“Yep.” I nod seriously. “You can marry somebody else when we're eighty years old and I'll still be there to annoy you.”
She shakes her head, laughing through her tears now, and I smile.
“I don't know what the future looks like,” I admit quietly. “And I can't promise everything will be perfect, but Icanpromise that you'll never have to wonder if I'm still in your corner one day.”
“You mean that?”
“With everything I’ve got.”
Kairi stares at me for a long moment before a slow smile spreads across her face. “Okay.”
I blink. “Okay?”
She nods before a nervous laugh escapes her. “I want to try, Colton.”
My heart nearly stops, but she keeps going.
“I want the dates.” Her smile grows wider. “The real ones.”
“And the kissing?” I ask, a grin forming.
Her cheeks turn pink. “Maybe.”
I laugh. “Maybe?”
“Don't push your luck, cowboy.”
I shake my head, grinning so hard my face hurts, and pull her into my arms. I hold her there for a long time as the tension that’s been sitting on my chest for weeks melts away.
A few minutes later, she stands abruptly and starts tugging her sweater over her head, causing my brain to short-circuit.
“Do you want to go skinny dipping?”
I stare at her as the moonlight catches against every inch of exposed skin, and suddenly every intelligent thought leaves my body.
“Yes.”
The answer comes out way too fast and Kairi laughs softly under her breath as she kicks off her sandals and starts peeling off the rest of her clothes.
My eyes drag over her before I can stop them, greedily taking her in, and when she catches me looking she bites back a smile.
“The last one in the water owes the other a drink,” she says suddenly before taking off toward the shoreline.
I get approximately one second to appreciate the way her ass bounces as she runs before my survival instincts kick in.
“Oh, hell no.”
I sprint after her instantly, undressing as I go, and she squeals when she realizes I’m catching up, laughing breathlessly as the waves rush toward her ankles. But I reach her right before she hits the water and wrap my arms around her waist causing her to yelp as I haul her up over my shoulder.
“Colton!” she shrieks, laughing so hard she can barely breathe.
I smack her ass once as I carry her straight into the cool waves. “Getting carried into the water counts as second,” I tell her smugly.
“You’re literally cheating!”
“Sounds like something someone in second place would say.”
Her laughter echoes across the beach while waves crash around us and I revel in the sound. I missed this; missed her.
