this afternoon.”
“Packed? What time are you guys leaving tomorrow?”
“Our flight is at 2:00 p.m. What time are you leaving?”
“I take off at 1:10 p.m., a few minutes before you.”
Our food arrived and before I knew it I had cleaned my plate. It was delicious.
“It’s hard to believe we are leaving this place tomorrow.” He sounded a bit wistful as he looked around.
I was quiet for a minute and looked at the floor as the reality sank in that it was our last night together in Mexico.
“Are you okay?” Concern clouded his voice.
I looked up at him and saw worry written all over his face.
“Yes, it just sucks that my vacation is about to be over.”
“I know. Do you want to go take a walk on the beach?”
“Sure, I would love to.”
“We can order dessert from room service a little bit later if you want.”
I smiled at him. “Okay, sounds good.”
The restaurant was not far from the beach so we were there in a matter of minutes. I slipped off my shoes so my toes could sink into the cool, powdery white sand and Lucas laced his fingers through mine. We strolled along in silence for a few minutes, listening to the soothing sound of the waves rushing to meet the shore and I was starting to feel really bummed that our time together was ending.
“You have a slight change of plans for tomorrow, Kinsley. I have a bit of a surprise for you."
I instantly perked up and looked at him with a big smile and eager eyes. He chuckled and gently caressed my cheek.
"You are so adorable. The surprise is that we are going to be able to spend a little bit more time together after tonight."
Was he thinking of asking me out on a date when we got home? Had he already planned a date for us in Chicago? My mind started to run with the idea and I felt so excited that he was making plans to see me when we got home. It let me know that our time in Mexico was real and he wanted more. I was getting way ahead of myself and had to reel it in. Kinsley, listen, Lucas is saying something to you.
“The plane will be ready to take off at 1:10, so you guys should be ready to go by 11:30 because our car will pick us up at the hotel at that time.”
Wait, what? What did I miss?
I must have had the most confused look on my face because he gave one right back to me.
“Is something wrong?”
I felt so silly telling him I didn’t hear a word he said but I had to let him know because it sounded like he was making some kind of plan for us.
“I, I…I think I missed what you said,” I stammered.
A soft chuckle escaped his lips. “I said we will be able to spend a little bit more time together because I have arranged for you and Sophie to fly back home on the private plane with me and Zach.”
You literally could have knocked me over with a feather.
“Really?”
“Yes.”
“Thank you, Lucas. That is so sweet of you.”
He took a step toward me and gently caressed my cheek. “You’re welcome. I want to spend as much time with you as possible while we are still in our bubble away from everything back home.”
“Speaking of back home, how are we going to handle this, Lucas? What are we going to tell our parents?”
He let out a deep sigh and I could see his wheels turning as he looked out over the ocean and then back at me. “Honestly Kinsley, I don’t know. I knew this would happen with us at some point but I guess I never really thought about what to do after it happened.”
“Wait, what do you mean you knew this would happen at some point?”
He took another step toward me, closing any gap that might have remained, and gently held my face in his hands, his eyes searching mine.
“I knew the second I laid eyes on you that we were meant to be together. I just was waiting for the perfect time to act on it. This trip turned out to be the