Chapter 22
Chapter Twenty-Two
YURI
The morning sun warms my skin. It’s too warm actually.
Ugh, I hope I don’t end up with a sunburn on my back.
I’m either going to have to be better about remembering to close the curtains before I go to bed or start putting sunblock on as part of my nighttime routine.
There’s too much light for it just to be an open curtain though, and now that I’m thinking about it, this doesn’t really feel like my bed either.
I squeeze my eyes shut a little tighter against the assault of sunlight, then give in and ease them open.
Definitely not in my bedroom. Not even indoors, actually.
I groan as I sit up, my neck and back protesting the fact that I apparently slept on the ground last night.
Everything comes back to me in a hazy wave of memory as I rub my eyes.
Cooper and me climbing out of the hammock after a beautiful, agonizingly slow fuck.
We laid out the blanket he packed in the picnic basket, smoked another joint, and looked at the stars until we must have fallen asleep.
It explains why I’m still naked and why I can feel a sticky, uncomfortable crust of dried cum and lube between my ass cheeks.
I shudder at the thought of even putting my underwear back on in this state, but I’m definitely not going to walk home naked either.
I yawn and look around again. Speaking of Cooper, where the hell is he?
His clothes are still scattered over the ground beneath the hammock, just like mine, but I know him well enough to know that doesn’t mean much.
He could have walked into town bare assed, and it wouldn’t have fazed him in the slightest. I chuckle at the mental image of him walking right into Raven’s café with his dick out and ordering a cranberry scone.
I stretch my arms over my head and roll my neck to loosen it up a bit, remembering some of those yoga warm-ups Raven took us through to “wake up” our joints before all the downward dogs and whatnot.
I really should make yoga a regular thing.
I should also figure out what I’m going to do with all my time once the season ends in a few more weeks and I give Boston my notice that I won’t be coming back to The Sand Bar next season.
I suppose I wouldn’t mind helping out during the off-season if he needs it, but I don’t think bartending is for me.
The thing is, I’m not sure I know yet what is for me, and that’s as exciting as it is terrifying.
I stand up, wrapping the blanket around my waist like an oversized towel, and try to decide if I should get dressed and head home to shower, let Cooper find me later, or if I should wait for him. I have no idea how long he’s been gone or where he even went.
I can see why this is one of his favorite spots though.
Both times I’ve been up here before it was at night, and it’s been breathtaking with all the stars overhead and the moonlight reflecting off the ocean.
It’s just as gorgeous in the daylight, with the ocean stretching endlessly into the horizon, sparkling in the sun.
I move toward the edge, and down on the beach near the base of the hill, I spot him.
Cooper steps out of the ocean completely naked, rivulets of water cascading off of his sun-bronzed body, his long hair clinging to his shoulders and neck.
His wet skin sparkles just like the ocean in the sunlight.
Everything inside me feels warm and fluttery and completely fucking awed that this man is mine.
Like he can feel my eyes on him, he looks up and meets my gaze, the lazy smile that’s already on his face stretching wider.
He waves for me to come down. I sink my teeth into my bottom lip and consider it for a few seconds, weighing the pros and cons of dropping the blanket and bounding nude down a hill and into the ocean like some kind of glorious heathen.
Fuck it.
I let go of the blanket and it pools around my feet.
There’s no one around, and even if anyone shows up to gawk at us, this is Palm Island; a little nudity won’t make front page news.
Cooper catches me at the bottom of the hill, dragging me in for a kiss that’s clumsy thanks to the smiles neither of us can wipe off our faces.
“Morning,” he murmurs.
“It’s two in the afternoon,” I deadpan. His eyebrows go up and I almost feel bad for a second about the baffled look on his face.
I snort a laugh and shove his chest playfully.
“I’m just kidding. Obviously it’s morning.
And I’m going to need a shower once I get home anyway, so I might as well dive into the microbe soup we call the ocean. ”
“It sounds gross as hell when you put it that way,” he says, and I laugh again.
“The ocean is super gross. But let’s go swimming anyway.”
I wiggle out of his arms and run to the water, splashing in at full speed. God, I hope I don’t get eaten by a shark or stung by a jellyfish. I shudder at the thought. At least the water’s nice and warm.
Cooper is right behind me. I hear his splashing footsteps only a second before he wraps his arms around me and lifts me up, spinning me playfully before tossing me a few feet into the deeper water.
I resurface and sputter a laugh, stumbling with the force of the current dragging me back and forth and the sand shifting under my feet.
He puts his arms around me again, to steady me this time, and I lean against him.
“It really is incredible,” I admit. “I should have listened to you about the appeal of beach life a long time ago. It would have saved us both a lot of trouble.”
He snorts a laugh and kisses my shoulder. “Everything happens when it’s meant to.”
“You believe in that kind of thing? Like fate and stuff?”
He shrugs. “I don’t know what I believe in, honestly. Life is weird and hard to explain. Maybe it’s random or maybe some things have some kind of purpose. You probably know more about how the universe works than I ever will—I’m just going with the flow.”
“The more we learn about atoms and physics and the universe, the more we realize we don’t know.
Everything is just atoms, but what does that mean?
There are forces and energies and behaviors we’re still trying to explain.
For all we know, there could be some kind of pre-destination or determinism.
I think you’re right, we’re all just along for the ride. ”
“I love it when you sound so damn smart.” He kisses my shoulder again, and I laugh.
“I love you,” I sigh happily.
LYRIC
I didn’t think about how wet we would be after our swim. I shake off like a shaggy dog while Yuri uses the blanket to dry himself, grumbling about the sand all over it sticking to his skin the whole time.
“You were just saying that I’ve sold you on beach life,” I remind him.
“Well, the sand clinging to my wet skin might make me reconsider.” He huffs, giving up on trying to dry off and eyeing his pile of clothes like a cobra coiled to bite.
“This is an impossible choice. I either have to walk back to the house naked or deal with five to ten minutes of the sensory hell of sand inside my clothes.”
“What if you just put my shorts on? They’re loose, so you probably won’t feel the rubbing of the sand as much, and as soon as we get back, you can hop in the shower?”
He waffles his head back and forth, and I can see him trying to imagine how it will probably feel and whether he’ll be able to live with it. After a few seconds, he lets out a breath and nods.
“Yeah, okay. I think I can deal with that for a few minutes.”
I pick my shorts up off the ground and toss them to him, then I gather the rest of our clothes and stuff them into the picnic basket along with all the wrappers and containers that are left over from last night. I slip my sandals on and grab his hand, and we head down the hill toward home.
“Oh, hey, can we go grab your stuff and bring it to my place?” I ask.
“You said last night that you want to move in, right? Do you still want to?” My heart thunders as I wait for his answer.
I don’t think he’s changed his mind since last night, but with more time to think about it, he might have decided it’s too quick or something.
He might have come up with a whole list of reasons why it’s better for us to wait to move in together while I was falling asleep.
“Sure,” he says easily. “I don’t have much. Just a suitcase full of clothes and some random stuff. Maybe we can grab my clothes for now and go back to get the rest of my stuff after I’ve had a chance to shower?”
“Cool.” I can’t stop smiling. We’re going to live together.
We’ve never lived together. Sure, when we dated before I spent most nights sleeping at his place, so it kind of felt like we lived together.
But it was never anything official; there was always somewhere I could go back to if he got sick of me or wanted his space.
He never did, but it was still an option.
“Hey, can I ask you a question?” He gives me a nervous look.
“Yeah, of course.”
“If this is rude just tell me to fuck off, okay? But how the hell did you have ten grand to spend on a date with me? The guys around the island have mentioned that you’ve done odd jobs here and there, but usually never for more than a season.
This season I haven’t seen you work at all, and you never seem to take any money from anyone for all the weed you’re always passing out.
” He bites his bottom lip again and visibly cringes.
“Shit, that does sound rude. Never mind.”
I chuckle and squeeze his hand. “It’s fine. About seven years ago I sold a song, and I got some money up front, plus I still get royalties for it. I’m working on another one right now that I might try to sell. We’ll see.”
“Seriously? What song? Who sings it? This is so wild, I can’t believe you never told me.”
“It’s called ‘Let You Go,’” I say, and this time I cringe just a little. I wrote it right after our breakup, obviously.
“Shut the fuck up,” he gasps. “The Giovani Rossi song that’s had, like, a dozen remixes and was viral for over a month when it came out?”
I nod and squeeze his hand. “That’s the one.”
“Wow,” he murmurs, sounding a little dazed, then he laughs. “Every time I heard that song I thought of you. How crazy is that?”
“Really?”
He nods. “Seriously. I still have it on, like, every single one of my playlists. Oh my god, the cover Black Sheep did was amazing. Onyx Hart’s smoky vocals really brought a whole new level of emotion to it.”
“Hey, you probably put that ten grand right in my pocket, then,” I joke, then I clear my throat and try for the whole open and honest thing we started working on last night.
“I wrote it about you. After we broke up, I spent a couple of months pouring every feeling I had into that song, and selling it kind of felt like letting it all go.”
He tugs me to a stop and puts himself right in front of me, catching my mouth in a soft kiss.
“It’s a beautiful song. Thank you. And I can’t wait to hear the one you’re working on now.”
I kiss him one more time and then we start walking again.
“I’ll play it for you later. Who knows, maybe you’re my muse? I could end up writing dozens of songs now. I’ll sell them all and keep you in the lap of luxury. We could buy one of the fancy houses over on the private beaches and never worry about anything again.”
“You worry about things now?” he teases.
“Nah.”
We both laugh. What’s to worry about on such a perfect morning anyway? I’ve got sunshine on my skin, salt water drying in my hair, and the only man I’ve ever loved moving into my house. Life is pretty damn good.