My Brother's Best Friend (Shay Mooney)

Chapter 21

Shay and I find ourselves at a tiny diner a few miles away from Dan's hotel. It's only open until 2:00 and it's extremely quiet. An older-looking woman walks over to us with a cheesy smile plastered on her face. "What are y'all drinkin' today?" she asks, eyeing Shay.

"Umm...can I get coffee please?" Shay asks.

"I'll have coffee as well," I chime in.

"Sure thing," the waitress responds, winking at Shay.

Shay laughs and imitates her wink as she walks away. We're both dying laughing when the waitress returns with coffee. She takes our orders and then disappears back into the kitchen.

I take a sip of my coffee. When I place it back down on the table, Shay is staring at me. I stare back at him, confused. "Why are you staring at me?" I ask.

"Because you're beautiful," he responds.

"SHAY MOONEY YOU DID NOT JUST QUOTE AUGUSTUS WATERS!" I exclaim, causing an old man that had recently walked in the diner to stare at me.

Shay's eyes crinkle as he laughs. "Well you are." He takes a sip of his coffee. "After we leave here, I have a place to show you," he states.

"What is it?" I ask.

"It's a surprise. I can't tell you," he responds calmly, a smile tugging at his lips.

"Ugh, Shay, you're so difficult," I joke.

The waitress delivers our food and we eat quickly. Shay pays the bill and we exit the diner, his arm wrapped tightly around me. He opens the passenger side door for me, helping me into his truck. He quickly slides into the diver's seat.

"Shay Mooney, where are you taking me?" I ask.

"I can't tell you!" he responds, laughing.

I slide over in my seat so that I'm nearly in Shay's lap. I place one of my hands on his thigh and the other on his cheek. "Where are we going?" I whisper in his ear, kissing down the side of his face, down his neck, and onto his chest.

"It-it's a...it's a surprise," he struggles to say. I tug on his hair and kiss his neck. I gently bite the skin of his neck. His eyes close as he lets out a loud moan. Luckily, the car doesn't swerve while Shay is distracted.

Shay moves his right hand to my face and tries to pull me closer to him. I move his hand away from my face and lace his fingers with mine. I turn my head and kiss his lips for several seconds. When I pull away, he whispers, "Baby, we're here."

Shay parks the car under a tree and quickly jumps out to help me get out. "Come on. You'll love it," he whispers in my ear before taking my hand in his and pressing a kiss to my cheek. The scenery is peaceful and quiet except for the sound of the steady pour of water. Shay leads me to a waterfall.

"What is this place?" I ask.

"My favorite place in the whole world," he sighs. "Wrap your arms around my neck and jump," he orders. I do as I'm told. As I jump, I feel his arms wrap around my back. I wrap my legs around his waist. Shay carries me down a steep hill to a hollow log next to the waterfall. He sits down, me still in his lap. I get closer to him by wrapping my legs tighter around him. I slip one hand under his shirt and hold his hip while the other finds his cheek.

"This is beautiful," I say, looking around.

"Yeah," he responds. It's silent for several minutes. "I want to ask you something," Shay states.

"What is it?"

"Will you go to prom with me?" he asks shyly. "If you don't want to, I completely understand because I know it will be awkward and none of your grade will be there and-" he rambles. I cut him off by pressing my lips to his.

"I would love to go with you," I say, smiling down at him. He smiles and kisses my lips again.

"Emily."

"Shay."

"I love you," he says, catching me completely off guard. My eyes grow big and I'm at a loss for words.

"I love you too. So much," I whisper, pressing my forehead to his. His eyes crinkle as he smiles.

"You know, I've always had a crush on you. You're so amazing and beautiful and I'm just so glad Dan got drunk at that party," he says, laughing at himself. "I just love you so much."

"I love you too."

Shay starts taking off his shirt.

"Umm...what are you doing?" I ask, confused.

"What, you think we're gonna come here and not swim?" he responds, a smile tugging at his lips. He hangs his shirt on a nearby tree limb before beginning to remove his shorts, revealing his boxers.

I awkwardly pull my shirt over my head and hand it to Shay who's standing in front of me. Next I slowly take off my jean shorts, handing those to him as well. My flip flops are at the top of the hill from where Shay had picked me up.

"You are so beautiful," he states, eyeing my body. Immediately feeling self-conscious, I blush and immediately try to cover myself. Shay steps over to me and takes my hands in his, removing my arms from my body. He locks his fingers with mine and raises our arms above our heads. He presses his lips to mine. "You don't need to hide. You're absolutely gorgeous," Shay whispers.

We break away from our embrace. He leads me to the edge of the waterfall where the water is collected into a pool. Shay takes my hand and whispers, "One. Two. THREE!" We jump into the water.

As soon as I hit the water I begin screaming. It's absolutely freezing. "OH MY GOD SHAY IT'S SO COLD!" I shout.

"Baby it's okay," he responds, laughing and taking me in his arms.

We swim for what seems like hours before we decide we're too tired to continue. At that point, Shay climbs out of the water. He lifts me out with him. At the sight of my shivering, Shay decides to get his leather jacket out of his truck. He returns with it and wraps it around me.

We lie down in the grass, still half-naked. I drift off to sleep with my head on Shay's chest and his warm jacket around me.