Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
I had never despised the sunrise so much in my entire life. The bright New Haven sun showed over our heads as dawn cracked over the sky. The brilliant pinks and yellows were nothing compared to the beautiful girl sleeping beside me.
I did my best not to move as I woke myself up.
Lili stirred quietly and I immediately froze in place so that she wouldn't wake up. My attempt was futile as a few moments later she began to sit up. "Good morning Blondie," I said quietly.
I glanced at me and she smiled. "Don't call me that," she reminded me.
"I can't stop," I told her. Honestly, I loved how riled up she got by it. I loved that I could do that to her. I also knew that she wasn't actually mad, she secretly liked it.
She shook her head, amused. "What time is it?" she asked.
I scrounged around for a moment before finding my phone. I had 12 missed calls from Cooper and a few threatening texts from Cami. "It's 7:31," I told her.
She yawned cutely and laid back down. "Can we just stay here forever?" she asked.
Yes, I desperately wanted to say. But I had an early morning practice for hockey. I guess it was my coach's great idea to prevent us from staying out too late on Halloween, but really it just made everyone throw up the next day. "I have hockey practice," I told her.
She groaned but she sat up. "When?" she asked.
"Eight," I admitted.
"Then we'd better get going," she said. We both stood up and hopped out of the back of the truck.
I'll admit that I waited a few more seconds so that I could admire my last name on her back as she walked around the car. We slid into the driver and passenger seats and I started the car.We pulled away from the spot and started to drive back towards the school.
After a few more moments of silence, Lili broke it. "Okay," she said, clearly preparing herself for something. "I.. Um.. Look Josh," she said.
I put a hand on her bare calf and used the other to make a left turn. In the corner of my eye I saw as her cheeks lit up bright red. "You can tell me anything," I told her.
"Okay," she sighed. "I don't do one night stands," she admitted quickly.
I already knew that, Cami had told me last night.
"So if you think that last night was leading up to that then you're wrong, because that just isn't me. Not that there's anything wrong with having a bunch of one night stands, that's just not what I like. But If you just want that, we can go back to being friends I-"
"Lili," I said, effectively putting a stop to her rambling. "I meant what I said last night. I can't go back to only being friends with you."
"So where does that leave us?" she asked. "We could be casual," she offered. Lili clearly did not like the idea of being casual, frankly I didn't either.
"I don't like sharing," I told her, keeping my eyes on the road.
"Sharing?" Lili inquired with a smile in her voice.
"I don't want any other guys to be with you, only me." I didn't want this to make me sound like a possessive asshole, but sharing Lili was not something that I was willing to do.
She hummed in response as we let a few more silence filled minutes pass between us. "I really don't want to be that girl," Lili started by saying. "But I know myself and if I don't find out now I am going to be agonizing over it later-" she took a deep breath before continuing. "I need you to put a label on us." She was looking down in her lap nervously.
"Lili," I said.
"Hmm," she hummed.
"Look at me Blondie," I said. She looked up at me. "I want you to be my girlfriend," I told her. The words surprised me a little bit even though they were coming out of my mouth. I've never really had a girlfriend before, but if that's what it took to make Lili mine, then that is what I wanted.
"Are you asking me to be your girlfriend?" she asked with a smile.
"Lilianne Dawson," I said. "Will you be my girlfriend?"
"I would like that," she said. "I would kiss you right now, but you're driving."
"I have never hated driving more," I told her. I squeezed her tight and she covered my hand with her smaller one.
"I'm going to be late to practice if I drop you at home first," I said, mostly out loud to myself. "What if we go to the gym, I'll get Cooper to bring my stuff. I'll give you the keys to my car and you can drive back to your place. Danny'll give me a ride to your place and I'll pick up the car after?"
"You want me to drive your truck?" she asked.
"You grew up in Texas right?" I asked.
"Yeah," she agreed.
"So I assume you know your way around a pickup truck," I said.
"I guess so," she agreed. "Most guys in Texas are super protective of their cars though."
