May 31st #2
And while I like hearing that, I change the subject a little and ask, “And how was being at college together? Amazing?”
“Yes, and no,” she says, which surprises me.
“We were so thrilled to be there, but then reality set in. Chase was struggling with one of his teammates. Felt like he wasn’t playing up to his standards.
And it didn’t help that some of them were calling him Hype.
Saying that he was all hype. That he didn’t have what it takes.
Basically being mean. And besides that, there were other issues, like conflicting schedules and roommates.
We never seemed to get any time alone. And my roommate was just, you know, out on her own for the first time.
Not making the best decisions. She fell in love right away, was devastated when their few weeks together ended, and then started drinking a lot and revenge sleeping with the guys in her ex’s frat. In our room! It was so awkward. ”
“My roommate and I weren’t really friends.
She was a hard sleeper, and her alarm would just ring and ring.
I finally turned it off, and then she freaked because she’d missed class.
She was like, Didn’t you hear it? And I was like, Hear what?
And I made her think that she’d forgotten to set it.
But other than us having nothing in common, she wasn’t annoying. ”
“You’re lucky.”
“So, what about this coming year? Will you be living in the sorority house?”
“Can’t.” She grins, holds up her left hand, and yells out, “Because I’m married!”
Chase must hear because he pulls himself up on the side of the boat. “Yes, you are! And tomorrow, the honeymoon officially starts!”
She leans down, gives him a kiss, and says quietly, “Pretty sure it already started.”
“You know what I mean,” he says.
“Paradise,” she replies.
Once he drops off the edge, I say, “Uncle Tripp showed us photos of where you are staying. It literally does look like paradise.”
“This whole thing has been nothing short of incredible,” Dani says dreamily.
And once Chase gets in the boat, she goes back, sits on his lap, and starts making out with him.
Which kinda ends our conversation.
But then Damon swims to the front of the boat and crooks a finger at me. “Jump in. ”
I stand up and do a cannonball into the lake, close enough that it should splash him pretty well.
When I come up, he grabs me and kisses me. “You did that on purpose.”
“Of course I did.”
He tickles my sides in retribution, which causes me to try to squirm away.
“You’re not leaving my side,” he says. “Not in that bikini.”
“What’s wrong with it?”
“Oh, there’s nothing wrong with it. It’s by far my favorite.”
“And why is that?” I ask, although I probably already know the answer. It’s got the skimpiest bottoms I’ve worn all trip. Not a thong, but definitely shows off the butt cheeks.
His hands land on said butt cheeks, but he says, “It’s orange, like the dress you wore the first night here. I think it’s my favorite color on you.”
“And it has nothing to do with where your hands currently reside?” I ask, cocking an eyebrow in his direction.
He pats my butt. “You want to know what I thought about the dress when I saw it?”
“Maybe?” I say with a laugh.
“I thought you looked radiant, but then you got closer, and I could see the little flowers on it. Like my Garden of Eden.”
My eyes widen. Tears threaten. And I don’t know why I’m having such a physical reaction to his words. Could he really mean—
“My paradise,” he continues. “I don’t know if I’ve told you this yet, but you’re really beautiful.”
I blush. Down to my toes, I blush.
I want to disagree with him. But I say, “Thank you,” instead.
“Time to head back to the house,” he calls out to everyone as he winks at me. “I think I might need a nap before my party.”
But by the look in his eyes, I know a nap isn’t really what he wants.
When we get the boat put up, Chase and Dani immediately sit on the dock and start kissing again.
Damon nods his head toward the boathouse.
We go inside, and I’m ready to kiss his face off, but we find Haley and Daine sitting on the couch, doing what I was hoping to do.
Seemingly not deterred, Damon pulls me up the stairs, into his room, and then gently pushes me against the door after he closes it.
“It’s really more the color of a peach, like your lips,” he says, continuing the conversation he stopped to come back here.
I pull his face toward me and kiss him.
“It must be catching,” I tease.
“What is?”
“Kissing. Everyone around us is making out. ”
He gives me another sweet kiss, then leads me to his bed, where he pulls me on top of him.
“Tell me about the first time you saw me,” he says. “We touched on it yesterday, but tell me the rest.”
He’s caressing the back of my arm, and it makes me feel so cared for.
So loved.
“I was nervous. I was going to babysit for my favorite quarterback and his wife, who was in one of my all-time favorite movie series. But then I saw you. You had this grin on your face. I could see how bright your eyes were from across the room. I thought you were really hot. But it was more than that. It was the way we locked eyes and had a moment.” I let out a chuckle.
“Like, it was straight out of one of my romance novels.”
“I like that,” he says, still gently caressing me.
But then he shifts slightly, which causes my insides to jump to attention. Because now his leg is fully between mine. And I have the urge to press myself against it.
“And if I’m being truthful, my next thought might have revolved around us,” I admit.
“Oh, really?” he says with a massive grin.
“Yes, I thought maybe I could have a hot summer fling. But then I was literally horrified to learn that you were only fifteen. You did not look like it.”
“I’m a big guy,” he says, which I can clearly feel, seeing as I’m draped across him like a rug that couldn’t cover him if it tried. “Always off the charts for height, growing up. It was an honest mistake.”
“It’s kind of interesting that even though we were both back at the resort every year after that, we never saw each other here again until now,” she says.
“I need to thank Jadyn and Tripp for redoing this resort. If it wasn’t for the grand reopening, we wouldn’t be having this joint reunion.
My family would have been here this week, and you would have come again in August.”
“That’s true,” he says. “Regardless, we’re here now. Together. Exactly as I hoped we would be someday. When I told Chase—”
“That you were looking at your future wife. And I—”
“Can’t wait for it to happen?” he butts in before I can say otherwise.
“Hmm, I don’t know. Maybe you should try to convince me that’s what I want with your lips.”
A cold plunge.
Damon
And I have no problem doing that. She ran her lips all over me in the shower, and I’ve yet to reciprocate.
I flip her over so her back is on the bed and then lean in to give her a long, steamy kiss. “How about now?”
“Did you really—truly—feel that way?” she asks, and her face looks hopeful. Like she wants to believe it but has been talking herself out of it.
I have no other answer. “I did. What about you?”
She seems to ponder this for a few seconds, then finally says, “In that moment, I felt the same, but—”
“No. No buts,” I tell her, hugging her tighter. “Let’s just remember that moment for what it was for both of us. Not try to decipher its meaning. Especially since the butterflies already told us it’s true.”
“That was crazy. Do you really think they were telling us we’re soulmates?” she asks.
I think about what Chase said earlier. “Actually, I think they were telling you. They knew I already knew.”
I don’t give her a chance to say anything else, just lean down and place my lips on hers.
And I’m glad I do because things get heated very quickly.
Her bikini top is gone in an instant.
And I’m just lost in her lips, her taste, the way she smells.
How soft her hair is as I run my fingers through it. The way her neck curves into her shoulder. How wonderful it feels to grip her hips in my hands and kiss across her stomach.
And how, when I untie the strings on the sides of her bottoms, she raises those hips toward me.
And, my God, how she tastes. How she arches her back in pleasure. Runs her fingers forcefully through the back of my hair as I continue to, uh, return the favor.
And I love how, when she pulls me back up to her mouth, I can tell she’s smiling while kissing me.
She slides out from under me, letting her velvety fingertips glide down my arm, across my chest, exploring each inch of it as if she knows some magic elixir combination—a soft touch, a hard, sucking kiss, then a brush of her hair against my chest, followed by sweet kisses peppered across me.
It’s like heat mixed with ice. Like a cold plunge after a hot workout. It heightens every nerve ending, every sense.
But when she starts grinding herself against my leg while sucking her way down my neck, I know things are getting very serious here.
Just as I am thinking about where the condoms are, I suddenly hear voices outside the boathouse.
Which means the family is back home and the setting up for my birthday party has commenced. And pretty soon, someone will—
“Damon!” I hear my name being called from downstairs.
Shit.
Ainsley stops kissing my neck and sits up so that she’s straddling me, her knees sinking into the bed around my waist.
She gives me a wicked grin. “It’s like you’re my prisoner,” she says, pushing her knees down harder.
“Prisoner of love?” I tease.
“Could I tell your family that? Sorry, Damon can’t come outside to play because he’s currently being held captive. Between my legs .”
“If you went down there like you are now, I’m sure everyone would understand.”
The smile that breaks out across her face about does me in. It’s so wide, she looks so happy, and the fact that she looks that way because something I said tickled her makes me feel like I’ve won the championship of life.