Page 91 of No Summer Hotter than You

Our party split up into groups of two or three, and each included members with different levels of stamina. Auntie Gao and Uncle Gary led the groups, followed by Andy, Julie, and Jonathan, and the others. Anthony and I were at the very end. I was out of shape, but it was a bit humiliating to barely be able to walk up just a hill.

“You doing okay?” Anthony asked as his knuckles brushed over mine. We were walking side by side.

“Yeah,” I said and then sighed. “How long have we been hiking?”

Anthony checked his watch. “Thirty minutes.”

“Only?”

He let out a booming laugh. “Yeah. It’s only been thirty minutes, but at least we’re almost at the top to see the view.”

“It feels like it’s been two hours,” I grumbled with a frown. “Now I feel bad. I’m so slow.”

“Just take your time.” Anthony took a hold of my hand and gave me a reassuring squeeze. “They can wait.”

I groaned, feeling guilty that I was going to make everyone wait for me.

Anthony suddenly swallowed thickly, grabbing my attention with the arch of my brow. He reached for the backpack he was carrying and handed me his water bottle. I took it without saying anything, unable to look away from him.

My boyfriend was hiking half-naked like Andy and Jonathan were. I wasn’t surprised, but I found it was distracting me from the lush forest we were in. Instead of enjoying the beauty of nature, I couldn’t keep my eyes off Anthony. A thin, slick film of sweat misted over his tanning, golden skin. Drops of sweat beaded down his neck, over his chest, and down the dips of his hard abs to his belly button drawing in my attention even more.

I quickly averted my eyes as I opened the water bottle for a quick swig. The midafternoon heat was quickly rising, and I doubted this measly amount of water would cool me down.

“Just let me know if you need to rest, okay?” Anthony didn’t seem to notice my gaze as he smiled softly at me.

“It’s fine!” I insisted with a light heave as I took another drink of water. “I’m out of shape, but it’s completely fine.”

We were on a gradual incline up to the amazing lake view we were all promised. While I tried to control my breathing, Anthony’s sweaty and muscular arms were the only thing in my peripheral vision. The fingernail marks I left behind on his shoulders from the day before yesterday were now scabbing over.

“We should rest here,” he announced. The trail was finally beginning to flatten out.

“Why? I’m fine,” I insisted with a ragged breath. We could hear Aunt Sue’s loud voice followed by Auntie Yee’s laugh not too far ahead of us.

“You sure?” Anthony’s brows knitted, worried. He pulled me over to a fallen tree under a leafy canopy and sat down. “C’mon, let’s take a break. We don’t need to catch up to them right away. Let’s take our time.”

He patted the seat next to him and I took it. He let out a low, dissatisfied grunt when I didn’t sit right next to him. So he immediately wrapped his arm around my waist and scooted closer to me until our thighs were touching. He lazily grinned as I shook my head.

Anthony’s hands were soon on my face, and he planted a trail of kisses on my cheek to my lips. I kissed him slowly back, considering we were out in public, until he sucked on my bottom lip. I let out a moan and was ready to wrap my arms around him when he pulled away.

“You need to behave, Shoua,” he said with a chuckle and then reached into his backpack. He pulled out a granola bar and handed it to me. “We’re in public.”

I laughed as he let out his cutest hyena laugh. We sat in silence for a moment as I took a few bites of the snack and a few sips of cool water. Birds and insects chirped in the distance and a warm breeze blew in between us.

“You’re my boyfriend now,” I said quietly. I had been calling him my boyfriend in my mind, but I had yet to say it out loud. It almost felt surreal to feel the shape of it on my tongue and knew that it referred to him.

“I am. It almost feels like a dream, to be honest,” he said. His voice was just as gentle as mine. “My best friend is my girlfriend.”

“Is it a dream?” I asked, stupidly.

“No.” Anthony laughed. “Not when I fall asleep with you at my side and wake up to the sun shining in my face every morning with you in my arms. This is real.”

I smiled as I felt a flush creep up my cheeks.

“Why did you wait so long to tell me you are in love with me?” he asked softly. “Were you worried I wasn’t going to love you back?”

I hesitated.

“Part of it was that, I suppose. But most of it was because I was scared I’d lose you,” I answered. “I feared losing you more than you never loving me back. I love you, but I loved our friendship more.”

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