“First of all, if you keep doing that with your finger on my leg, we’re gonna be in trouble. Nobody has ever tested my self-control quite like you.” I remove my arm from her shoulders and place my hand over hers instead. She instantly flips her hand over so our fingers can tangle together. “Second of all, no, I’m not.” Feeling bold, I lift our entwined hands and press a featherlight kiss to the back of hers.
Serena lets her head fall to my shoulder, and we drive for a few minutes like that. The radio is on low and the woman I’ve always loved is beside me; it doesn’t get any better than this.
Until I see her reaction at what I had my cousins help me set up down at the beach.
“Oh my God, Leo.” Her gasp of surprise at the blankets and pillows set up on the sand with a picnic basket on top is exactly the reaction I hoped for.
“We can’t park the truck close enough to the water like we did at Haywood, but I was hoping you still enjoyed picnics at the beach.”
Serena turns toward me, her eyes shining. “I do. I definitely do. But how did you do this? How did you even know about this place?”
I shrug. “I had some help from my family. They want me to be happy in Dogwood Cove, and it’s no secret that you make me happy.”
Her arms wrap around my waist, and Serena tucks her head to the side, fitting perfectly under my chin like she always has. “You make me happy, too.”
“That’s what I was hoping you would say.”
“But —” she pulls back slightly and gives me an impish grin “— I am hungry. Whatcha got in that basket?”
I laugh and lead her over to the blanket. We sit down, comfortable on pillows with nothing but the setting sun overhead and the sound of the waves hitting the shore in front of us. This really is a private location, not another person in sight. Opening the basket that Kat helped me put together with some food from the café, I pull out some containers.
“Charcuterie, a spinach salad, and a secret dessert.”
“Yum,” Serena sighs happily.
We eat, taking turns putting together crazy combinations from the charcuterie board, chased down with a bottle of white wine I picked up from the local winery Serena’s friend Finn runs. While everything seems easy and relaxed, I can’t shake the weird tension thrumming inside of me. It’s as if part of me is wondering if this is real or just some elaborate dream. If you had asked me even a year ago if I ever thought I’d be with Serena Matheson again, I would have laughed if off as an impossible fantasy.
“After we split up, I used to think about what I’d do if I ever saw you again.”
Serena’s words startle me with how similar they are to my own train of thought. “Yeah? What were some of the options?”
She leans back on her side, her head propped in her hand. “At first, I was convinced I would run in the opposite direction. It hurt to even think of you, so the idea of seeing you after I broke both our hearts? I didn’t think I could handle it. As my life went on without you, I started wishing I could see you from a distance. Just to know you were okay. But even that seemed like it would hurt so much.”
I lower myself down so that I’m on my side as well, facing her. Reaching over, I tuck her hair behind her ear. “I lost count of how many times I almost called you that first year after high school.”
“Why didn’t you?”
“Like you said, you broke my heart. And even though I still loved you, self-preservation kept me from wanting to hurt any more than I already was. I was positive you’d move on and find some other guy, and I would be nothing but a memory.”
“There was never another guy. Well, no one important, no one who meant anything close to what you mean to me.”
I didn’t realize how badly I needed to hear that until I do. Leaning forward, I capture her mouth in a deep kiss, trying to infuse it with forgiveness, hope, and anticipation. When Serena rolls onto her back, I follow, coming over top of her and letting some of my weight press her down into the blanket.
“I never stopped loving you,” I whisper against her lips in-between kisses. Her answering moan spurs me on, and I move my lips down her neck and across the soft skin of her collarbone. My hands are holding me up so I don’t crush her, but Serena has other ideas.
“Touch me, Leo. Make mefeelagain.”
Lowering myself to one side of the blanket, I slowly bring one hand to her stomach, teasing her sweater up to bare her torso. I snake my fingers under the fabric of her sweater until I’m cupping her breast, stroking her lace-covered nipple.
“Oh God, yes,” she moans.
I pinch and roll her nipple between my fingers, teasing it into a stiff nub before shifting over to the other side. Her hands grab my head and she smashes our mouths together in a messy, raw, passionate kiss. I’m consumed with need and desire, my cock straining against my shorts, desperate to feel her again after all this time. But it’s too fast. Too soon. The tiny part of my brain that is not yet lost to lust is able to recognize that I can’t rush this, it has to be at her pace. Which is why, even though I hate my fucking morals right now, I pull my hand out from underneath her sweater and drop back onto my back with a groan.
“Tippy. I didn’t bring you here for this.” My head shoots up at her sound of discontent. “Oh babe. Not that I don’twantthis, but I also want you. I mean, I want to date you. I mean — oh fuck.” I fall back with a thud onto the blanket and close my eyes. What a great fucking time to sound like an idiot.
“Leo.”
I open my eyes to the sound of her voice and see her face hovering over mine. There’s no judgment or hurt in her expression, just understanding and lust.