Before leaving, he came to my house, took me in his arms, and kissed me till I couldn’t breathe. He never said a word. Just got back in his truck, winked, and drove off. He was always doing things like that. He would tell me he needed to feel something real.

“I refused to remove it at first,” he says with warmth in his voice. “Then it had been there so long, it wouldn’t come off.”

“Sorry I permanently defaced your truck. I didn’t realize it would still run after this long.”

The roar of the engine vibrates through the silence. I remember it was always loud, but I swear I never felt it like this. Zach clears his throat. “I don’t think it’ll ever die. It’s tough as hell.”

He puts the truck in drive and heads down the small road toward my house. “This looks really bad,” I say, squinting.

Zach drives slowly as rain pelts the truck harder than before. I can barely see anything out the windshield. He pulls over to the side of the road. “I can’t see. I’m going to wait until this lets up a little.”

Mother Nature is a cold-hearted bitch. Doesn’t she know how much I don’t want to be in this truck? Couldn’t she give me one freaking break? Of course not. Nope. We should make this as awkward and uncomfortable as humanly possible. The thunder booms behind us, causing me to jump. Great. Now we’re going to have the storm from hell.

“So?” I say after a minute of silence.

“You never could handle the quiet.” Zach smirks as I fight the urge to punch him in the leg.

“Yes, I could!”

“No. You always needed either music or talking. Good to see some things are still the same.”

“I’m a lot different.”

So much has changed since he left me. Not only in my life, but who I am. Loving someone the way I loved him changed me deep inside. But losing my husband took a part of my heart and tarnished it beyond repair.

“We both are, Pres.” He’s right. He’s not the same boy I remember. “Since we’re stuck here, tell me how you’re different.”

“We don’t have to talk.” I cross my arms and look out the window.

He chuckles. “No. But who knows how long before the rain stops.”

I don’t want to let my guard down with him. It would be so easy to let go and be his friend. I’m not prepared to be trapped in a car with him. I continue to gaze out at the road, trying to find a break in the downpour.

“Suit yourself,” Zach says as he opens a candy bar.

Son of a bitch. “You’re going to eat that in front of me?” I have no restraint when it comes to chocolate and peanut butter.

“Want some?” He tilts the chocolaty goodness close and then jerks it back. “I only ask for one thing.”

“What’s that?” I ask, snatching the candy out of his hand.

“You can’t ignore me while we’re stuck here.”

I snap off a piece, pop it in my mouth, and grin. “Fine. Tell me how you’re so different.”

“Well, first of all, I wouldn’t ever play chicken on the covered bridge. I would never try to tip a bull again. Most of all, I would never try to steal a candy bar from Mrs. Rooney.”

Just remembering us as the kids we were makes me smile. “God, we did some dumb stuff when we were younger.”

“Yeah, we sure did.”

“I mean, do you remember the time we snuck out at one in the morning to ride horses out in the woods? We got so lost I swear we found ourselves three towns over. Mama and Daddy almost killed you that day.”

Zach nods. “I thought your daddy was going to. He came out on the porch with that shotgun pointed at me. But nothing was as bad as my dad when I got home. He was pissed.”

“You were grounded for a week.”

“I still snuck out to see you.”

I smile. “I know. I remember.”

“Do you remember how we tried to light a bonfire and we ended up needing to call the fire department?”

We had no understanding of consequences. “So many times we could’ve gotten hurt or worse. Now that I have Logan and Cayden, I think about the dumb crap they’re going to do. It scares the shit out of me.”

“Well, at least they don’t have Trent feeding them ideas.”

I smile as I roll my eyes. “Yet.”

Zach wipes the fog off the window and another memory rips through my heart. It’s like we’re sixteen all over again.

“Huh?”

“What?”

“You said something about being sixteen.” He stares into my eyes.

“I didn’t mean to say that out loud.”

He smiles and shifts his body toward me. “What were you thinking about?”

“Nothing. Just something you did reminded me of when we were kids.”

Zach’s eyes never leave mine, and I swear he’s reading my thoughts. The intensity in his eyes only grows, and again, I’m thrown back in time.

“Zach,” I moan as my hands search for something to grip. “Please, don’t stop this time.”

We’ve been dancing around this for months now. I love him. I want to be with him for the rest of my life. I want to share this with him, but he keeps saying no.

His tongue swipes up, and my hips buck. “I love you, Presley.”

I lift his face and hold it in my hands. “I love you, Zachary. Please, make love to me. I want you to be my first.”

Zach hovers above me on one arm, and he uses the forearm of his other arm to wipe away the fog that covers the window. Heat consumes the cab of the truck, and all I want is to steam it up more. “We’ll make love, Pres. We’ll make love more times than we can count. But it sure as hell ain’t going to be in this truck with my brother in the car next to us.”

I cover myself and sit up. “Trent is here?”

He laughs and then kisses me. “It’s make-out lake. Of course Trent is here, and from the looks of it . . . half our senior class is too.”

“I hate this town. I can’t wait till we’re both out of here.” I groan, pulling my shirt over my head while Zach zips his pants.

After both of us are dressed, he takes my hand. “We’re out of here soon enough, baby. I head off to college, and you’ll come there. We’ll both finish with school, I’ll get picked up by a pro team, and we’ll have everything. You and me, Presley. You and me. I’ll give you the world.”

Zach waves his hands in front of my face. “Earth to Presley.”

I blink.

“What were you thinking about?” he asks.

Like I’m going to tell him that. Not on his life. “The boys,” I lie.

“The boys?”

“Yeah, I have two of them, remember?” I play coy, hoping to change the subject. I try to focus on bringing my heart rate back to normal. If being this close to him triggers these things, I need to figure out a way to stay far, far away. Zach extracts too many memories that I buried a long time ago.

He studies me but lets me have my lie. “I was thinking about the things we did and the time we spent in this truck.”

My head turns toward him. Is he really bringing this up? “Oh?”

“Yeah.” Zach’s voice is layered with confliction. “A lot of memories on this front seat. Being around you makes it hard to forget.”