Total pages in book: 79
Estimated words: 70607 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 353(@200wpm)___ 282(@250wpm)___ 235(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 70607 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 353(@200wpm)___ 282(@250wpm)___ 235(@300wpm)
"I'm going to go out," I tell her, hoping I can get into the water to cool off my dick. I find Simone and Davey out there and jump in the water without even talking to them. The water is crisp, but it doesn't last long. I stand in the water, and it reaches up to my chest. When I look up, I see her walking onto the back of the boat, and I have to stop for a second and take her in. She laughs with them, and my chest tightens. "Do you need help?" I ask, getting closer to the boat.
"I think I'll be okay," she assures me, avoiding looking at me, and I wonder if she saw my dick hard for her. Fuck, I should say something. "Davey explained how it works," she says, and I look at Davey, ready to throat punch him.
She gets on the paddleboard on her knees, and I hold it in place so she doesn't fall. "I got her," I tell Davey, who holds the back part. He looks up at me and lets go.
"I don't want to fall in," she says, and I look at her as I hand her the paddle.
"The best thing is to start on your knees." She reaches out to grab the paddle from me and shrieks when she tips over, falling onto me. I grab her around her waist before she falls into the water. "I got you," I say softly and she just looks at me, neither of us saying anything. She pushes away from me after a minute and then goes back on her knees, and she starts to paddle. "When you get your balance," I tell her as she goes around in a circle. "You can stand." I grab my own paddleboard and get on it. Davey hands me a paddle. When I stand on mine, I go slowly near her as she gets on her feet.
"I did it!” she exclaims with a huge smile, and I can't help but smile at her.
"You did," I say, and we paddle side by side the whole day, neither of us saying a word, and every time I want to say something, I shy away. We stop for lunch, and again, it's silence, and I fucking hate every second of it.
Only when she is finished, she gets up. "I'm going to go lie in the front," she says, and all I can do is nod my head instead of saying what is on my mind.
I lean back in the chair and grab a bottle of water, getting up and joining her in the front. She is lying on her back with her eyes closed. I stand over her to see if she'll open her eyes like she always used to, but she doesn't. I sit next to her, the whole time my finger moving up and down.
When we get back to the dock, Roberto is there waiting for us. "Welcome back," he says, holding a tray with drinks. She grabs one, and I grab the other, but she doesn't drink it. She hasn't touched anything but water all day. "How was the cruise?"
"Beautiful," she says, getting into the golf cart and sliding over for me. I sit next to her, the drink in one hand as I toss my shirt over my shoulder. "Nice and peaceful."
We get to the villa, and she gets out before me, walking inside. The cold air hits me right away and I close the door behind me. "I think I'm going to shower," she says over her shoulder. "Unless you wanted to?"
"I think we need to talk," I offer, and she stops in her tracks. "I hate that you're like this."
She looks at me. "Like what?"
"Like quiet and shit," I say, my words coming out like word vomit instead of me taking the time to think of the words I want to say and how I want to say them. "We have to talk about this morning and stuff." I wait for her to say something, anything, and she doesn't. "Okay, well, obviously I've always been attracted to you." I look at her face to see how she will react to the news.
Her eyes never leave mine. "Same," she admits to me. "But we were friends."
I put my hands on my hips now. "We kissed two years ago on New Year's Eve," I finally say. "And then a week later, you were dating Joe." I throw my hands up, and she just looks at me.
Her mouth hangs open in shock as she closes it and opens it again. "That wasn't you, that was Joe." She points at me, and I'm the one who is shocked.
"What are you talking about?" I say. "We were outside on the balcony and looking up at the stars. You giggled at me and started singing 'Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star.'" I wait to see if the memory comes back to her. "You turned and threw your hands around my neck." I walk to her so frustrated that she doesn't remember the one moment in our relationship that I want her to remember. "Maybe this will help," I say, grabbing her face in my hands and lowering my lips to hers. My tongue slides out of my mouth into hers, and I taste the sweetness of her drink. My eyes want to stay open to watch hers, but I can't help but close them and be in the moment of this. My heart goes a million miles a minute as she kisses me back. Her hands go to my hips as I turn my head to the side, deepening the kiss. I wish I could say that it's as good as the one two years ago, but it's not. It's even better. It's a million times better. I let her go now, my hands falling from her face, and I wonder if I've ruined everything.