force myself to fall asleep. School starts back tomorrow and I've got to get up early.

“
Rise and shine, love,” floats in one ear.

“
Five more minutes,” I beg. With my eyes closed, I reach out and pull Sweetness to me. I nuzzle her neck and enjoy every second of the next five minutes, wanting to make it last.

“
C'mon, Jake. You've got to go to practice.”

“
I'm like Rapunzel. I need a kiss to wake up.”

Emily belts out a laugh. “That's Sleeping Beauty, love,” she says after a quick peck. I sigh and roll away from her warm body. Out of bed I go as I begin to get ready for practice. Sweetness is asleep by the time I'm
about
ready to leave. I kiss her forehead before I go.

***

The next few weeks are fantastic. Emily doesn't experience any headaches or nightmares. She spends more time with her friends and
enjoys her time with them. I've come to appreciate every moment with Emily. More so than before..

Emily decides that we
would
should not do anything special for Valentine's Day. “Every day is Valentine's Day with you,” she says. So we stay at home and watch
movies together. Our time is still crunched because of our demanding schedule. Nevertheless, we make the most of it.

Our first year of college is complete and we will be heading home for the summer in the next few days. An offer has been made to me, but I still have to discuss it with Emily. Her reaction is what I'm worried about. I'm not sure what to expect.

How do you tell your girlfriend that even though you've made plans to spend two weeks at the cabin with her, you've been offered to go to Canada for those same two weeks to a hockey camp where you will work with the best of the best?

Summer is approaching fast and I have to make a decision by this weekend. Walking into the apartment, Emily is sitting on the couch. She turns to me and smiles. Here goes nothing.

Lindsay Paige
is a young adult romance author who loves to read more than anything else.
Whatever It Takes
is the third book in the Bold As Love series. When not working on her writing, Lindsay is finishing her last year of high school. She resides in North Carolina.

You can visit Lindsay on her blog at
http://authorlindsaypaige.blogspot.com/
, where you can find even more places to connect with Lindsay or her website,
http://lindsaypaigebooks.com
. She loves to hear from her fans so send her an email at
[email protected]
and she'll happily reply!

Coming Soon...

Lindsay is currently working on
Don't Panic
where the main character experiences anxiety just as Lindsay has. She is also co-writing a paranormal romance with teen author Elizabeth Waldie.

Lindsay is working on her fourth book in the Bold As Love series. Stay tuned to learn more!

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