Page 81 of Derek
“Derek, you made my birthday so amazing, not just because of the awesome gift, but by you being there. You took the time to be as thoughtful as you were in everything. Your clothes, the gift bag, the envelope. Baby, you made me feel so l–appreciated.” Christ Indy, really? Really! The L word?
Derek caught my slip. I can tell in his serious expression, but he doesn’t say anything. Instead, he grabs me by the back of the head and pulls me down for a deep, hungry kiss that leaves us both panting when we break apart. Pressing our foreheads together, he sighs before staring at me.
“You are… appreciated.”
Chapter34
Derek
“Darlin’,” I laugh as I try to help the vibrating woman remove her jeans because she is shaking from too much excitement to do it herself. “You gotta let me help you into the wetsuit.”
“I’ll swim naked with them. I don’t care.” She squeals as she tries to peek out of the dressing room. I pull her back in and give her a warning look before she finally obeys, removing her pants and shirt to reveal…
“Oh my god,” I whisper in adoration as I stare at the purple bikini. My fingers go straight for the strings on her hips, causing her to smack my hand away.
“Derek, bad.” She scolds as she…oh my god… yeah, sure, bend that ass over right in front of me baby girl.
“I’m about to show youbadif you don’t straighten back up.” She laughs as she throws the wetsuit at me.
“I’m going to need butter or something to slip me into this thing.”
* * *
“Look at them!”Indy cries as she holds out her hands in the water as a penguin hovers over them. She pouts out her bottom lip and squishes her eyes shut while letting out a whimper.
“They really love you,” our overly eager-to-be-just-right-there penguin handler, Scott, beams at Indy. “They usually aren’t this excited! At least not so many!” He laughs, and Indy beams. Oh, he is saying all the right things, the fuckwad.
“They know I’m a kindred spirit.” Indy breathes out, almost like a song. A fucking weird song because… they are penguins. But fucking hell, her happiness right now is everything, and it’s at this moment that I realize that all I want out of life is to continue to get these smiles out of her. Her dimples are on full display, her eyes squinting from how big her grin is and the absolute warmth she is radiating from her happiness. It’s like a high, knowing that I made her feel this way, that I made it happen. And I want to do it again, and again.
“So,” Scott smirks, and here we fucking go. I’ve been standing here watching this fucker while he waited for just the right moment to swoop in and hit on my girl. “I have to tell you. You have the prettiest smile I think I’ve ever seen.” Indy’s face drops, and I see the pink creep up her cheeks at his words. There are two ways I can handle this situation. One, I punch his face in, no less than seventeen times to ensure he will never gaze at her pretty smile again. Or two, I go over and make it known that I’m her boyfriend. This entire time I’ve been standing back against the pool wall we are in, allowing Indy to have her moment. Honestly, penguins creep me out. For her, though, I’ll learn to love them. But because I’ve been staying back, Iguessold Scottie has figured he can move in on my girl. That ain’t happening, fuck how I feel about PDAs, and fuck my anxiety. I won’t let this doofus waggle his eyebrows at my girlfriend.
Deciding for once in my life to fight without fists or insults, I walk up to Indy and slip a hand around her waist as I lean over her shoulder and kiss her cheek. “How’s my pretty girl?” I ask huskily and smirk as I feel her body shiver slightly.
“Good!” she beams, looking back at me. “The penguins love me.” I chuckle lightly as I lean in and give her a chaste kiss, causing her to let out a small gasp.
“I’m happy you’re having fun, baby girl,” I murmur before looking up to see Scott’s confused expression.
“Oh,” he laughs nervously. “I didn’t realize you were a couple! I thought you were her dad!” Okay, so I tried fighting without fists. Now, I’m going to have to beat his face in.
“Well,” Indy says sweetly as she backs over to me. “Not my dad, but definitely my daddy. Anyway, thanks for this, Mike! I had fun!”
“His name is Scott,” I laugh, keeping my voice low as we head to the pool’s edge. Indy shrugs as I help her out of the water.
“Eh, he wasn’t important enough to remember. Oh my god! This was the most amazing experience of my life!”
* * *
It’s storming.
Indy and I are in a stunning hotel with massive windows, and it’s fucking storming.
“Fuck!” Indy cries out as a loud crash of thunder rattles the windows. She lets out a weak whimper as I grab her small body and pull her to curl into me in the bed.
I watch as she glances at the weather channel on the television from our spot in the king-size round bed I’ve yet to get to fuck her on, and she lets out another cry.
“I need to get in the bathtub.” She whispers while pointing at the tornado watch banner flashing across the screen.
“Darlin’,” I soothe her as I run my hand through her hair. “It’s just a watch, it’s o–” A window-rattling boom of thunder shakes our room, and Indy is up instantly. “Alright, alright,” I say calmly, leading her into the bathroom with a pillow and blanket.
