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Authors: Jiffy Kate
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beneath the largest oak tree. Tables are set with beautiful flowers in the center. Servers are walking around with platters of shrimp and tiny toasts with stuff on them. I’ll stick to the shrimp. I know shrimp. I love shrimp.
My dad takes several of the toasts and a glass of wine and then bids me farewell as he walks off to visit with people.
Everyone is here.
I see Micah talking to some girl over by the greenhouse. Tucker is flirting with another girl on the patio.
And there’s Deacon.
He’s leaning against the trunk of a tree, arms crossed, legs crossed, head tilted back laughing. He looks like he’s from one of those photo shoots for Gap. He’s beautiful. The pain in my chest—the one I’ve felt since he was supposed to come home six weekends ago and didn’t—multiplies.
As if on cue, his focus turns to me, and he levels me with his stare.
At first, there’s a look of recognition, like he knows—he knows he should’ve kept his promise, he knows my feelings are hurt; he knows we need to talk. And then, the sweet smile I’ve always loved creeps onto his face. He leans forward and says something to the person he’s talking to and then makes his way over to me.
We don’t speak. He just wraps his arms around me and pulls me to him. And it feels like heaven. I know I’ve been missing him, but I didn’t know to what extent until now.
“I’ve missed you,” he whispers.
“I’ve missed you too,” I reply, feeling relieved that this isn’t weird. I’m still pissed at him for not coming home, and I’d still like an explanation and to know whether or not he’s been avoiding me, but I’m glad we can still be Cami and Deacon, in spite of it all.
I’m about to tell him that we need to talk when the boisterous voice of my annoying brother interrupts us, and Deacon pulls away almost instantly.
“Deke, dude. You better get over here and defend your title. Micah and Everett are tryin’ to say you’ve gone soft since you’ve been at college.”
Deacon chuckles but turns to give me an apologetic look that’s only for me. “I’ll be there in a second,” he calls out over his shoulder.
I try to put on a brave face and pretend like none of this bothers me. I don’t regret for one second what happened between Deacon and me, but at this moment, I wish we didn’t have a big elephant standing between us.
“Go,” I tell him, pushing gently, feeling his tight abs under his shirt, which instantly reminds me of our night together. My eyes flicker to his and his scan my face, looking for answers. I don’t miss the way he pauses when his gaze falls on my lips. It makes my insides hum and hope starts to swell inside me. Maybe he hasn’t been avoiding me. Maybe he still wants to kiss me as bad as I want to kiss him.
“Go,” I repeat, giving him a smile so he’ll go because I know we can’t do what I want to do here. Not in front of his family and my family and everyone else in town.
“Are you okay?” he asks, his eyes taking on a seriousness I haven’t seen in a while.
“Yeah,” I say, trying to sound convincing. “I’m fine.”
“Okay,” he says, nodding his head, his brown hair a little longer than the last time I saw him, but the streaks of summer are still there. “We’ll talk later.”
“Yeah,” I nod. “I’ll save you a dance.”
His smile grows wide. “Sounds perfect.”
I watch as he walks over to join Tucker and Micah at the corn hole game that’s in session. Seeing the three of them together makes it feel like old times and nostalgia settles in hard. I almost tear up until I feel a warm hand wrap around my waist and Annie’s familiar scent waft over me.
“It’s good to see all of y’all together,” she says, squeezing a little.
I turn and give her my most honest smile. “Yeah.”
“You okay?”
This must be the question of the night.
“Of course. Why?”
She shrugs, her soft brown curls falling to one side as she tilts her head to get a better look at
My dad takes several of the toasts and a glass of wine and then bids me farewell as he walks off to visit with people.
Everyone is here.
I see Micah talking to some girl over by the greenhouse. Tucker is flirting with another girl on the patio.
And there’s Deacon.
He’s leaning against the trunk of a tree, arms crossed, legs crossed, head tilted back laughing. He looks like he’s from one of those photo shoots for Gap. He’s beautiful. The pain in my chest—the one I’ve felt since he was supposed to come home six weekends ago and didn’t—multiplies.
As if on cue, his focus turns to me, and he levels me with his stare.
At first, there’s a look of recognition, like he knows—he knows he should’ve kept his promise, he knows my feelings are hurt; he knows we need to talk. And then, the sweet smile I’ve always loved creeps onto his face. He leans forward and says something to the person he’s talking to and then makes his way over to me.
We don’t speak. He just wraps his arms around me and pulls me to him. And it feels like heaven. I know I’ve been missing him, but I didn’t know to what extent until now.
“I’ve missed you,” he whispers.
“I’ve missed you too,” I reply, feeling relieved that this isn’t weird. I’m still pissed at him for not coming home, and I’d still like an explanation and to know whether or not he’s been avoiding me, but I’m glad we can still be Cami and Deacon, in spite of it all.
I’m about to tell him that we need to talk when the boisterous voice of my annoying brother interrupts us, and Deacon pulls away almost instantly.
“Deke, dude. You better get over here and defend your title. Micah and Everett are tryin’ to say you’ve gone soft since you’ve been at college.”
Deacon chuckles but turns to give me an apologetic look that’s only for me. “I’ll be there in a second,” he calls out over his shoulder.
I try to put on a brave face and pretend like none of this bothers me. I don’t regret for one second what happened between Deacon and me, but at this moment, I wish we didn’t have a big elephant standing between us.
“Go,” I tell him, pushing gently, feeling his tight abs under his shirt, which instantly reminds me of our night together. My eyes flicker to his and his scan my face, looking for answers. I don’t miss the way he pauses when his gaze falls on my lips. It makes my insides hum and hope starts to swell inside me. Maybe he hasn’t been avoiding me. Maybe he still wants to kiss me as bad as I want to kiss him.
“Go,” I repeat, giving him a smile so he’ll go because I know we can’t do what I want to do here. Not in front of his family and my family and everyone else in town.
“Are you okay?” he asks, his eyes taking on a seriousness I haven’t seen in a while.
“Yeah,” I say, trying to sound convincing. “I’m fine.”
“Okay,” he says, nodding his head, his brown hair a little longer than the last time I saw him, but the streaks of summer are still there. “We’ll talk later.”
“Yeah,” I nod. “I’ll save you a dance.”
His smile grows wide. “Sounds perfect.”
I watch as he walks over to join Tucker and Micah at the corn hole game that’s in session. Seeing the three of them together makes it feel like old times and nostalgia settles in hard. I almost tear up until I feel a warm hand wrap around my waist and Annie’s familiar scent waft over me.
“It’s good to see all of y’all together,” she says, squeezing a little.
I turn and give her my most honest smile. “Yeah.”
“You okay?”
This must be the question of the night.
“Of course. Why?”
She shrugs, her soft brown curls falling to one side as she tilts her head to get a better look at
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