Just So You Know, I Love You

Part 38 (continued)

I put on my seat belt after we drove down the driveway, not realizing I forgot to put it on.

I was happy to get some alone time with Ty. I felt like we needed it. We needed time alone to just exist with one another. We'd been alone together so many times before, but now it was different. Now we had feelings out in the open. Now it was like we were starting all over.

Ty managed to drive perfectly well with my head on his shoulder while he was driving, his right hand massaging my hands. All Ty needed was his left hand on the steering wheel to keep us safe and steady on the right side of the road. It was the first time he'd ever touched me since I knew he liked me, which may not have made it any more romantic from before, but it made it feel more romantic. Him touching me sent gymnast butterflies down my stomach; they were doing somersaults in there. We were listening to Ed Sheeran love songs, and Ty let me be the song selector.

"So this is really happening, huh?" I asked him. I wanted to hear him acknowledge it. That way I knew this wasn't a dream. I'd had a lot like this, they just never felt this real before.

"I guess it is. Me. You. One long car ride. Florida." He smiled. "Me and you."

"Me and you. It was about time you confessed your feelings to me."

Ty's steering got a little out of hand and he had to straighten it up again. He turned right out of the subdivision, trees all around us.

"Well, to be fair, you liked me, and you never told me. When did you know? Let me guess. It was the first day we met. You were so amazed by my hair and my swag that you knew you needed to have me," he teased.

There were green leaves all over, and as we approached the stop sign we even had to watch for deer. There weren't that many cars on the road, so Ty used that and our need to get to a state twenty-six hours away as his excuse to go a little over the speed limit.

Laughing, I replied, "You wish." Knowing he was still awaiting my honest answer, I said to him, "Well I guess it was around that time."

"Knew it. You've always liked me." A pink color invaded my cheeks.

"And what about you?" I asked.

"You know, it took me a while . . ."

I flicked him on the shoulder. "Okay," he said, "Okay, yeah I've liked you about the same. I met Ashley before, and I did date her because I thought I liked her. Turned out I was in denial though with how I felt about you. It felt like me and you were always dating without the physical stuff. And it felt like Ashley and I were the physical stuff without the emotional connection."

"Well, I'm glad you came to your senses." Ty started driving downtown toward Freezie's ice cream shop away from the trees and into the city. "Why are we going this way?"

We were only supposed to go twenty-five downtown because of all the people, sidewalks, houses, and all that stuff. but Ty was going thirty-five. It was the 10 mph rule. Twenty-five was snail speed.

"Didn't think it'd be fair of us to leave without wishing Freezie a goodbye."

"Oh yeah. I may need a tissue." I let go of Ty's hand as he pulled into one of the diagonal parking spots in the front of the building.

"You'll be back," Ty promised, holding my hand again as we got out of the car. I didn't catch on right away that he said I'd be back, not that he would. I'd been riding on emotion, not logic; when the summer was over, would we be over? Eh, it wasn't something I needed to think about right now. The summer had to start first.

Ty held my door open for me as we walked into the ice cream shop. He seemed taller than me than normal, and I figured it was because I was standing closer to him than normal and looking up at him for once.