Him by Carey Heywood (reading strategies book .txt) 📕

gave him. It makes me happy to know he's never been here. I've always heard these parties can get a bit crazy. I press the button to open the sunroof and tilt my chair back to look up at the sky for a couple minutes until I need to pay attention to road signs again. The driveway is already overflowing when we get there. Will parks a ways down the street. I reach into my bag and pull out some flats to change into. He carries both of our bags in one hand and takes my hand in his other. Bravo's name is really Brett, but his dad is military and is teaching him the letters for his name like Bravo, Romeo, Echo, Tango, Tango. Brett liked Bravo so much his dad started calling him that, and soon so did everyone else. I had never been to one of Bravo's parties. They are always invite only, and while Will is always invited, he never goes.

Will finds Bravo and finds out what room we'll be staying in. Bravo gives Will a key to lock it, telling him to keep it locked so other party goers don’t try and use the bed. Eww. When Bravo leaves, Will locks the door behind him and tackles me.

"You look so hot," he groans in my ear as he kisses my neck.

I tug on his hair until he pulls back to look at me. "Kiss me," I demand, wrapping my arms around his neck as he lowers his lips to mine. He's on top of me, but he still doesn’t feel close enough. I loosen his tie and start unbuttoning his shirt. Once it's unbuttoned, I pull it and his undershirt loose from his pants.

He stops me. "Sarah, why don’t you go to Gainesville or Athens Tech, and we can get a place together in the fall?"

I wiggle out of his grasp and stare at him openmouthed. "Did you just ask me to live with you?"

He tugs me back towards him and holds me close. "I don’t know how to be away from you."

"I just—" I don’t know what to say. I know I love him, and I know he loves me. Will Price just asked me to live with him. What's funny is, dating or not, my parents would probably be all for it. But he's supposed to be living in the dorms this year. "I can't live in your dorm. Besides, the whole point of me staying home is to save money."

"I'll pay for everything."

"Alright, Daddy Warbucks. We both know that is not happening."

"Do you not want to live with me?" He starts chewing the side of his lip.

"Of course I do."

"Then we'll figure everything else out." He he starts tucking his shirt back in. "We should probably go downstairs for a little while."

"Let's just stay here," I plead.

"Nope. You are going to that party. I just need to give you a giant hickey first."

I swat at him and pull away, shaking my head. He gives me his best pout until I lean forward and nibble his lower lip. He looks shocked for a moment, then kisses me fiercely. I just want to stay here.

"Let's make a deal," he suggests, rolling me over onto my back.

"What kind of deal?" I whisper as he lies on top of me.

"We go to the party for an hour and then hurry back here for the rest of the night."

I press my hips against his. "Why don’t we just not go out there and stay in here all night?"

He chews the corner of his mouth before dropping it to mine. "You drive a hard bargain."

I'm just about to ask him if that means we can stay in when the doorknob to the room turns.

I gasp, but Will says. "Don’t worry. It should be locked."

Then we hear a knock and Bravo on the other side. "Are you guys coming down or what?"

I roll my eyes when Will calls out. "We'll be down in a few." He looks back at me.

"Well, I guess it would be rude to stay up here the whole time," I admit. "One hour?"

"One hour," he confirms.

It feels like everyone's eyes are on us as we walk down the stairs to the party. Will has my hand in his, and I cling to it. He has to sense I'm freaking out because at the bottom of the stairs he drops my hand and puts his arm around my shoulder, pulling me flush against him. We can hear Bravo's booming voice in the kitchen and head that way.

When he sees us in the doorway, he smiles. "Wasn’t sure if you guys were ever coming out of that bedroom. Damn."

I turn my face into Will's chest as I feel my cheeks redden. Will lifts my chin with his fingers and drops a sweet kiss on my lips. His expression so vulnerable, I put my arms around his neck and pull his lips down to mine once more. Will gets a beer and grabs me a cola. We walk around for a bit, his arms never leaving my shoulders.

In each room we walk into, Will makes a point to talk to everyone and ask about their plans for the summer. I shake my head, trying not to laugh at him, but I love it. He's only doing it so they'll ask what his summer plans are, and when they do, he pulls me closer and tells them he plans on spending every spare second with me.

Vanessa, a girl from my calculus class, chimes in. "Are you guys going to stay together once you leave for school?"

Will doesn’t hesitate. "Yes, and don’t worry about us. We’ll make it. Plus, I'm trying to talk her into coming with me."

After he has made sure every person at the party is crystal clear that we are together, we make our way out onto the back deck. It has a wooden walkway built off of it that leads to a dock. We walk out