god, the universe, and everything in between

five

ryker tells me all the time that his junior year of high school was the best year of his life. i beg to differ, though. it was the summer afterward that was the best.

we'd been dating for almost a year, but it wasn't until then that i really started to realize just how deeply in love with this boy i am. we spent every single day, every single moment, together. every morning we woke up somewhere exciting. every morning i woke up with his head on my stomach or mine on his chest and our legs were always tangled together. every morning i woke up next to him, period.

every day was an adventure with him. we would drive for hours, singing at the top of our lungs and holding our arms up in the air out of the topless jeep. we would go wherever we wanted to go, and we would have fun. our friends would tell us to "hop in, we're going to the lake." it could have been anywhere, as long as we were together we would enjoy it. those were easily the best days of my life, too.

my favorites were the evenings we spent together, riding home from some upperclassman's party in the bed of jared's truck. he would look at me with his surreal ocean blue eyes, an expression of pure, genuine happiness on his face. an expression that made my stomach erupt into a frenzy of butterflies. 

i smiled widely at him, giggling a little bit as i watched the wind blow his hair back. he grinned as he traced small shapes on the skin of my hand with his finger. "what're you laughing at?" he asked, grin still on his face as he raised his eyebrows.

"nothing, nothing," i replied, shaking my head as i continued to giggle softly.

"you're still doing it, what's so funny?" he pressed, teasing me as i brought my free hand up to cover my face.

"i just love you so much, that's all." i smiled and let my hand fall back down into my lap. ryker's smile grew, if that's even possible, as he laced our fingers together.

"oh yeah?" he asked, sweeping his tongue across his bottom lip. i nodded, bringing my own underneath my teeth. "well guess what?" he begun before pulling me to him, making me laugh. his mouth was inches from my own, so close that i could almost feel his breath, as he spoke again. "i love you more." and his lips were pressed against mine before i even had the chance to reply. 

he kissed me passionately, his lips moving with mine at a perfect rhythm. i smiled gently into our kiss, bringing my hand up to brush some of the hair that was left in his face out of it. when i finally had the chance to pull away, i did, but just enough to whisper, "but i love you most." 

ryker, breathing deeply, cupped my face with both of his hands, "impossible." he told me, his eyes flickering between mine and my lips a few times before connecting our lips once more. i moved my hand down to his chest as my heart fluttered. i have never existed more than i did in that moment, being there with him under the darkening sky on that warm august evening. 

-

after dinner that night, ryker and i stood together, leaning against the same truck and looking up at the stars. he reached down and took my hand, intertwining our fingers. a smile crept upon my lips as i squeezed his hand.

i sighed softly, "i don't want this to end." i confessed, looking up at him. ryker looked down at me and pressed a gentle kiss to my forehead. he stayed quiet though, letting his lips linger there for a moment as he gathered a response he knew i would appreciate.

"then it doesn't have to." he said once he pulled away, resting his forehead against mine. i looked up at him, moving my hands to his abdomen. i then closed my eyes, "i wish."

he rubbed my arm, inhaling deeply, "we still have time. and besides, there's next summer. and the summer after that, and the summer after that, and every summer until we die." he replied, laughing breezily.

i smiled, satisfied, as i ran my thumb gently across his clothed skin. "promise?" i asked, my voice barely above a whisper.

his beautiful face broke out into a beautiful grin yet again, "i promise." he answered before scooping me up into an embrace and spinning me around, every worry in the entire world slipping away from this life and falling into another.