"He's not in love with you. I am."

“But HE’s not in love with you.”

Her eyes went wide, utterly sidelined by what I’d said. A gust of wind blasted her hair across her face. She didn’t even notice. I gingerly brushed it back in place.

“Sorry,” I laughed. “Didn’t count on the wind being quite so crazy up here. What was I saying, again?”

Her voice sounded far away: “You said… he’s not in love with me.”

“He’s not. And I am. And not just in the obvious ways, either. I mean, sure, you’re a good person, and a good friend, and a gorgeous woman, but—I love everything about you. I the sound of your voice, your adorable little hands…”

I took her hands in mine and kissed them for emphasis—

“And you do this thing to me when you smile. I don’t know how to explain it, it’s like—it’s like I’ve been sitting in the dark all day, and somebody just switched on the lights.”

As if on cue, she smiled and lit up my world.

“Look, Elizabeth—I know what you’re thinking, because I’m thinking the same thing. That it’s gonna suck big-time when we have to go away to college.”

She nodded.

“But, here’s the thing: down the road, looking back, it’s gonna suck more not knowing what we could have had.”

Elizabeth looked into my eyes, her mind reeling. Not saying a word. It probably only lasted a few seconds, but those few seconds dragged on like a biblical epoch. I would have given anything to know what she was thinking. Finally, she opened her mouth to speak...