Page 25 of How We Fooled

When I do, I’m met with a kiss I wasn’t expecting. He wraps his hands below my ears to the back of my head and pulls me toward him.

“I love that you loved that so much,” he whispers when he pulls back from me, making me laugh.

“Who wouldn’t? That was exhilarating!”

He laughs back. “Not a lot of girls enjoy that feeling of speed and wind.”

“Well, I guess I’m not like most girls then.”

“That you aren’t.” He kisses my forehead before going to the back of the Jet Ski, where he has all of our stuff stored.

He hands me a few things, and we make our way to a flat area where we can set our things.

I watch as he takes his life vest off, revealing the muscles I knew he had to have underneath. I know I’m only twenty-three, but I feel like this is the first man I’ve dated. Until him, they were all boys. There’s nothing boy about his body, and it’s obvious he works very hard to sculpt what God gave him.

He lays out the towels he brought and invites me to sit down on them, so I remove my life vest and join him.

Reaching for his backpack, he unzips it, grabbing a hat that he puts on his head, then handing me one too. “I brought sunscreen and this for you if you wanted it. This is the only adjustable one I have.”

I smile at the USA Baseball hat he’s handing me, which says Participant on the side.

“Is this your hat from the game?”

“Yeah. This was the year they did snapbacks, so it was easier to get everyone’s size down. It’s been washed, I promise.”

I take it from him and adjust the back to fit my head, then slide my ponytail through the slot provided. “Thank you.” I grin up at him once it’s in place.

“Looks cute on you.”

He kicks his feet out in front of him and leans back on his hands. “I love it out here. It’s so quiet.” He takes a deep inhale, releasing it slowly. “I could do this every day.”

I take in everything around us, seeing not a person in sight. Back home, red flags would be flying, being in this situation, alone with a guy I barely know, with no one else around, but I don’t get that feeling at all. It’s like we’ve known each other for years. I’m already so comfortable with him. It’s the weirdest thing, but I’m totally okay with it.

Nothing but peace surrounds my soul. And, yes, I could do this every day with him too. Everything about me is so content. It’s a feeling I’m not used to, for sure, but I love it.

We sit in silence as I lean down to lay my head on his leg and stretch out my own feet so I’m lying on my back.

“Comfy?” He grins down at me.

“Very.”

It’s not often when I don’t feel like I need something to fill the air around me. Be it music or a television on that I’m not even watching. Right now though, the silence here is the best sound I’ve ever heard, and I want to take it all in and bottle it to remember this feeling again and again.

I have no idea how long we sit like this, but I almost doze off when I feel him reach for something in his bag.

“Sorry, I wanted some water,” he says as I sit up so he can grab it better.

“I’m sorry. I almost fell asleep.”

“I know. I was watching you.”

I feel my face blush as he leans in to kiss me.

“You’re adorable when you sleep. I tried not to disturb you.”

He hands me a bottle of water he brought for me before opening his own. “The sun will dehydrate you out here even though we aren’t really doing anything.”

I open the bottle and take a sip, loving the cold, refreshing taste of it. “You’re prepared for everything. What else do you have in that bag?”

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