Once he caught his breath, he looked me in the eyes, leaned me back against the ladder, and slid his fingers out of me. Then put his arms behind me and kissed me, pushing his tongue wildly into my mouth before pulling away.
“You’re the only one for me, Allie,” he said. “Come on, let’s go dry off and lie in the sun.”
As I turned around and climbed up the ladder onto the dock, he patted my exposed butt cheek as I stepped onto the last rung, so I turned around and slapped him playfully on the chest, and he laughed. Then we walked back to my car to get towels out of the back for each of us, and I grabbed three extras for our friends.
“Wait,” Chris said as I turned to head back to the dock. I’ve been wanting to ask you this for like three years, and I don’t know why I’m so nervous, but will you go to the Homecoming dance with me?” he said with a hopeful smile.
“Yes, obviously!” I said, and I dropped the towels on the ground and threw my arms around him. When I let go, I turned back around to pick up the towels off the ground. That’s when I saw Amy and Brooke standing there with horrified expressions on their faces.
We had somehow missed the sound of her Jeep that had pulled up behind us. Without skipping a beat, I picked up the towels, grabbed his hand, and headed back down to the dock without acknowledging them.
When I turned back around, both Brooke and Amy had climbed back in the Jeep, and the tires flung gravel as she hit the gas and sped away.
15
“Let her go. Come on, let’s go join the others,” Chris said, then he guided me towards the dock where the others were just making their way towards the ladder.
“Was that Brooke and Amy?” Isabelle asked within earshot of the other two, who were still in the water.
“Yeah,” I replied with a shrug.
“What did they want?” yelled Watson, who was treading water at the front of the dock.
“I don’t know and I don’t care,” I replied, as I set down my tote on the weathered boards, spread my towel out, and lay down on my belly. Then I rested my head on my crossed arms and closed my eyes, inviting the sun to warm me.
Chris stood there watching me for a moment, and his shadow sent a chill across my damp body so I looked up at him, squinting with the sun in my eyes.
“You’re blocking the sun.”
Without speaking, he took a step to the side and set his towel beside mine.
I reached into the tote and dug to the bottom for the sunscreen.
“Will you put this on my back?” I asked as I passed him the sunscreen, then reached behind my neck to move my hair off my back. Kneeling next to me, he took it, and I squealed as the cold sunscreen landed in a glob on my back. His fingers painted shapes and then smeared them around like they were footprints being washed away by the tide. His hands were warm against my skin as he massaged my sore muscles.
“That feels so good,” I said, as I closed my eyes again.
“Yeah?” he replied, as he applied a little more sunscreen and worked underneath my bikini strap, and then made his way up onto my shoulders. The pressure of his hands felt amazing. That’s where I carried constant stress, and my muscles were always so tight, which he seemed to notice.
“Damn, Allie, you’re covered in knots,” he said as he kneaded his knuckles along my neck, and I sucked in a breath at the intense, nauseating pain.
“Can I get some of that?” Isabelle asked, gesturing for the sunscreen just as Chris was flipping the cap shut.
“Sure,” he said, and then he passed it over to Griffin.
“Do you need help with that?” Griffin asked her.
“I got it,” said Watson, as he intercepted to take it from Chris. My eyes shot open, and I pushed up on my hands when he said that so that I could see Isabelle’s reaction. I couldn’t tell if her cheeks were pink from the sun or the sudden attention from someone she had been vying for. I caught her eye, and she gave me a look that told me she was pleasantly surprised.
“Okay, sure, just trying to help,” Griffin said, unbothered. He wrapped a towel around his waist, sat down on the dock, leaned his back up against a piling, and closed his eyes as the sun beat down on his face. “What do you all want to do after this?”
“Let’s grab Slurpees at 7-Eleven on the way home,” said Watson. Isabelle nodded as she sat cross-legged, holding her hair out of his way while he applied sunscreen to her back. I watched him as he focused, carefully covering every inch of her to be sure he didn’t miss a single spot.
“I think you’re covered, Is,” he said, as he looked over her shoulder with a smile.
“Thanks,” she said, shyly, then she glanced over at me, and I nodded in approval. Then I lay my head back down on my folded arms, facing away from everyone, looking out towards the water, savoring the sunlight on my face. Just then, I felt a finger trace lightly down my back, and I exhaled.
“I never want to leave,” I said, as Chris’s fingers left my back and gently feathered through the waves of my hair.
