Just for the Summer (Part of Your World, #3)

by Abby Jimenez

“I will always come when you call.”

“You didn’t leave,” I whispered. “I will never leave you,” he said tiredly. “I mean, unless you tell me to. I’m not a creep.” I laughed and my sore stomach hurt. He pulled me closer and kissed the top of my head. And for the first time maybe ever, I felt like I belonged somewhere.

“I missed you,” I said, talking to her but looking at the oatmeal. I don’t know why I bothered to say it. She’d made her position on our relationship pretty clear. But for some reason I needed her to know it anyway. Maybe because her truth was hers, and mine was mine and I missed her and deserved to say it out loud.

“What are you thinking?” I asked. He didn’t answer for a long moment. When he did, he did it with his eyes closed. “All I ever think about is you.”

“If this isn’t magic, then what is?” he asked. “What does it feel like to be under a spell if this isn’t it?”

“I didn’t want to beg you,” he said. “But I don’t give a shit about my pride anymore. Stay. Please. Just to see what happens. See where it goes. I’ll take anything—a couple of months, a couple of weeks, whatever you’ll give me. Meet me where I am because I can’t go to you. I would if I could. I’d follow you anywhere if I was able to, but I can’t. Please,” he said again. “Stay.”

He put a hand to my cheek. “Sometimes I feel like the seasons could come and go and come and go, a hundred years could pass, a thousand, the ground could collapse under us, this house could crumble and go back to the earth, and we would still be standing here frozen in time, because every second I’m with you is eternal. I’ve never felt anything like it.”

“I want you to know that your empathy is beautiful, Emma. I hope you never lose that. I do hope that one day you get some boundaries though.”

“You were just asking the wrong person. Ask me instead.”

Maddy was like a first responder for my soul.

“Emma, I’m going to tell you something. And I don’t need you to say anything, I just need you to hear it.” I paused. “I’m in love with you. I’ve been in love with you since the moment I laid my eyes on you. And I know we haven’t known each other long, but I don’t care, because it’s true and it’s there, and it doesn’t matter to me if it makes sense or not. I’ve been waiting my whole life to feel like this and I thought it was a curse that nobody else ever worked out. But it wasn’t. It’s just that they weren’t you.”

I hugged her like this was going to be the last time I ever saw her. “What do you think she’ll be like?” she whispered, after a moment. “Who?” I said gently, holding her to my chest. “The girl you’ll meet after me. Your soulmate.” My heart shattered into a million pieces.

I missed her like I missed the sun in the winter.

“I love you,” I said again. “I’m sorry it came so late. You deserved to hear it sooner. When it still mattered.” He was staring at me through tears. He didn’t move and he didn’t say anything. But I didn’t regret telling him. I was proud of myself for coming here and telling him. The words were his and he should have them.