We'll Always Have Summer (24 page)

He gives me a small wave. I wave back and blow him a kiss. He smiles and turns back to his date.

Conrad opens the car door and slides into the driver’s seat. His white shirt is soaked through—I can see his skin.

He is shivering. He grabs my hand, locks my fingers into his, and brings it to his lips. “Then let’s do it. We’re both wet already.”

He turns on the ignition, and then we’re off. We head for the ocean. We hold hands the whole way. When we 290 · jenny han

get there, it is empty, so we park right on the sand. It’s still raining out.

I jump out of the car, hitch up my skirt, and call out,

“Ready?”

He rolls up his pant legs, and then he grabs my hand.

“Ready.”

We run toward the water, tripping in the sand, screaming and laughing like little kids. At the last second he picks me up like he is carrying me across a threshold. “If you dare try and Belly Flop me right now, you’re going down with me,” I warn, my arms tight around his neck.

“I go wherever you go,” he says, launching us into the water.

This is our start. This is the moment it becomes real.

We are married. We are infinite. Me and Conrad. The first boy I ever slow danced with, ever cried over. Ever loved.

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