Crazy For You by Alexander, S.B. (love story novels in english TXT) 📗

me. Hope that he would return. Hope that I would see him again. I frowned as we stood in the quiet parking lot overlooking the football field below.

“Awkward” came to mind. I should have walked away, but I couldn’t bring myself to say goodbye.

“You’re cute when you pout,” he finally said. “And you’re making it extremely hard for me to leave.”

I did an imaginary fist pump. “Did you think I would make it easy?”

He nibbled on my lip. “I guess not. Kiss me?”

“On one condition,” I said through a giggle.

He wrapped his big, muscled arm around my waist. “Anything.”

“Text or call me every day.” That was the only way I wouldn’t go out of my mind.

He stole my breath when he mashed his mouth to mine. His answer was steeped in so much emotion, I was certain I would falter.

I should go ran through my brain. It will be fifty times harder to say goodbye. But I didn’t care. He needed to know how I felt. So I gave him everything I had, practically climbing his body. If anyone were watching us, they had front-row seats to a steamy show.

I didn’t know how long we locked lips, but when he broke away, I whimpered, and when he marched over to his truck, the little air remaining in my lungs dissipated.

Then something dawned on me. “Your control. It’s about to snap?”

He barely nodded as he opened the door to his truck. “I’ll give you a ride.”

As much as I wanted to get in that truck with him, I couldn’t. We were only putting off the inevitable. And once I got in, it would take the jaws of life to pull me out.

So I collected my skateboard. “It’s best if we say goodbye now.”

He briefly closed his eyes, struggling with the gravity of what was happening. I was too.

On shaky legs, I walked up to him. A rush of emotions blazed through me as he drank me in. I couldn’t shake the feeling that I was falling hard and fast. Maybe I’d already fallen for him. I didn’t know what love felt like. All I knew was I couldn’t get him out of my head. Every waking minute since he’d returned, I thought about him, and he was taking my heart with him as he left.

He didn’t say a word and didn’t have to. The look in his eyes said it all. He didn’t want to leave. I sure as hell didn’t want him to, either.

“Stay.” I had to try one last time.

His grin was crestfallen. “I would, baby, if my old man agreed to get help for his drinking, or even stopped blaming me for Josh’s death. I have to find a way to get past my guilt and the pain crushing me. I can’t do that if my old man continually reminds me how it was my fault Josh drowned.”

I seriously disliked his father. “What about school?” We had laws about how many days a student could miss without any ramifications.

“I dropped out today. I turned eighteen last week.”

I rubbed his chest, the act keeping my tears at bay. “Happy belated birthday.” I was surprised Grady hadn’t thrown a party for him. But Colton probably hadn’t mentioned his birthday to anyone. “Remember, call or text me. If not, I might have to hunt you down.” I lifted onto my toes and gave him a chaste peck on the lips.

Then I pivoted on my heel. I was a nanosecond away from flipping on the waterworks. I hated goodbyes, though it seemed the norm for me.

He grabbed me, spun me around, and crashed his mouth to mine.

I gave in, allowing him to take what he needed, my body trembling, tears spilling, and heart breaking.

When we came up for air, his soft lips glided along my jaw until he was nibbling on my ear. “I like you a lot, Skyler. Don’t ever forget that.”

I stiffened. Not because of his admission, but he sounded as if I would never see him again, and suddenly my mouth was ten miles ahead of my brain. “I think I’m in love with you.”

He tensed.

Oh my God! I just messed up.

His breathing grew heavy. “I need to get on the road.”

And I needed to bury my head in the sand. I eased out of his embrace.

He stared at me like he didn’t know me all of a sudden.

I wasn’t sure I knew myself, either.

However, it was clear by his shock that he wasn’t ready to hear how I felt. I wasn’t sure I was, either.

I stabbed a thumb behind me. “I better go.”

He opened his mouth to speak, but I raised my hand. “Don’t.” I didn’t want an excuse or a cold response, and if he did feel the same way, I didn’t want to hear it when he was driving out of town.

I jumped on my skateboard and rode hard and fast out of the school lot.

25

I coasted around the cemetery, the only place where I could think clearly. I scolded myself the entire way there for opening my big mouth and telling Colton how I felt.

I screamed at the top of my lungs. Good thing no one was around, which was the reason I chose that place.

A strong scent of freshly cut grass wafted on the late-afternoon air. The sky was drenched in orange and red as the sun slid down on the horizon in the distance. I was headed toward Mom’s grave when I passed Josh’s headstone.

I backtracked and jumped off my board, leaving it on the pavement. I wanted to say a quick prayer, something I hadn’t had a chance to do when Colton and I were there the other day.

As my Vans dug into the soft earth, a sudden wave of dizziness washed over me. I wavered for a second as I held my stomach. Whoa! I was ready to puke.

I lowered myself to my knees, closing my eyes and willing the queasiness to go away. I inhaled and exhaled, realizing I