“Maybe.”
“You’re so cute. Come here.” He kissed me more, but we kept it tame, despite my raging hard-on and the fact I’d lost my towel along the way.
“Go get dressed before I cancel our plans, send Lucy away, and lock us both in the room until Monday.”
I think I must have purred. “That’s not how you get me to put clothes on.”
* * *
We met Diogo and Fernando at Battery Park. I was glad I had taken Max’s advice and wrapped up warm because without the shelter provided by the tall buildings of the city, the wind got all the way to my bones.
“Can you even move inside all those clothes? You look like a yeti,” Diogo joked.
“Yes, but I’ll be the warmest yeti around,” I replied.
“And definitely the cutest,” Max said, pulling me closer and planting a kiss on my cheek.
Lucy let out an over-the-top gagging noise and took a few steps so she was walking in front of us. Diogo joined her.
“So, where are we going then?” Fernando asked.
“Follow Diogo, he knows the way,” Max said before he turned to me. “It’s going to get a little cooler, so you better stay close.”
I didn’t know how much cooler it could get, but I got my answer when we got on the ferry to Liberty Island.
“I’m positive you stop feeling the cold after a bitbecause you must be dead,” Fernando said.
“In that case, I’m totallydead. And I’m coming back to haunt Max.”
“Aww, baby, I’mflattered.”
We walked around the island and took lots of photos of the Statue of Liberty and the park. The statue was smaller than I’d imagined, but the view of Manhattan was postcard perfect with the skyscrapers all stacked up next to each other like Lego bricks.
Diogo and Lucy had spent the day a few steps ahead of us in their own teenage bubble as we behaved like total tourists and took photos of everything, including a few group selfies.
After Liberty Island, we had a short stop at Ellis Island before we went back to the city. The tall buildings gave us a break from the low temperatures, which both Fernando and I were thankful for.
The kids wanted to see the 9/11 memorial, so we walked rather than take the subway so we could look at the store windows that were starting to get decorated for Christmas.
“Thank you.” I squeezed Max’s hand. “I’m loving today.”
“Me too. Lucy looks happy. She’s happy, right?” There was a hint of doubt in his voice.
I knew he was afraid to screw things up with Lucy again, but he’d been doing a great job building trust with her. Somehow, she seemed to have built that trust with me before she’d allowed Max in as much. I wondered if it was because, like Max, Lucy knew how frail their relationship still was.
“She’s happy, baby. Look at her.”
Lucy was walking with her arm linked with Diogo’s. Their heads close together like they were sharing a secret. Every few steps she’d playfully punch Diogo or take her phone out to take a photo of the two of them.
“Max,” Lucy called.
“Yeah?”
“Can I go to the cinema with Diogo tonight? There’s this awesome movie out, and I really want to see it. Pleeeeeease…”
Diogo’s face was beet red. I wondered if Lucy realized she’d just been asked out on a date.
“What time will you be home?” Max asked.
