“Do you want to go see the gators?” I ask him
“I do, actually.” he says and sets me back on the bench. We stand, and his fingers thread through mine.
“I’ve been here all morning. I have pretty much named them all,” I tell him. I came right at opening, hoping the time difference would throw him off.
“Who’s that?” he points to one of the smaller ones lounging on a log.
“That’s Stanley,” I say, then I point to each one and tell Grayson their names.
“You have been here for a while,” he laughs.
I lean into him and relish in the fact that he is here. That I can finally feel that missing piece of my heart fill, again.
“So, what now?” he asks me. I look up at him and smirk. “Oh, I know that smirk. You definitely have plans.” he says
“I do. You told me you wanted to be by the water.”
“True.”
We turn together, and I unlink our hands and place them on my hips. He stands there as I slowly walk backwards, watching my every move. His eyes graze up and down my body. I reach my hand towards him.
“Well, come on. If anyone can teach you how to be a beach bum.
It’s me.”
WHEN YOU'RE READY
167
He doesn’t hesitate. We walk, hand in hand back through the swamp land.
“I was sorry to hear about Lenard,” I tell him. When Chris told me, my heart broke. Not only for Lenard but for everyone that loved him, me included.
“Yeah, that really sucked. But honestly, as messed up as it sounds, it’s the reason I decided I needed to do something different.”
“Lenard would be proud of you.” I squeeze his hand.
“I like to think so.”
We get to the parking lot, and he looks around.
“Did you drive here?”
“Yeah. I told them what I was here for and asked if I could park in the employee parking lot. It’s around the back of that building.”
“Where are you set up?”
“There’s a little campground up the way. But I tore down my site this morning. You have a hotel room. I’m sleeping in a real bed tonight,” I say and laugh. He grabs my waist with one arm and pulls me into him.
“We might sleep.” he says as he runs the tip of his nose along my jawline. It sends a shiver through my whole body, and the heat between my legs intensifies.
“I can’t wait to not sleep.” I say and we kiss again. Our tongues capture each other’s pain from the last few weeks and swallow it down.
168
T. SPEAR
He lowers me to the ground, and I pull my key from my back pocket.