Ben takes a deep breath, kissing my wrist and soaking it in for a moment.
“I love you so much, Kate. I know you’re scared. Fuck, I’m scared too. But I think we could make this work.”
“I want to. More than anything,” I assure him.
“Whatever speed works for you, whatever you need,” he says, his hand placed over mine.
“Right now, all I need is you and Gavin, everything outside of that we can figure out together,” I say honestly.
I lean forward, kissing his lips tenderly. It’s always soft and delicate with Ben and I treasure it. I treasure him.
He’s everything I didn’t know what I needed and wanted in a man. Ben’s opened my eyes to so many things, not even just what we’ve done behind closed doors. I never knew I needed a kind, soft man in my life, that I would yearn for gentleness and effortless companionship.
I’m the luckiest woman in the world to have found the best of both worlds. I didn’t walk into Avalon with anything besides a list and motivation to explore my sexual boundaries, but I came out with so much more.
The kiss with Ben gets heated, and both of my hands are on his face, hoping that my kiss says everything I’m thinking. That he’s worth it, that this is real, and I’m not letting him go.
He’s holding me tightly too, as the towel covering us flies away with a gust of wind. Exposing our moment to his entire family.
There’s a loud whistle as we part, and I use my book to cover my face.
Ben grabs the book, his honest gaze meeting mine.
“No more hiding, right?”
I take a deep breath and run my hand through his salty, wet hair.
“Yeah, no more hiding.”
He leans down, kissing me one last time, and I’m fully aware that his family is watching. I let myself live in the moment, hoping that they accept this relationship, but deep down, knowing that it doesn’t matter.
As long as Ben, Gavin, and I accept what we have, that’s all that matters.
We part from the kiss, and the grin on Ben’s face is contagious. It’s reassuring that I’m doing the right thing. A large shadow creeps over us, and it’s a dripping wet, very happy Gavin in all his glory.
He shakes his wet hair at us and I can’t deny that the water feels good on my hot skin.
“So, everyone saw you making out. What do you have to say for yourselves?” Gavin jests.
“Hmm…that this is turning out to be a very good vacation?” I say, scrunching my nose.
“Well, it isn’t a vacation unless you get into the water,” Gavin says and Ben agrees, nodding his head frantically.
I arch an eyebrow at each of them.
“Pretty please get in the water with me, Kate?” he asks, looking too fucking cute for his own good.
“Fine,” I agree, as he helps me off the netting, where I take off all my sun clothes and place them in my beach bag.
We go to the port side, Gavin on one side of me and Ben on the other.
“Okay, ready?” Gavin asks, squeezing my hand and I squeeze his back.
“Ready,” I agree, as Ben takes my other hand and we jump into the water, a very girly squeal may or may not have escaped me on the way down.
The warm salty water hits my skin in a rush as we swim to the surface and I laugh, my face tilting up as I let the sun glisten against my face. It feels like my life, finally taking that leap of faith and knowing the end result, is going to bring me more happiness.
Gavin resurfaces last, and he looks lighter too. He’s smiling more, I realize. The man who used to be mainly smirks and so hard to read looks happy.
