All In (13 page)

“You know you’re like a pro,
right?”

“With parents? Years of practice and
an entire summer of etiquette classes.”

“You’re kidding.”

“I wish.”

“Well, they loved you,” I say,
reaching over and brushing my thumb across her cheek, the word
rolling off my tongue with ease.

“I loved them too,” she says, leaning
into my hand.

The light from the passing lanterns
bounces off Ashley’s face, and I feel a knot twist in my stomach
thinking about her with my family and how easy she was around them.
As if it’s possible, I think tonight’s made me fall even harder for
her than I already have.

I stop right before the turn out onto
the main road and gently pull Ashley towards me, my hands on each
side of her face. I kiss her long and soft. It’s the only way I can
tell her how I’m feeling without using the three words I want to
use.

When we part, her eyes are as
unfocused as my mind, swirling with unsaid feelings.

“Baby, about last night…” I begin,
feeling my nerves return full force. I have to make sure I didn’t
say too much, that I didn’t scare her, but she stops me by putting
her finger to my lips.

“You’re not the only one falling
fast.”

We stare into one another’s eyes
without saying a word until a quick honk sounds from behind
us.

“I think they mean us,” she says with
a soft laugh, and just like that, all my worries are
gone.

Ashley

I can’t sleep.

The bright red numbers of my bedside
clock read two eighteen in the morning and I’ve been tossing and
turning for hours thinking about Lane and our mutual confessions.
We’re falling in love.

I throw off the covers that feel like
burlap against my skin compared to Lane’s touch and peer out my
bedroom window. The circling beam of light from the lighthouse is
calling me. I have to see him.

This isn’t the first time
I’ve decided to listen to my heart and not my head when it comes to
Lane, and I’m sure it will not be the last, but this
is
the first time I’ve
ever snuck out.

I tiptoe up the stairs and freeze when
the top step creaks, echoing throughout the quiet house. I hold my
breath, afraid if that doesn’t wake them, my hammering heart surely
will. I take a few shallow breaths listening for movement coming
from their room, and I am relieved to hear nothing but the ocean
waves crashing outside. Whew.

I sneak back down the stairs, this
time without making a sound and flush the toilet in my bathroom to
conceal the noise of the sliding glass door opening and closing.
Andrew taught me this trick years ago, but I never needed it until
tonight.

I shut the sliding glass door behind
me and with a quick look over my shoulder to ensure the upstairs
windows are still dark, I run full speed ahead onto the beach and
down the peninsula toward the lighthouse.

I feel exhilarated running across the
dark beach, the cold sand under my bare feet while my white eyelet
nightgown blows in the warm night breeze.

When I reach the light house I’m
slightly out of breath. It dawns on me as I knock on the locked
door I could have texted Lane before coming so I wouldn’t be
standing in the pitch black night in nothing but a
nightgown.

The lock clicks loudly before the door
scrapes open just enough for Lane to peek out. His eyes widen in
surprise when he sees me. He swings the door open, reaches out, and
wraps his hand around my waist pulling me inside.

He shuts and locks the door behind us
then gently pushes my back against the cool metal. He leans his
entire body into mine as his warm breath washes over my skin
causing me to shiver. “Am I dreaming?”

I lift my arms around his neck and
pull him so close that his hips press against me when I rise up on
my toes to meet his lips. “Hi,” I whisper.

“Hi yourself,” he murmurs against my
mouth then kisses me so deep it leaves me breathless by the time he
pulls away. “To what do I owe this surprise?”

“I couldn’t sleep,” I say, looking up
at him through my lashes because I know it drives him crazy. “I
hope it’s okay?” He licks his lips and the look in his eyes tells
me it’s more than okay.

“I was actually just thinking about
you, and now I have the real thing,” Lane says, taking my hand and
leading me up the stairs. I’m surprised to see a blanket laid out
on the floor when we get into the warm cozy room at the top. Two
small pillows are propped up against the wall and Lane’s iPod sits
on top of a few scattered car magazines.

“We’re not allowed to sleep while
working, but we keep some blankets and pillows in the storage room
down stairs. Sitting in that chair,” Lane gestures to the small
wooden chair next to the desk, “gets old. Fast.” And as if to prove
his point, he twists back and forth cracking the vertebrae in his
back.

“Ouch,” I offer as Lane sits down on
the blanket.

“I’m better now that you’re here.” He
winks before taking my hand and gently pulling me down on the
blanket too. Smooth.

“So… you were just thinking about me,
huh?” I ask, raising my eyebrows in jest.

“Baby, I’m always thinking about you,”
he answers without an ounce of teasing in his voice. His honesty
makes me melt like honey as I lay my head on his chest, wrap my
arms around his stomach and breathe in a sigh of contentment. This
is exactly where I want to be.

Lane wraps his arms around me and
kisses the top of my head. “So, how long can you stay?” he asks,
pulling a blanket over us, warming me instantly.

“I snuck out, so I guess as late as I
want, or until it gets light out.”

“Well, well, well,” Lane clucks. “I
sure hope you don’t get caught. I have a feeling this sudden change
in behavior, might just be attributed to me,” he says jokingly, but
it’s true. I am changing.

We lay quietly staring out the large
glass windows at the twinkling stars. “Make a wish,” I say when a
shooting star streaks across the sky.

“Already came true,” Lane whispers,
running his fingers down my exposed arm.

I prop my head on his shoulder, so
we’re face to face, and smile. “Mine too.”

“Baby, thank you again for coming over
and having dinner with my family earlier. It meant a lot to me and
them.” He looks into my eyes, and I can feel how much it really did
mean to him, and it makes me smile.

“I loved meeting them too. Your mom
and Irene are so nice, and Grandpa Frank is a riot. Being around
your grandpa tonight made me miss my grandfather so much, they are
a lot alike actually,” I say, my heart clinching that I’ll never
get to introduce Lane to him. “He passed earlier this year. I think
you would have liked him, and he would have liked you
too.”

“Yeah?” Lane says, adjusting so we’re
lying down and my chin is now resting on his chest.

“Yeah.” I close my eyes and think
about him. “All my favorite memories are from spending the summers
here with him. He loved this island so much. He lived south of town
overlooking Nantucket, and when I was really little, maybe six or
seven, we would sail out and around the island, and he would always
let me steer. Called me Captain Whitmore and followed all my
orders, even when I made him wear a princess crown,” I say,
remembering it like it was yesterday.

“Then when we would get home he’d read
to me ‘The Twelve Dancing Princesses’, my favorite fairy tale, and
I would act out all the dances as he read aloud until I was so
sleepy that I would crawl into his lap and fall asleep. It’s
actually the reason I started to dance,” I say, smiling that I’m
able to share these memories with Lane.

“Will you dance at school?”

I shake my head. “It’s hard to imagine
not dancing anymore since I’ve been doing it so long,” I say. “But
my parents only let me do ballet because it would look good on my
college applications as an extracurricular. Otherwise they think
it’s a waste of time.” I shrug. “That’s why I never even broached
the subject of applying to conservatories instead of conventional
colleges. There’s no way my parents would even entertain the idea,
especially if I wanted to change from classical ballet to something
as uncouth as contemporary.”

“But you were incredible.” Lane runs
his hand through my hair causing goose bumps to spread across my
skin. “Maybe you can take some classes at Yale? I’m sure they offer
something. The course catalogue is huge.”

“Not likely. My parents already picked
all my courses for the fall. They wanted to make sure that I didn’t
get side tracked with any ‘unnecessary classes that didn’t meet
their standards.’ Their words, not mine,” I scoff.

“Seriously?”

“Completely.”

“Well, you won’t mind if I’m not in a
rush to meet the folks will you?”

“Why do you think I haven’t broached
the subject yet?” I say with a smile, nudging him in the stomach.
Lane laughs then pokes my side just above my hip where I’m most
ticklish. My laughing only eggs him on more, until I can hardly
breathe.

“Please. I. Can’t. Breathe.” I beg
between fits of giggles. When he finally stops his relentless
assault I’m able to take a few deep breaths before I try and tickle
him back.

“Oh, no, you don’t.” He moves with
lighting fast reflexes, grabbing my hands and pulling me on top of
him. Which is not such a bad place to be.

Our laughter completely dies as my
body presses firmly against his.

He reaches up and pushes my hair from
my face. His fingers brush down my cheeks until he cups my face in
his hands. I close my eyes and let him guide me closer, our lips
finding each other easily.

My hands travel down the length of his
chest and abdomen before I reach back up and rake them through his
hair. The movement of my body against his elicits a quiet moan,
making my stomach coil. I get lost in his touch as he trails his
lips down my neck. His hands roam the curves of my body, up my
spine and into my hair while I greedily pull myself against him
again and again until our breaths are labored.

“I think. We need. To slow down,” I
hear him say between the kisses he’s leaving across my collar bone
and down my shoulder, the thin white strap of my nightgown slipping
off. “Or… I’m not sure I’ll be able to.”

He’s right.

I stop moving, and we both take a few
much needed breaths as we press our foreheads together. I think he
can read my mind because I’m not sure I would have been able to
stop either. It takes another minute before I push my body off of
his so that I’m curled against his side, my head resting on his
chest again.

I listen as his heart, and my
breathing both eventually go back to normal, but the sensation on
my skin where his hands and lips touched still tingles.

“That. Was…” I smile against his chest
because I know exactly what he means even though he doesn’t finish
his sentence.

“You can say that again.”

“Wow.” He’s still a little breathless,
and it makes me giggle.

I lay in his arms until I feel myself
starting to drift off. I rub my eyes to stay awake and find Lane
looking at me with a content smile on his face while faint streaks
of orange and pink light up the early dawn sky.

“I have to go,” I say reluctantly,
wishing I could stay in his arms all night long.

Lane places a finger under my chin and
lifts my head up to meet his, looking deep into my eyes. His kiss
leaves me speechless in its sincerity. No more words are necessary
tonight anyway. He unwraps his arms from around my body, and I
immediately hate the rising sun, blaming it for the loss of his
touch.

I blow Lane a kiss before running
across the peninsula, through the tall sea grass, and onto the
beach in front of my house. I steal a quick glance back at the
lighthouse and take a deep breath, biting my lip at the thought of
us wrapped around one another. A perfect night.

“Ashley Elizabeth Whitmore.” I whip my
head around at the sound of my name being growled from the deck
above me. “Get yourself inside this house right now,” my father
says, holding a steaming cup of coffee in his hand, his knuckles
bone-white and anger written all over his face.

An almost perfect night.

Lane

As I drive, I squint from the glare of
the rising sun bouncing off the water. I’m thankful my shift at the
club doesn’t start until six tonight. Pulling a night shift at the
lighthouse and then a day shift at the club is brutal.

I fully plan on sleeping the day away
and if I’m lucky I’ll dream about the way Ashley felt in my arms.
Just thinking about her in that tiny white nightgown, her shoulders
bare and tan, and her hair falling all around me is driving me
crazy. It got pretty hot and heavy pretty fast and even though
everything in me was screaming to keep going, I knew we needed to
cool off. Stupid conscience.