I was beaming with pride as she lowered her brow and clenched her teeth. Never one to just let it go, she shot one more arrow as she turned and left. “Boy, you really rebound low, don’t you Johnson?” she said, walking away.

Reed just grabbed me and held me close, afraid that I was wounded. “I’m so sorry about that, I had no idea, I swear,” Reed whispered in my ear.

“It’s ok, and I know. I’m stronger now,” I just smiled at him, a little proud of my showing. Reed just kissed my head and pulled my seat back out for me, tucking my napkin back on my lap so we could resume our mockery of his mother’s dinner party.

The rest of the evening was more of the same. Millie made a lovely speech and the evening ended up raising more than $1 million for youth scholarships in Arizona. Millie managed to ignore me for most of the rest of the night, despite being seated two people away from me. She spoke to and about Reed often, and I’m sure most of the other people at the table were wondering who the strange, awkward girl was sitting next to him. Reed tried to introduce me a few times, saying things like “I take that class with Nolan or I run track with Nolan,” and gesturing to me. His efforts were always grazed over though.

She shook my hand again when we left, still treating me like the help. I noticed that she embraced Tatum earlier in the evening, like long lost sorority sisters. I am sure Tatum wasn’t too kind about me to her, either. Great, like I needed more working against me.

Even with the painful shunning, I still had a wonderful night with Reed. And he was right, I did manage to catch the eyes of a few older gentlemen, though they were far less creepy than he had me believe them to be. Drunk, yes, but creepy? That was up for debate.

Reed put his jacket over my shoulders as he led me out to the Jeep, careful to tuck me in safely before shutting the door. He drove us partly back to Coolidge but pulled onto a side dirt road when we were in the midst of the mountains. I noticed the grin on his face and bit my bottom lip at the anticipation when he pulled off into a small camp area. He quickly shut off all the lights and cut the engine, unbuckling and reaching for my face, pulling me close to him, swift and with a hungry force.

It had been so long since we’d been alone and kissed with such passion. We clung to each other, grabbing and fighting for air between locked lips. After several minutes, Reed just hung onto my hair and face, pressing his forehead to mine with his eyes closed. I grabbed his wrists and closed my eyes with him, content.

“It’s a really nice dress,” he laughed, breathy. I just started laughing, too. He was adorable, and I loved him with all my heart.

We held each other close for a while longer, and my mind raced with how good it felt to be in his arms. But I also started to feel a sense of dread, and I was sure it was because I had seen Tatum tonight. Reed could feel my heavy sighs and nudged me a little.

“Something wrong?” he creased his forehead, biting his lower lip.

“It’s nothing,” I tried to hide with a smile. He wasn’t buying it, though. “OK, it’s just…Tatum’s really close to your mom, huh? And she’s going to be around. And…well, you’re going to pick a school that’s never going to be closer than 2 hours from mine, and…”

He stopped me with the touch of his fingers to my lips. “Shhhhhh, don’t get ahead of yourself with worry. For starters, f**k Tatum,” he was bitter with his words there, and I knew why. “You never need to worry about her. And second, we still have our senior year, and we’ll figure things out, so how about we just enjoy now, huh?”

He was so good at calming me. I just smiled and squeezed into his side more. So happy, this was where I wanted to be, now.

The night air was getting colder and it was close to 1 a.m. Knowing I had to get home, Reed finally took in a deep breath and started the engine again. I stared at the desert stars, so plentiful and bright against the black out here. My mind was still dwelling a little on college plans and I thought about telling Reed about my applications, but instead I decided to wait. I didn’t even know if I’d get in, and he was right. We had a lot of now ahead of us, and I was wasting it.

We pulled back onto the main highway, which was dark and empty for stretches. Reed slid his hand over to grab my leg, squeezing it to reassure me. I put my hand on his and stroked his strong fingers, admiring his perfect arms. I loved the way his jaw looked as the light from the oncoming car cast a shadow over it, so strong and masculine. He was so much more a man, grown from the boy I noticed years ago. I was so lost in him and his features when I saw the flash of pain rush over his face in an instant as he jerked his hand from me and grabbed the steering wheel.