Checking the time, it was still early when I pulled up outside the Varela house. Call me eager, but I didn’t care - because I was. I literally couldn’t hold myself back any longer. I dropped Ana a quick text to let her know I had arrived and would wait for her around the corner.
I glanced at the cooler in the back of the truck. It holds some snacks for the road — I had planned us a little road trip to get her out of the city. I hadn’t told her where we were off to, I just wanted us to spend the day together. I wanted to make Anastasia happy, and I hoped that this would.
I didn’t have to wait long before I spotted Anastasia’s long brown hair flowing in the morning breeze, I felt my reaction to her so viscerally. My pulse quickened and I felt the heat of desire working it’s way up my neck. When she approached, I leaned over the cab and opened the passenger side door for her.
“Good morning,” Ana sang as she climbed into the cab of the truck.
“Morning,” I replied smiling at the sheer sight of her. After dropping her bag to the floor she leaned over to kiss me. It had been months, but I still wasn’t used to her being so comfortable around me, and it always shocked me when she offered herself up to me. Nevermind that, I took whatever she gave. Her lips felt like the sting of electricity. But it was a sizzling pain that left me wanting more.
I wanted to wrap my fingers in her hair, to pull her onto my lap and kiss her more deeply. But I had to wait. I pulled away, even though it was agonising, and started up the truck again. “How was your night?”
“It was fine. My nights will be a heck of a lot better once we’re back in Boston though…” she said, making me immediately question her words. I glanced over to find her already turned my way, giving me a coy look.
Oh. Yeah, we’re definitely on the same wavelength.
A smug smile crept across my face as I refocused my attention on the road. Yes, her nights would definitely be better once we were back in Boston. I was hanging on by a thread as I waited for those nights. Where I would be able to hold her and love her throughout the night. I’d learnt my lesson though, handcuffs would definitely be a regular in the bedroom. Once I got her back she wouldn’t be leaving my side again.
Our conversation tapered down to a casual chit chat as we drove out through New Jersey. While I wanted to give her a day free of responsibility and pressure, I also had an ulterior motive that I’d hoped she would later forgive me for. I wanted us to meet face to face so that I could tell her everything that I’d learned.
Finch and I had sat for hours going over every detail, going over everything that we knew for sure. I hated knowing more about Ana’s past than she did, so I vowed to tell her today.
We drove down the highway with the windows open and rock music playing. Ocean City was surprisingly quiet when we arrived. The sun was high in the clear sky and it had grown nicely hot.
What a perfect way to spend the day, alone with Anastasia. Maybe we’d take a walk along the boardwalk. We could get the towels out and lie on the sand a while. With the sun quickly warming up it was lucky I had thought to pack sunscreen.
I pulled into the parking lot and stopped the truck. We climbed out, I grabbed the cooler and towels from the back and walked around to the low wall that separated the parking lot from the path where Anastasia waited. She looked at the cooler and laughed.
“We’re taking that with us?” she asked, surprised.
“Of course, how else are we supposed to have a picnic?” I said with a grin as I teased her. The cooler wasn’t big and could be carried in one hand - I’d bought it with today in mind. I had tried to think of everything and every possible scenario.
I’d never done this before. I’d never been a boyfriend before, this would’ve been my first real date. You know, with someone I actually liked. This was all new to me but I wanted it to be special.
Our relationship had had a rocky start. I wanted to convey to Anastasia that I was going to make that up to her, even if it took the rest of our lives. She deserved that, and so much more. I wanted to give that to her, to give her everything. And this mushy - romantic - stuff, although wasn’t all that important to me, I knew that it would be to her.
The need to show her, to prove to her that I could be anything and everything that she needed was strong within me. She already was my everything, but I wanted to be hers too.
I couldn’t taper down the pride I felt at the wide, happy smile that Ana was sporting. The idea to go to the beach had been solely mine, but when I realized that I’d had no plan further than that, that’s when I called Heather. We were on the phone a while, she’d broken everything down into step by step instructions. ‘Foolproof’ she had said with a mocking laugh. Of course, I wasn’t gonna tell Ana that. I was more than happy to take all the credit. “Wanna take a walk first or set up on the sand and have lunch?”
“Let’s take a walk further along the boardwalk.” She twirled in the direction of the boardwalk and I quickly followed to catch up.
“A walk it is.” So, hand in hand, we walked quietly along the boardwalk.
“I’ve only ever been here once, that I can remember,” Ana said, stopping to lean against the railing. She looked wistful as she gazed out to the ocean, but not sad.
“I remember coming a few times as kids. Our grandmother used to play chess with some of her friends while we’d run off to play in the arcades.” I could still picture her as she won her chess game, arms flying through the air as she screamed. It was one of the happier memories from my childhood.
“That’s really sweet.” The corner of her eyes crinkled in the cutest way as she smiled. But, it was her tone of voice that made me realize that I hadn’t shared a lot of my past with her.
We continued walking again, just watching all the people around us. I remembered what I enjoyed so much about this place as a kid, the life that flowed so freely. Ana stopped again, this time wandering down onto the sand. We stopped about halfway toward the water, I had barely laid out our towels before she was pulling me down to sit beside her.
“It’s so beautiful here, so carefree you know?” I nodded in agreement and pressed a soft kiss to her shoulder. I wished that we could’ve stayed there for longer.
“Ana, I have something I need to talk to you about.” Inwardly I grimaced but I tried not to let it seep through. I wanted more time to enjoy the sun. To enjoy just being with Anastasia without any constraints. But I knew there was no putting this off any longer, she needed to know the truth.
“I ran into Finch,” I began.
“What? Here?” she asked, her eyebrows furrowing.
