We wade into the lukewarm swell. Feeling playful, I splash water in Dom’s face. In retaliation, he dunks me under the surface. Far from deterred, I douse him again and hastily swim out of his reach. Dom, not one to be bested, quickly pursues me.
“Your ass is mine.”
“Ha! You’re too slow to catch me,” I boast.
He latches on to my ankle and drags me to him.
“Eek!” I screech.
“You were saying?” he asks, lifting me above his head.
“Don’t you dare!”
He throws me into the sea. I come up sputtering and coughing. He laughs boisterously at my plight, but seeing him happy and carefree is a breath of fresh air. We swim back to the shore and lie on the beach.
“Mind if I ask a question?”
“You can, doesn’t mean I’ll answer it.”
“Why don’t you want to have children?”
“Never said I didn’t.”
“But you had a vasectomy.”
“Which is reversible.”
“So, you plan to tie the knot one day?”
“Yes.”
“Even though you don’t believe in love.”
“A wife and children are necessary to carry on my legacy.”
“Basically, your marriage will be a loveless business arrangement.”
“Correct.”
“How will you find this woman? I doubt advertising in the local newspaper is an option.”
“Enough questions,” he snaps. “Go inside and start dinner.”
I figured my questions would kill the mood, but I was too curious not to ask.
“No child should grow up in a loveless household,” I say before heading inside.
Loud rock ’n’ roll pierces my sleep-muddled brain. I roll to my stomach, groaning in annoyance, and bury my head beneath the comforter.
“Wake up, sleepyhead,” Mia singsongs, entering my bedroom, then snatching the comforter from me.
We finally moved into our apartment last weekend, and since then, she’s been a pain in my butt.
“Ugh.” I flip onto my back. “Please turn the volume down.”
Mia is already showered and dressed, looking trendy in a white crop top and pineapple-print shorts.
She claps her hands. “Up and at ’em.”
