Elijah
“Where are we going?” she asked for the third time as I lead her down the path toward our destination. I may have had some help from Aunt Meg on this one but I had to agree, it was a perfect spot.
As we stepped into the clearing I hear her gasp and can’t help but smile.
“Wow, I’ve never seen water that shade of blue, like turquoise almost.” I stopped and allowed her to step closer to Ginnie Springs. Watching her from the side I was able to see the wonder in her eyes. “This is so beautiful.”
“I thought you might like it.”
“I’ve never even heard of this place and I’ve lived near it all my life.”
Me too. Had it not been for Meg I probably still wouldn’t know about it. Uncle Miles brought her here on their first anniversary and now it was a place they visited often. It held many memories for the two of them, and I’ll just leave it at that. My hell there are just some things a guy doesn’t ever need to know about his parents.
I shivered at the thought.
Cat looked out in awe at the water and I reached out to take her hand in mine. “Thought we could have a picnic here.”
She smiled knowingly and moved in closer. “This was your aunt, wasn’t it?”
I’d filled her in on Meg. Pushy, yet so very involved.
“She is just making sure I don’t fail with landing the girl.” I leaned in closer and kissed her cheek.
“Want me to let you in on a big secret?” I nodded, feeling so fucking relaxed it was crazy. “You are definitely not failing.”
I’d always imagined dating to be a hassle. A guy doing his very best to impress a girl. Making sure he said all the right things, went to all the right places. It was something I never wanted to mess with. It honestly just felt like too much trouble.
But with Cat it felt almost natural, effortless even. She was so easy to please, brought absolutely no drama with her, and the way the littlest things made her smile was such a reward.
“Are there strawberries and grapes inside that basket of yours?” It was adorable how she arched her brow in question. Her lips pursed in the sweetest way. It took great effort not to kiss those lips every second. My new favorite thing was feeling her lips pressed to mine.
“Strawberries, grapes, and blueberries,” I confessed and watch her face light up. “A bottle of wine.” Hated the fucking stuff but Aunt Meg said girls love the shit, so I would suffer through it. “There is also cheese, crackers, and some dessert that she tossed in too.”
“Sounds perfect.”
This shit wasn’t me, or it never had been…until now.
“Over there, maybe.” I pointed toward the small flat patch nearby. “Looks like a good space.” She nodded in agreement and we walked over, hand in hand.
After our blanket was placed on the ground and we were both seated, I opened the basket; we begin talking as if we’d been doing it forever.
“You better eat up,” I told her as I laid out the food. “We have a one o’clock tube off time.”
I watched out of the corner of my eye as she froze, a strawberry mere inches from her lips. “Tube off time?”
“Yep.” I popped a grape into my mouth and began chewing.
“What exactly is that?”
“Tubing down the Santa Fe River.”
I lifted another grape out of the container, this time tossing it into the air before catching it in my mouth.
“But I didn’t bring a suit.”
“There is one in that bag over there.” I pointed toward the bag sitting next to the picnic basket. “I asked Morgan to pick you one up. There is a towel too.”
“You’ve thought of everything.” By her voice alone I couldn’t decide if she was happy with the plans or irritated. But the moment I saw her face I knew she was excited. “Never been tubing before.”
“Glad I can be the one to take you on your first adventure.”
An hour and twelve minutes later we were entering the river at Devil’s Spring, each of us carrying a tube in our hands. I’ll admit all I was able to focus on was Cat in her tiny little bikini. I decided I needed to buy Morgan a thank you gift because I thought she picked out this skimpy little number just for me to enjoy. A few strings holding together a few tiny pieces of material. I was fucking lusting over the idea of what lay beneath. The problem was there were plenty of other guys around noticing the same thing.
I was thankful when we were finally lounging back in our tubes because at least the majority of her body was hidden.
“You hold this one, and I’ll hold on to yours.” I pointed toward the handles on the sides. “I don’t want you getting away from me.”
Side by side we floated down the river and laughed as we talked about the guys, the past pranks we’d played, and how many of them I was responsible for.
“See, I knew I picked the right team,” she said with a smile. And because I couldn’t help myself I spun the tube enough to bring myself closer and arched my neck, gaining a kiss I’d been craving since the moment she walked out of the changing room wearing that pink bikini.
I might have made the kiss a little extra long, staking my claim so the roaming eyes of the other men around us knew she was mine too.