Page 60 of Imperfect Match (Imperfect Match 1)
I rolled down the grassy hill, skinning my knee when I was six. I learned how to swim in this lake. The first boy I kissed was out on the dock three houses down.
“This is truly amazing,” Reid says as he looks around. We eat cake and drink champagne, and eventually head back inside for a slideshow celebrating my parents’ thirty-five years of marital bliss. When it’s dark and the guests begin to leave, Reid and I grab a blanket and walk down to the beach. He sits in an Adirondack chair, pulling me onto his lap and wrapping the blanket around us.
“Is this weird for you?” I ask.
“What?”
“Us. Being a couple.”
He looks out at the water and then back to me. “No, that’s the weird thing. It’s so easy and natural. As though we were meant to be like this. I almost think that when we weren’t together ... that was the weird thing.”
I know what he means. “You say stuff like that and I don’t really know how to think.”
“Why is that?”
“Because I don’t want to fall to a place where I can never get back up again. I could lose myself in you, Reid. You’re this ... this ... all-encompassing feeling. It’s so much, so fast. Aren’t you worried?”
His hand moves up and down my back. “I’m only worried that something is going to spook you.”
“And I’m worried about the same.”
“Then one of us has to promise to chase the other down.”
I’m silent for a moment as I think about it. Being here where I have so many happy childhood memories, and celebrating my parents’ marriage tonight, has me kind of sad that this might never be where Reid and I end up.
The ring, the wedding, the marriage, the family … I still want it all, and he’s afraid. I know the issues he has with his parents are tough, and he’s against the whole institution of marriage. And right now I can say it’s fine, I don’t care, but what if he never changes his mind? What if I don’t want to just be his eternal girlfriend?
Is all of that more important than being with him now?
I feel like I just got him. Do I need to worry about losing him already?
Seventeen
Reid
“Stop that,” I tell her.
“Stop what?”
“Thinking.”
Willow gives me a flat look.
“I’m serious. I can see those wheels turning in your head, and those wheels are not spinning in the right direction.”
“I can’t help it. Sometimes my wheels spin without my permission or my control. And I start thinking things that make me anxious.”
“Don’t.” I wrap my arms around her and hold her tight, pressing my lips to her temple. “We’re just getting started, Wills. Stay with me, right here in this moment, and let’s just enjoy it for a while.”
“But what if—”
“No buts. I refuse all buts.” I squeeze her even harder. “Well, I should clarify that. I would be absolutely fine with your butt, and any time you’d like me to—”
“Oh my God. Enough. If you want me to enjoy this moment, don’t ruin it.” She laughs a little. “You fiend.”
“I can’t help it,” I tell her. “I’m pretty sure it’s your fault.”
“My fault! How do you figure that?”
