breeze was coming off of the water. I hugged my arms around myself to keep warm. For mid-August it was a little chilly. I started my walk down the beach, absently making my way closer to Jensen's house. It wasn't until I was about halfway there that I realized what I was doing. Maybe I was just too curious as to what he and his mom were discussing.
About five minutes later I saw the Meyers’ house and slowed my pace. Jensen was sitting out on the upper deck on one of the wrought-iron chairs of the bistro set near double French doors that led into the kitchen. He seemed to be alone and just staring out at the water. After watching him for a minute or two, I decided I'd walk up and say hello. Before I could, his mom emerged from one of the doors with two steaming cups, which I assumed were filled with coffee. Jensen’s attention was soon drawn to the hot cup and he smiled up at his mom, appearing to thank her. Ashlyn sat down in the chair next to Jensen and cupped the mug between her hands. I watched as she then set it down on a round table between them. She seemed to have a serious look on her face as she began to talk. I couldn't make out what she was saying, of course, because of the distance, but she seemed slightly upset.
Jensen's brow furrowed as he took a sip of his coffee and then put it down on the same round table. His hands became slightly animated as he talked, apparently answering a question or disagreeing with something she’d said. He turned his head abruptly and was looking out in my direction. Hoping that he wouldn’t see me, I stepped back behind a tree as quickly as I could, peeking through the branches and up at the wooden deck where he and his mother stood. It didn’t take long before I realized it was the nearby water he was looking at and not me. His mother appeared to still be speaking to him.
Even from the distance, I could tell Jensen’s mood was intense. His mom touched his arm lightly as he turned toward her and shook his head. They seemed to exchange a few more words before Jensen got up out of his chair and made his way to the kitchen through the French doors. That was my cue to beat it back to my house so he wouldn’t think I'd seen the exchange between him and his mom. Feeling like a spy who was about to get caught, I ran all the way back to my house, praying I would get there before Jensen did. I hopped the stairs two-at-a-time and was relieved to see the note still on the door. Quickly pulling it off, I sat down on the stairs and tried my best to regulate my breathing.
As it turned out, there was no reason to run back to my house since Jensen took another twenty or so minutes to return. Just as I was getting more than impatient waiting for him on my front porch, he emerged from the street and walked up my driveway with his hair still damp. Apparently he had taken a shower before coming back over.
3. Lunch With Friends
"Hey, babe," Jensen said as he walked up the driveway. "What are you doing out here?"
“Waiting for you. How was the talk with your mom?"
"Oh, fine. She actually just wanted to talk about what she said she did—last minute college stuff."
I looked at his face, searching for a hint of what the conversation was really about. I was sure they had talked about something else, but Jensen's expression was giving nothing away and he wasn’t going to say anything else, either. I had to bite my tongue to keep from telling him that I saw them talking and it sure didn't look like last minute college stuff to me.
I tried another angle. "Is she having a hard time saying goodbye?"
"Yeah, you could say that." Jensen sat down and put his arm around me. He was like a vault this morning, which had me worried. What's he hiding?
"How was your morning?” he asked, reaching over and taking my hand. “What have you been doing?"
I looked at our clasped hands briefly and then decided I wasn't going to get anything out of him. "I called my Dad. I was afraid I'd lose my nerve if I waited for you to come back."
"That's OK, it's no big deal.” I raised my eyebrow. Huh? He's not upset?
"He said hello and congratulations," I said hastily, wanting nothing more than to ignore the awkward feel of the moment.
"Wow. He wasn't upset?"
"No, but a little concerned like your parents were. Well, maybe a little more so, actually. He did say that not all long distance relationships work out and that I should be prepared."
"What do you think?" he whispered, his blue eyes striking.
"I don't think I need to be prepared for something that isn't going to happen," I said with conviction.
Jensen let go of my hand and took my face into his hands, placing his lips on mine to say he agreed. I let him continue the kiss.
"I'm sure going to miss this," he said once he had pulled away, looking at me and caressing my bottom lip with his thumb.
Looking into his eyes I saw a sudden sadness that clouded the vibrant blue that was usually there. In an effort to erase it, I quickly reached out and placed my hands on the sides of his face, kissing him once again. Even though I had caught him off guard, he quickly recovered and returned the kiss with as much exuberance as before. A few moments later I ended the kiss before it could turn into something more. Now was not the time for sex.
"Are you ready to tell our friends?” I asked as I sat up straight and smoothed my clothes. “I'm sure it will be a cake walk compared to last night."
"How do you think they'll react?" Jensen looked out beyond the driveway toward the freeway and mud flats.
“Well, Karl seemed thrilled. I think Krissa will be excited for us and will probably say something about knowing it all along. I’m not sure about Aria, though … or Nate for that matter.”
“Gabe and Tyler will probably be fine with it. I agree with you about Nate and Aria. It seems like the two of you are always competing somehow." Jensen took a breath and then furrowed his brow. "I also think that Nate may still hold a torch for you.”
I looked at him to see if he was serious. He was stoic for a beat and then he was suddenly smiling from ear-to-ear, which earned him a punch in the arm. He grabbed ahold of me and nuzzled my neck through my hair.
“Even if he did, he’d never be able to take you away from me.”
I snorted at his comment. "Of course not. I wouldn't let him."
We had opted to take our friends out to The Armadillo, which was informal and also quite famous for their chicken nachos. When we walked in the door, I was reminded of the day Jensen and I had gone here after hiking. It was the same day I knew I was in love with him. It was ironic that this was where we'd be telling our friends the big news.
Not long after we’d walked through the doors, we were joined by Aria, Nate, Karl, Krissa, Ryan, and Tyler. The only one missing was Gabe. We vowed to call him later after first swearing everyone else to secrecy first.
While we were digging into the free chips and homemade salsa, and waiting for our two large orders of chicken nachos, I did my best to hide my left hand. Before we had even walked in the door, I twirled the diamond so it lay on the inside of my finger. The band was still fairly large enough to spot, but I figured the extra glitter from the diamond would attract too much attention. Krissa looked at me a few times with questions on her face, but she never did ask them. I was sure she knew something was up. Finally, it was Nate who broke the silence.
“Alright, what is this—the last lunch with friends before you college assholes take off?”
He was smirking and had his arm around Aria, who had her hand pretty high up on his leg under the table. She didn’t think we’d seen it, but we all knew. It made me smile for once.
“What, Mia?”
My head snapped toward Nate. “What? I didn’t say anything.”
“You were smiling,” Nate pointed out.
“Alright, alright.” Jensen made a motion with his hands normally used to settle crowds