She stares at me for a couple of seconds without saying anything.
“I dare you,” I say, and her eyes narrow. “I double-dog dare you.”
“You can’t double-dog dare me, Luke. That’s not fair.” She shakes her head. “You’re really not going to say anything to what I just said?”
I shrug. “Maybe I’ll know what to say after I dip in the water.”
“Fine,” she says.
I watch as she rips her clothes off quickly and drops them to the ground, then goes running to the water. I quickly peel off my clothes as well and go running in behind her. I stare at her ass as she runs away from me, and I can’t help but laugh as I jump into the water.
It is cold. I’m almost freezing, but I swim out. I feel alive. I feel so at one with nature, and I float on my back for a couple of moments and then look over at her. She’s swimming next to me. Her hair is plastered to her face, and her eyelashes are wet, and she’s gazing at me. The moon illuminates her, and she looks like some beautiful mermaid or sea creature—magical and mystical—and I just want to hold her.
“It’s freezing,” she says, and all I can do is laugh.
“It is cold,” I say, “but your body will acclimate. I promise.”
“I hope so,” she says, and she lies on her back and starts floating. She bumps into me and giggles slightly. “Sorry.”
“It’s okay.” I float on my back as well.
We just lie there in the water—in the calm water—naked, thinking, silent. But it’s not an awkward silence. It’s a companionable silence. It’s a silence where a million different things are said in the beauty of the night.
I feel her fingers lightly touching mine, and I look over. She’s staring into my eyes, and she smiles.
“Those were the best years of my life too.”
I just smile back at her because, of course, she was able to read my mind.
“I know. I just don’t want to let go of them,” I say.
“I think we have to, Luke. I think, for us to move forward in life, we have to let go of the past.”
“I know,” I say.
I swim away from her because it hurts, and I don’t want her to see the pain in my eyes. I look over and see that she’s still floating. She’s far away enough from me now that she can’t hear me if I whisper.
“I love you,” I say to the wind, even though I know it won’t carry the words to her ears.
She can’t hear me, and I’m glad for that because I’m too scared to tell her the truth.
“I love you,” I whisper. “I’ve always loved you, and I wish you would love me too.”
I realize then that I can’t continue like this. My heart belongs to her, and now we’re in some crazy standstill. My entire life feels like it’s not mine. I’m here, back in Coconut Beach, and I feel like I never left. I’ve got a job waiting for me in New York City, and I can barely remember what my apartment looks like. I can’t remember not waking up beside her. I can’t remember not spending at least some part of the day with her, and I don’t know that I can go back, and yet I don’t know that I can stay.
“We should swim back,” I say loudly, shouting as I swim over to her. “We don’t want to stay here too long.”
“Okay,” she says, nodding slowly.
We swim back to the shore together and step out of the water. Wetake a couple of steps and then just look at each other. I stare at her naked body—her beautiful and large breasts, her curvy stomach, her wide hips, her long legs. She’s absolutely beautiful. And I see her staring at me—my chest, my thighs, my cock—and there’s awe in her expression.
I step forward and grab her hands, giving her a questioning look, and she nods slightly as she looks up at me. I grab her around the waist and pull her into me, my lips meeting hers, and she melts into me. Her breasts press against my chest. My cock twitches against her stomach, and she murmurs against my lips, a low moan.
“Are you still mad at me? Are you still angry?”
“I could never stay mad at you for long,” she says.
I grin as I pick her up, and she giggles slightly as I carry her a little further along the beach. Then I place her down on the sand. She’s gasping for air as I grab her hands and squeeze and then kiss her lips. The breeze brushes past our cheeks, caressing us as we tease each other.
