Chapter Three #2
Sully nods in agreement, before releasing a soft breath, an almost sigh.
We stand dipped in the water for a while, just taking each other in, until finally pulling away from the dizzying orbit of each other's bodies. We swim for a bit, trading smiles and laughs, and splashing one another under the warm glow of the sun. Finally, I tug Sully back to me to gently massage his shoulder until he’s letting out indecent-sounding moans.
Not meant for public, those are just for me.
Once our fingers are pruned, we climb out of the water to lie down on the towels Sully so thoughtfully packed for us.
Lying side by side on the damp towels, our arms brush as we stare up at the cloudy sky.
Sully lifts an arm to point at an oddly shaped cloud. “That looks like a zombie bunny.”
I snort. “Why zombie? Also, I see angry koala.”
Sully drops his arm back to the ground, reaching over to delicately tangle his fingers with mine. “Definitely a zombie bunny.”
I use my other arm to point out another cloud. “That’s a ninja turtle.”
“No way! Mutant bigfoot.”
“What the fuck?” I ask with a stunned chuckle. Turning my head, I find Sully’s gaze already on me, with a soft, heartsick-looking smile. Just a fling, I remind myself, when the sight of his smile knocks too many emotions loose inside me.
“I like your laugh,” Sully says as if the admission costs him a great deal.
“I like your smile.”
“Yeah? I keep thinking of getting my gap fixed.”
“No way,” I say roughly. I love the gap between his two front teeth. It adds to his charm. “Never ever get rid of that.”
“Okay,” Sully quickly agrees.
“Why don’t you like your gap?”
“Got made fun of a lot for it.”
“That’ll do it.”
Sully lifts my hand to tenderly brush his lips over my palm. “Tell me about you?”
“What do you want to know?”
A shiver passes through me when Sully flips my hand over to kiss each knuckle, then the top of my wrist. “Why are you at a wedding alone? You’re amazing. You should be treated like a king every day, well-loved.”
I close my eyes as the pain lances through me. I’ve known him two days, and already he sees to the core of me. Evan never even saw me that well after our years of marriage.
“I’m divorced. It didn’t end well… he cheated, blamed me for his bad behavior.”
Sully’s eyes darken. “There’s never a reason to cheat, and most definitely no reason to cheat on you.”
God. If only he knew. I don’t want to talk about it anymore though, so I roll over, uncaring about the rocks between our two towels now digging into my side.
Sully’s skin is sun-warm beneath my palm as I caress the side of his face.
He turns his head into my hand ever so slightly, eyes never leaving mine.
I dip down and kiss him again, just a soft brush of mouths, but it says more than any exchange of words could ever say.
“Hey, Sully?” I murmur against Sully’s slack lips.
“Mhmm.” Sully hums, sounding drowsy, and oh so perfect.
“Does our fling include sex?”
Sully lifts his hand to wrap his palm around the nape of my neck. His eyes widen, lips frozen against mine. We stare at each other for a long time, the sun throwing shadows as the wind whips through the tree branches overhead.
“It could, if you want. But I’m happy just to kiss you, hold you. Sometimes that’s enough for me.”
“Yeah, me too,” I whisper softly. “Sex hasn’t ever been a big part of my life, but I think maybe, it would be nice to have sex with you. If you want. To have sex with me that is.”
“We’ll see where the fling takes us. Okay?”
I nod against his tight hold. “Okay.”
Then we make out under the warm Tuscan sun like a bunch of wild teenagers. Sully makes me feel young, makes everything feel limitless and like time is suspended.
The sun hangs low in the sky when we finally decide to drive back to the villa.
A slight sunburn tingles the skin under my eyes and over my shoulders, but Sully’s golden skin has only turned a shade darker.
Something about Sully just glows. His smile, and the crinkle of his eyes when he laughs, Sully is the physical embodiment of sunshine.
I want to bottle him up and take him everywhere I go, pull the stopper out when I’m just a little too cold.
I bet he’d let me, too. Sully is the best sort of human.
“Wanna learn to drive stick?” Sully yells over the wind streaming in through the windows.
My heart beats rapidly in my chest. “Really?”
“Yeah!”
Sully pulls over to the side of the country road, and we hurriedly switch, not before Sully places a sweet kiss on my lips that has my heart pounding even harder.
Once seated in the car, I gently rest my hand over the gearshift. Sully grins at me from the passenger seat and puts his calloused hand over mine.
“I’m going to give you a quick and dirty lesson,” Sully says seriously, but his eyes glow with mirth.
I smirk back at him. “Just the way I like it.”
“The way you drive stick is you’ve got to feel the car, pay attention to it.
The car tells you when to shift at certain speeds.
After a bit, it’s just like riding a bike.
Now press the clutch in, yeah, like that,” Sully painstakingly explains as I do what he says.
“Now move to first gear, yes, exactly. And go.”
The car does not move.
I’m embarrassed for only a second until Sully grins at me. “Nobody gets it on the first try. Let's go again.”
Finally, on the fifth attempt, the car moves, and I almost scream with joy when we move slow as molasses down the empty road.
Sully guides me into shifting the car up again, and suddenly, I’m driving manual.
I’m doing it! It is just like riding a bike.
I take us all the way back to the villa, with only the sound of the wind through my hair and the engine's hum to accompany the drive.
Sully let me have my moment. Let me cherish it.
After parking, I can’t stop myself from leaning over to press my mouth to Sully’s.
His fingers curl in my shirt, tugging me closer until I’m leaning over the console in a way that’ll make my back hurt in the morning.
I don’t give a single shit, though. The way Sully’s lips move under mine all but fries my brain.
Not a single thought, but Sully. Just Sully, Sully, Sully.
“After dinner tonight,” Sully whispers against my mouth, “let me come to your room.”
“Okay.” And every single molecule of my body feels like it’s been struck by lightning.
“What’d you get up to today?” Olivia asks after swallowing a large gulp of wine.
“Oh, nothing. Just touristy stuff.”
Olivia does not believe me. She eyes me for a moment, squints one eye, then the other. “Did you hang out with Sully?”
I clear my throat and push back my shoulders. “Maybe.”
“He’s a good guy, better than douchecanoe.”
“Olivia!”
She scoffs and rolls her eyes. “As if you don’t call him worse in your head.”
I grab the glass of wine from her hands and gulp the rest of it down as she stares at me in mild fear. “I don’t. I try not to think about him at all. He’s a jerk.”
“Use a stronger word than jerk.”
“Dick?”
Olivia saws her hand back and forth. “Acceptable.”
I laugh into the now-empty glass of wine. The sounds of dinner being cooked in the kitchen waft onto the porch, where Olivia and I sway on a hammock. Down below, some guys are playing a pre-dinner football game. No tackling, to Olivia’s happiness and the men's annoyance.
“Sully is a good guy,” Olivia says softly.
I turn to look at her, taking in her soft blond waves and the eyes that match mine.
Our father's eyes. Turning back to look out at the lawn, I find Sully staring up at us just before the football hits him in the stomach. He leans over with a chuckle, grabs the football, and stands back up with a furious blush. Oh, man. I’m down so bad after just a few days.
Olivia whistles as she leans her head against my shoulder. “My wedding is making matches. Look at that.”
“It’s just a fling.”
“Sully never dates, has flings, or looks at anyone like that. But keep telling yourself that, big bro.” And with that, Olivia stands from the hammock and disappears back inside as if she did not just drop a nuclear bomb right on top of me.