Care and I burst forth from our last high school final exam like a cork out of a champagne bottle.

I'm free!

"It's over, Rocky," shouted Care, extending her arms to Jack like a cavewoman. "Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaas!"

"Fuck, yeah!" roared Jack across the hall as he left his level two math class, his arms outstretched. "Come here, Shortcake!"

Rocky? Shortcake? When did this happen?

They normally just call each other that online. Does that mean...?

She leaped into his arms as he gave her a bear hug and nestled into the crook of her neck. Closing his eyes, he exhaled a sigh of relief and held the embrace a beat too long.

Wow! The way she gazed up at him and he returned that look with a hint of intensity that I couldn't quite place...

They claimed to be friends, but I believed something very different.

After Care whispered in his ear, Jack chuckled and gave her a peck on the crown. A few of the guys made catcalls before he roared back at them, telling them to stop.

"The hell's wrong with you? Can't two friends celebrate the end of school?"

Yeah, right!

"Hey, Perez!" shouted Jack, jolting me out of my thoughts. "Get your ass over here, girl!"

He wrapped me in his arms next, giving me a hefty pat on the back like I needed the Heimlich maneuver rather than a celebratory embrace. Care enveloped me at the same time.

"Guys! Need...to...breathe..."

"You're such a wimp, Perez!" he said as he backed off, his eyes twinkling with mischief.

I crossed my arms but couldn't stop the smile tugging at my lips. "Excuse the hell outta you?"

"Why? I didn't fart!" he retorted.

Care started to crack up laughing, which made him stand proud like a peacock who'd impressed a potential mate. Oh, I knew that feeling all too well. We'd come full circle. Freshman year, I laughed my ass off at his jokes while she shook her head. Senior year, she laughed her ass off while I shook mine.

Meanwhile Bryan had sauntered over to our group, giving me a shy smile before clapping Jack on the shoulder.

"Hey, man! How'd it go?" he asked.

"Math blows," said Jack. "Whatever, man. It's the last fuckin' final in this fuckin' school!"

"Kowalski!" shouted Principal O'Leary, making everyone near him fall silent. "That's a detention."

"Are you for real, man?" asked Jack with a bemused expression.

"Nah, I'm just messin' with ya." The principal narrowed his eyes. "But enough with the swearing on school property."

He gave a fake salute. "Sir, yes, sir."

"Don't make me change my mind."

"Hey, how'd your finals go?" Bryan asked me as a deep blush spread across his cheeks.

"I think I failed."

His face dropped while Care gave him a playful smack. "Don't listen to her. She's always saying she failed when she gets a ninety-five percent."

"That's not true."

Care gave me an incredulous look. "Dude...seriously?"

"Okay, it's a little true."

"How's your grandfather doing?" asked Bryan. "Is he better?"

"He's coming home today," I said as a broad grin spread across my face. "Thanks for asking."

"That's a relief." Bryan gave me a friendly nod. "Tell him I wish him a speedy recovery."

"Will do."

When I turned to Care and Jack, they gazed at one another in that way that friends didn't.

Lovebirdius maximus.

Good God! Three weeks with Care had me making up words and phrases too.

My heart almost stopped when Jack tucked a wayward strand of Care's hair behind her ear. "I'll call you later. Okay, Shortcake?"

Her cheeks flushed crimson. "Okay, see you."

As Care and I walked towards Yaya's car, I decided to tease her. "Sooo, Rocky and Shortcake, huh?"

"Oh, shush!" Her blush deepened so much that I feared she would explode. "We carried it over into real life."

"Nahh, I think it's cute."

"You do?"

"Yeah, Shortcake."

She gave me a gentle nudge in the ribs. "Shut up!"

As we hopped into the backseat of Yaya's car, Care began a little victory dance. "It's over, Yaya!"

"Congratulations, sweetheart! How did it go, girls?" she asked, looking at both of us.

"Don't say you failed," warned Care as she gave me a glare. "You know your crazy ass passed."

"I think I did okay," I replied. "Sis aced it."

Care rolled her eyes. "Like you didn't."

"Hey, stop bickering like siblings," shouted Yaya over our continued banter. She broke out into a grin. "Guess who's home?"

"Grandad!" I shouted the same time Care said, "Uncle Ted!"

Without further ado, Yaya drove us straight to our family ranch. There Grandad sat in his maroon leather La-Z-Boy rocker as though nothing had happened at all.

After Grandad told me I didn't have to worry, I gave him the biggest hug known to man. He chuckled and whispered, "Told ya I'd make it."

Never had I felt so happy. And later Eric would arrive for our first official date to celebrate the end of the high school grind.

***

This time when I heard the sound of Eric's car door, Mom didn't fuss about the house. She didn't need to. While Grandad had been in the hospital, she'd scrubbed it to within an inch of its life.

Instead, she drilled me.

"Jess dear, do you have your money?"

"Yes."

"Your phone?"

"Yes."

"Your keys?"

"Yes."

"Your pepper spray?" interjected Grandad, breaking Mom's flow.

"What?"

Mom cast him a dirty look. "Ted dear, honestly!"

He grinned and gave me a wink.

"Do you have Eric's number?" she asked. "Our number? Care's number?"

"Mom, I haven't lost fifty IQ points because I've decided to go on a date," I retorted. "I do remember my own phone number."

Eric gave a polite knock on the door. Mom fussed over her appearance, nervous about her impending apology.

"Just give me a minute, will you, Jess dear?" she asked.

"Sure, Mom."

She welcomed him at the door, full of genuine politeness. Neither overly saccharine nor cold. When she invited him into the living room, she closed both sets of French doors and spoke to him for a good five minutes. I couldn't hear her. Or him. But he sat diagonally across from her, listening with polite attention as he nodded now and again.

Then he smiled. The most gorgeous, genuine smile that warmed my heart. At the end, they stood and gave each other a friendly yet slightly awkward hug.

I only caught the tail-end of their conversation as she opened the doors. "I promise to take care of her and bring her home before twelve."

"Thanks, Eric dear. I worry ever so much about my baby girl."

Oh, Mom! Stop embarrassing me. Jeez Louise!

Well, it's better than her acting like an ass-hat...

"Don't worry, Carmel." He chuckled. "We're going out for dinner and a movie. Then straight back here, promise."

"What's this movie you're watching again?"

"It's called The Matrix," he replied. "It's a sci-fi action film about a computer hacker who discovers that our reality is fake."

"What is it rated?" asked Mom.

"Carm..." growled Grandad.

"Oh, well! Never mind, Eric dear," said Mom, quickly course correcting. "I'm sure you'll have a lovely time."

Eric smiled. "Thank you, Carmel."

"Bring my little girl home safe, you hear?" whispered Grandad under his breath to him, probably unaware that I could hear him. "No funny business!"

"Absolutely, sir...I mean, Ted." Eric shook his extended hand and gave him a friendly nod. "You have my word. I hope you're feeling recovered?"

"Enough to do some real damage if my granddaughter comes home even one minute after twelve," he said with twinkling eyes and just a hint of threat in his tone.

"You don't need to worry," said Eric. "That won't happen."

Eric turned to me and held out the crook of his arm. Grandad raised a brow as I slipped my arm inside his and he guided me towards the front door.

"Oh, isn't our girl a vision?" I caught Mom whispering to Grandad even though I was wearing the same dress that Helen had given to me a few weeks before.

"She is indeed."

"Will she be safe?"

"With that kid?" He heaved a heavy sigh. "Absolutely."

***

At a lovely Italian family restaurant, Eric pulled out my chair so that I could seat myself before joining me opposite. It felt like a dream come true, as though someone had created a modern fairy tale and plonked me inside it. He even let me try an untouched corner of his lasagna in exchange for a tiny piece of my chicken parmesan.

"Oh, my gosh!" I exclaimed. "This food is so delicious, isn't it?"

Eric nodded and swallowed the small sample, wiping his mouth. "I've come here for special family occasions for as long as I can remember. It never disappoints."

My heart almost melted. Oh, gosh! He brought me somewhere meaningful to him!

"This might be my new favorite place." I glanced at the lit candles. "So romantic--" My cheeks burned with embarrassment. "I--I mean atmospheric."

"You're allowed to think it's romantic," said Eric as a gentle blush swept across his cheeks. "That was my intention."

It took all of my inner discipline not to squee aloud. My heart expanded until it was fit to burst.

I dabbed my lips with the starched cloth napkin and cleared my throat. "It is...romantic."

His eyes dropped to my hands. I lowered my cutlery as my heart drummed in an excited rhythm. He shook his head and took another bite.

"What is it?" I asked in a gentle tone. "You can tell me."

"It's nothing...," he muttered. "Too soon."

"No, tell me."

He chewed thoughtfully for a few moments before taking a sip of Diet Coke. He almost whispered his next words. "I wanted to reach for your hand."

"You can. I'd like that."

His gaze locked with mine as he reached out to my side of the table. Not breaking eye contact, I did the same until our hands met and he held mine. I couldn't breathe, I was so happy.

It felt perfect.

"Jess, I--" He gave my hand a gentle squeeze. "I admire you. So much."

"I admire you too, Eric."

"I have something to tell you," he said.

"Go ahead."

Here it comes! The three words!

He cleared his throat. "I never properly asked for your forgiveness because I wanted to do it in person."

"What do you mean?" I furrowed my brow and chuckled. "You didn't do anything wrong. Tonight was perfect. My family did everything right for a change. Well, as much as can be expected..."

"Oh, yes. I did."

"What?"

He took another sip. "I'm so sorry that I brushed you aside after our last dinner. School was insane, but I should have told you so that you wouldn't worry."

"It's okay, I can get stuck in my work as well."

"No, it isn't okay." He squared his shoulders. "We should always talk if something goes wrong. Not shut each other out. I want us to feel as though we can talk about anything."

A smile tugged at my lips. "You can. I can. We can."

He breathed a sigh of relief. "It was pure luck that no one swooped in and swept you off your feet before I came forward and told you what I think about you."

"And? What do you think?"

"I don't know if now is the time," he replied with a furrowed brow, mostly talking to himself.

"It is, Eric. You can tell me."

"This is our first date."

"We've known each other forever."

He exhaled a sharp breath and our eyes locked once more. "I don't just admire you, Jess. I think about you all the time. Even when I should focus on my labs. I've thought about you the entirety of my freshman year. Remember that example of romantic attraction I gave you?"

I nodded.

"You're the woman," he whispered, looking away with bashfulness.

My heart burned brightly when I realized he meant that little daydream he had before he went to sleep.

"Every time something good happens, I want to tell you," he continued, "and when you're not there, I feel a bit...strange? Like something's missing."

Oh, my God! I want to kiss him so badly.

Eric frowned in confusion, gazing off into the distance as though perplexed by his own thoughts. "I think... I believe... I'm in love with you."

"I love you, too."

His attention shifted to me again, wide-eyed as though he wanted to drink in the sight of me. He exhaled a sigh of relief as the tension left his body and he squeezed my hand.

"I love you, Jess," he said in a firm tone. "From the moment I saw you staring at my sci-fi posters to the one when you shed a tear as I played for you. Yes, that was when I knew I loved you."

The rest of the dinner went uneaten as he paid the bill and escorted me outside under the light of the full moon. We strolled until we entered a small park with a fountain. As he brushed back a tendril of my hair, Eric gazed down at me with eyes as dark as night.

"May I...?" he asked me softly.

God, yes!

"Kiss me, Eric."

He cupped my cheek in his palm, stroking it tenderly with his thumb. With a firm hand on my waist, he drew me nearer, each movement so achingly slow. Turning to the side so that our noses wouldn't touch, I realized he would give me a proper kiss.

One on the lips.

My first real kiss.

And I let him.

Eric asked for permission with his eyes, giving me ample chance to pull away or to ask him to wait. As his warm breath fanned my cheek, freshened by an after-dinner mint, I rose on my tiptoes and closed the distance between us.

My lips grazed his with a flurry of electric tingles from head to toe. A quick, chaste touch before he returned the kiss with an embrace that trailed along my sides before pressing me to him with gentle insistence.

I poured all my feelings into our kisses--some loving, some full of need--while intertwining my hands behind his neck. He shivered. Whether from the cold or from my touch, I didn't know. To be sure, I moved them to his shoulders. Eric gave a little grunt of disapproval, placing one of his hands over mine and returning it to his neck.

"You don't have to move away," he whispered, breaking the kiss before whispering in my ear. "Touch me."

That one demand flooded me with tingles that warmed every inch of my skin despite the chilly spring breeze.

"Don't be afraid," he said, planting a gentle peck on my cheek. "I want this."

"But you shuddered..."

"No," he said with gravel in his voice as his nose grazed my earlobe, "I trembled."

Pressing me close to him, Eric settled in the crook of my neck as a passionate gasp escaped my lips. He lingered in my tender spot, sending a delicious thrill coursing through my body. Only once I threaded my fingers up his neck and to the base of his scalp did he break the kiss.

Breathless.

He whispered my name like a prayer, his voice husky with desire as he pressed his forehead against mine. I teased the bristles along his neck, and Eric trembled once more.

"We should stop," he whispered, taking one of my hands and planting a gentle kiss upon it. "Not that I want to, but I have a promise to keep."

"Ever the gentleman," I said with a smile as he pulled back.

"Don't tease me, Jess." It was the only time his tone contained a hint of danger, but not the bad kind. An amazing thrill teased through me in all the places it shouldn't. "Not now."

"Are you angry?" I asked, pulling away with concern.

Eric reached for my hand, giving it a tender squeeze as he brought me close again. "Far from it." He exhaled a calming breath. "We shouldn't be late for our movie."

As we watched The Matrix, we held hands and shared a small bag of popcorn. True to his word, Eric brought me back home after one of the most epic films I'd ever seen.

Right on time. Fifteen minutes before curfew.

"Jess dear, did you have fun?" asked Mom with a bright smile as we stepped into the foyer.

"It was amazing!" I gave Eric a chaste kiss on the cheek and squeezed his hand. "Thank you."

"The pleasure was mine," he said, lifting my hand towards his lips and kissing the air above it. My heart thudded with delight. "May I call you tomorrow?"

"Yes, please."

"See you soon, my muse."

As Mom closed the door behind him, she fanned herself. "Good Lord, bless my soul. Well, isn't he a dream? A gentleman, a romantic, and punctual?"

I flashed her a wide grin. "He's a keeper, Mom."

"He sure is, dear. Never let that one go."

That was when I knew everything would work out just fine.