Kiss List (Book I of the List Series)

Epilogue

Summer was almost over. I couldn't believe how fast it had flown by. It seemed like just yesterday that Aaron had asked me out on our first official date and now he was one day away from leaving for college and his soccer team training. It was hard to think about him not being around anymore.

Well, I was just going to have to savor my last few moments with him. That wasn't hard. I looked over at Aaron lounging on the grass, catching his breath from a soccer drill we had just completed. He was dressed the exact same way he had been when I tripped over a bench at the beginning of the school year – red shorts and no shirt. I felt a familiar warm tingle run through me as I gazed at his beautiful shirtless body. The difference now was that I no longer made a fool of myself when I was around him. At least not too much, anyway.

I walked over to Aaron and lay down on the grass beside him. He wrapped an arm around me and pulled me in close. He leaned over and kissed me on the cheek.

"Ew," I said. "You're all sweaty."

Aaron laughed and pulled me in tighter. His skin was warm and slippery with sweat but I didn't mind. For some reason Aaron's sweat never bothered me. He just seemed to clean and hot for it to be gross.

"Are you going to miss me?" he asked.

"No, because we are going to have video chat dates every night," I said firmly. "And I'm going to come to visit you at least once a month and you're going to come back every holiday. We'll make this work."

"I know we will," Aaron said as he kissed me again.

A phone started vibrating. We both looked instinctively over at where we had left our excess clothes, water bottles, and phones.

"It's mine," Aaron said. "I'll get it."

I sighed. "Okay, just hurry back. I want as much cuddle time as I can get."

"Hey, what's up?" I heard Aaron say. I didn't want to eavesdrop on his conversation so I zoned him out. I lay on my back and stared up at the perfect cloudless sky. I would miss these moments with Aaron but a year wasn't too long and who knew what would happen next year? Maybe I would end up at the same school. My dad warned me to apply to all the schools I was interested in academically and said that high school relationships rarely worked out but things with Aaron felt different. Sure I was going to pursue my own academic and athletic goals, but I still believed that Aaron and I were meant to be together.

Aaron had spoiled me over the summer. His parents were often gone for work-related trips and they had made his brother get a job as a camp counselor in some other state. For some reason, the Caldwells didn't seem to want Nate to spend too much time around Lakeville. Aaron wouldn't talk too much about it beyond saying that it was a long story and that Nate had a somewhat unsavory past. Anyway, my family had more or less adopted Aaron for the summer as a result. To my amazement, my dad and Aaron got along extremely well. They actually sort of became friends and even teamed up against me on more than one occasion, though I always made sure to make Aaron pay for that. I had gotten to spend so much time with Aaron that I now felt like I had known him forever. And just when I thought he couldn't get any sweeter, kinder, or more loving, he managed to prove that he could.

"Are you an f'ing moron?" Aaron yelled. "I swear, I'm going to beat your ass when you get home."

I looked at Aaron in shock. I had never heard words like that come out of his mouth before. He was now shouting into the phone and his face with red with anger.

Aaron did not see me watching him – he was too transfixed by the conversation. After a pause he shouted, "Well then I'm going to come back home the first holiday I get... Thanksgiving, I guess... and I'm going to beat the crap out of you. You idiot. You dumb idiot. We're going to talk more about this. Okay, yeah, get packed. I'll talk to you soon."

"What's wrong?" I asked Aaron as soon as he hung up the phone.

Aaron let out a long sigh. "My idiot brother," he said. "The moron got expelled from his school. Something about getting caught in bed with a girl."

I frowned. "I thought Nate was at an all-boys military school," I said.

Aaron sighed again. "He was," Aaron said. "Unfortunately, the commandant of the academy has a daughter." Aaron groaned. "My brother never thinks with his head. How's he going to get into colleges with this on his record? It's not like it's his first offense. He's a brilliant soccer player – maybe good enough to go pro one day – and he's actually really smart when he's not being stupid. He could accomplish so much if he just tried."

"So what's he going to do now?" I asked. "I mean, where's he going to go to school?"

Aaron shook his head. "Where do you think?" he asked. "Nate is going to come home and go to Lakeville High School. And I'm not going to be there to keep him in line. He doesn't even get home for a few more days and by then I'll be gone."

I could tell how upset Aaron was. Despite all the names he had just called Nate, I knew that Aaron loved his brother more than anything. I stood up, walked over to Aaron, and gave him a reassuring hug. "Don't worry," I said. "You've still got me here. I can help keep him on the right path. Maybe get him in with a good group of friends who can be a positive influence for him. Plus, think about all your friends who will still be here. They can help. Dylan, Noah... well okay, maybe not Noah, but you get the point."

Aaron hugged me tightly. "I don't know," he said uncertainly. "I've never seen anyone as good as Nate at getting into trouble."

"Come on," I scoffed. "He's just one person. Lakeville is your school. He's walking onto your turf. Just use your resources and you can force him to behave. I believe in you."

Aaron's body seemed to relax. He looked down at me and smiled. "You're right," he said. "You know just what to say to make me feel better. You're a genius, you know that?"

"I do but it's always nice to hear you say it," I said with a smile.

Aaron leaned down and kissed me. It was as magical as the first time his lips had ever touched mine.

We kissed for quite some time and then Aaron hugged me again. He stroked my back. "Yeah," he said. "Lakeville is my school, not Nate's. This will work. We'll straighten him out."

"Absolutely," I said. "Now can we go back to your house? If I've got less than 24 hours with your somkin' bod I want to make the most of it."

"Is that all I am to you?" Aaron joked. "Some piece of eye candy you can ogle and feel up whenever you want?"

"Nope," I said with a smile. "That's just a nice perk."

As we left the park I made two resolutions to myself. The first was that I was going to do everything I could to show Aaron that I loved him and was serious about making our long-distance relationship work. The second was that I going to make sure Nate toed the line at Lakeville. If Aaron wanted his brother to turn things around, then I was going to make sure that happened.

Nate Caldwell had better prepare himself. He was about to become a paragon of virtue and academic achievement... even if had to tear him down and build him back up myself to make that happen.