by Carter Ashby
He winked at her and went on down toward the wave pool. The delay allowed Grey to catch up. He locked his fingers around her elbow. "You're not allowed to run, here," she said.
"You get in trouble?"
"Yeah, but it wasn't so bad. The lifeguard is adorable."
Grey turned toward the direction of the life guard. "You've got strange taste in men, kiddo. He just looks like a brown and orange blotch, to me."
She giggled and linked her fingers with his. They each picked up inner tubes and headed up the long set of stairs to the tops of the slides. They watched the people in front of them, mostly adults with their kids, or just kids, climb on their inner tubes and push off. Then they each went to a different slide entrance. Addy sat on her inner tube and let another cute lifeguard push her off.
Halfway down she was laughing gleefully, the sensation of speed filling her with delight. She hit the water and flipped backward into the three foot deep water. She came up sputtering and laughing and turned into Grey's arms. His hair was wet, his smile full of the same child-like glee that hers held. She kissed him quickly before wading out of the pool.
"That was fun," she said. "Totally fun. I wanna go again."
He nodded. "Let's go down together this time."
They went down four more times, but then the slide no longer seemed worth the price of climbing the stairs. She noticed Grey slightly limping, though he didn't complain. He had a long, white scar down his left shin from the surgeries to repair his shin after getting shot.
They went to the wave pool and just swam for a while. Then they floated around the river. But after that, there wasn't much left to do. She caught him squinting in the direction of the concession stand. "Want a hot dog?" she asked.
"Yes, I do."
So they ate junk food, then lounged under a cabana in the mist, holding hands and talking about anything and everything.
They didn't change back into their clothes to go home. They walked back into Grey's cabin in nothing but their bathing suits and fell onto the sofa in each other's arms. They wound up rolling onto the floor to make love. Afterward, he held her close, and she smiled against his warm chest. "Best day ever," she muttered.
"I agree."
CHAPTER NINE
Grey lay on his side staring at the smooth, curve of her back, in the early morning shafts of sunlight. She was the most beautiful woman he'd ever met. He wanted so badly to start kissing her, but her breathing was slow and even. She'd certainly earned her sleep.
He rolled out of bed, put on his sweat pants, and headed to the kitchen. Pancakes. He'd make her pancakes and bring them to her in bed. Yet another first for him. He was shocked to discover how little affection he'd shown to his previous girlfriends; how little affection they'd shown to him. It begged the question: what was so different about this girl that he suddenly felt the desire to make pancakes for her?
He filled a tray with pancakes, milk, coffee, and fresh strawberries. She was already stirring when he walked in. She inhaled deeply. "Coffee?" she moaned. She opened her eyes and hurriedly sat up, tucking the pillows behind her, tugging the blanket up over her chest. "Breakfast in bed?"
He set the tray over her thighs and crawled into bed next to her, kissing her shoulder. "What should we do today?" he asked.
"I don't know. I feel like I could stay in bed all day."
"Then we'll stay in bed all day."
They ate pancakes and had coffee. Then he sat the tray on the floor and made love to her. They slept, woke up, made love again. Then they showered and dressed. She wore another, pretty sundress and some low heels. Her hair was back up. He had on designer jeans, a button-down cotton shirt and a tie. They stood in his hallway staring at each other.
"What are we doing?" she asked, giving his tie a tug. "I just spent forty-five minutes on my hair so we could go listen to a lecture at a museum that neither of us wants to go to."
How did she know he didn't want to go? "What would you rather do?" he asked, hoping it would be something involving that bikini he'd seen her in yesterday.
She hitched a shoulder. "I don't know. I just know I want to have fun with you, Grey. I get you for this week only, right? Never again? I want it to be fun." She fisted her hands in his shirt and leaned into him.
He kissed her, sweeping his tongue across her incredible lips. "All right," he said, his voice husky. She was stealing his breath at every turn. "What's fun?"
"That's a good question."
He slipped his arm around her waist and led her to the kitchen table, pushing her into a seat. He retrieved two pads of paper and two pens, one for each of them. "Okay, here's what we'll do. We'll each make a list of all the things we never got do do as kids, then we'll go from there to see if there's anything we wanna try. Just like the water park yesterday."
"Yay!" she squealed, and immediately started writing. "I love lists."
"Oh, Addison," he murmured, as he began his own list, "it's like God made you from my own rib."
When they finished, a half hour later, they exchanged lists and laughed at the things that were the same.
"Play in the mud?" Grey asked, still laughing at the idea of playing hopscotch in his driveway with her.
"Did you ever play in the mud? Nope, here it is, on your list. I think we should highlight the ones that are the same."
So he went to his office for highlighters.
Play in the mud. Roller skate. Fly a kite. Go to a school dance. Lick the beaters. Own a pet.
"You wanna get a cat together, Addison?"
Play dodge ball. Go to an arcade. Eat cereal for dinner. Camp out in the backyard. Build a sheet fort in the living room.
"I totally wanna have sex in a sheet fort in the living room, Grey. Put a star next to that one."
They compiled another list of just the things they'd both mentioned. Grey wrote go to the water park at the top, then let her cross it off. "I love crossing stuff off lists," she said.
"You and me both, honey."
He wanted to fly kites, most of all, and she wanted to play in the rain and mud. But the weather wasn't right for either of those things. So they decided to try roller skating. He checked online and found a roller rink one town over. They switched to jeans, t-shirts, and tennis shoes and drove down the mountain.
"Are you sure?" she said, when they arrived. The outside of the building looked a little run down. The part of town they found themselves in didn't seem very nice, either. But there were cars in the parking lot and kids coming and going.
"Yeah," he said. "We gotta try it once, don't you think?"
She lifted her chin, squared her shoulders, and nodded.
He got out and went around to hold open her door for her, yet another gesture he was surprised to be making. They held hands as they walked inside, blinking to adjust their eyes to the dim light. There was a disco ball over the oval-shaped skating rink, which contained a bunch of kids and a few adults rolling around.
Grey and Addy looked at each other and laughed. "I'm not sure what the appeal is," he said.
She shrugged. "Best go find out, then."
They went to the counter behind which were shelves and shelves of skates. Again they looked at each other. Addison turned to the attendant and said, "Do you treat these skates with some sort of antibacterial fungicide or something in between uses?"
Exactly what Grey had found himself wondering. The guy behind the counter gave her a blank look as he sprayed something from an aerosol can into a pair of skates. "What size?" he asked.
They gave their shoe sizes and found a bench to change. As they were both bent over, lacing up their skates, Addison said, "We'll just burn our socks and wash our feet really well after this."
"Bit of a germophobe?"
"Only when I'm sticking my feet into shoes that have been worn by hundreds of strangers before me."
They tucked their shoes under the bench, then gingerly stood, their legs wobbling. They held hands and laughed. "Okay, now walk," Grey said. They
made it about four steps, but then they stepped onto a short, shallow ramp that was masked under the thin, worn carpet. Their feet flew out from under them, and they landed flat on their backs, still holding hands.
"Ouch," he said blandly.
"Back or pride?"
"Both."
They sat up and struggled back to their feet. They managed to make it to the polished, wood floor beneath the low ceiling. Kids zoomed past them.
"Okay, we have to let go of each other," Addison said. "We're only going to take each other down. We've got a better chance of remaining upright if we separate."
"Addison, if you let go of my hand right now you can kiss that sheet fort goodbye."
She laughed and pulled her hand away. They both helicoptered their arms as they regained balance. She pulled ahead of him just a bit. He watched her push off once, then roll, her legs slowly spreading further and further apart. She caught herself against a rail on the wall before trying again. She was several feet ahead of him, now, and all he was doing was shuffling along. He watched the kids zooming past to get a better idea of how to push off.
It took the two of them an entire song to get all the way around. They made it around twice, the next song. Then four times. Then they were skating, hand-in-hand, by no means elegantly, but at least competently.
He stole glances at her hair, falling loose of its elaborate, braided up-do. He wanted to touch her, but he was pretty sure he'd fall.
They tired after an hour and ate hot dogs and nachos at the concession stand. Then they skated a while longer. After they took their skates off, the floor felt strange beneath their feet. They held onto each other for balance again, laughing the whole time. The sun was low in the sky when they went out, but they still blinked against its brightness.
"Oh, my God, I'm going to be so sore," she said, as she settled into the front seat of his car.
"You're gonna be sore? You might have to put me in the hospital."
"We should get massages tomorrow. Do you know anywhere nearby?"
"Yeah, there's a spa in town." He called, when they got home, and got them appointments for the next morning. Then he turned to find her dragging sheets out of his linen closet and into the living room. He found some twine and helped her construct a fort over the TV and a huge pallet on the floor with every pillow they could find. She ran back to the bedroom, returning with a handful of DVDs.
"I brought these," she said. "In case you wanted to watch something."
He smiled as he flipped through the stack of DVDs. Arsenic and Old Lace. Desk Set. Pillow Talk. The Philadelphia Story. He dropped the DVDs, caught Addison around the waist, and took her down to the floor. He couldn't kiss her enough. Not deep enough, not hard enough. He wanted to crawl inside of her and live for the rest of his life.
Her laughter turned to moans and he stopped and stared down at her. "Oh, Addison," he whispered.
Her lips quirked up in a quizzical expression. "We should go shower together," she said.
"It's like you're in my head." He pulled her to her feet and dragged her to the shower. They lathered each other up and made out. Then in nothing but their underwear, they went to their fort to watch The Philadelphia Story.
He couldn't keep his hands off her. She lay on her stomach, watching the television. So he grabbed a condom, pulled down her panties, and rolled on top of her, entering her from behind. A few moments later, she'd dropped her head to the floor and was fisting her hands in the blankets. He moved inside of her in slow, languorous thrusts, feeling like he could do this forever. Just the pleasure of being inside of her seemed enough for the longest time. He stayed hard yet relaxed, relishing the softness of her ass low on his belly.
"This feels so good," she breathed.
He unhooked her bra, kissed her back. He shoved the straps down and she lifted to take it off. "Why'd you even put this on?" he whispered.
"Dunno."
He slid his hands beneath her breasts and kneaded. "God." A surge of heat flooded him, and he moved faster, the tranquility of the moment lost in rising passion.
Her breath grew harsh, she was nearly whimpering. "Can you come like this?" he asked, barely able to form words.
Her frustrated sob was his only answer. He decided he liked her frustrated. She writhed beneath him, pushing her butt against him, seeking her own relief. Well she couldn't have it, not yet. He had some time. He chuckled in her ear, and she cried out, "Touch me, please!"
"Soon."
"Now!"
He moved his legs outside of hers and stood on his knees, pulling her hips up so that she was on her knees, her face and shoulders still down on the floor. He ran his hand up her sweat-slicked back. "Like the view," he groaned, quickening his thrusts.
She was nearly crying, now. He felt her begin to contract in orgasm. She cried out and pushed back against him, her knuckles turning white as she gripped the blankets. He lost himself, then, pounding relentlessly into her three more times before coming hard.
He collapsed onto his back, his vision blurred at the edges. He was still hard enough when she crawled on top of him, straddled him, and took him inside of her. She writhed her hips against him and came again with a sharp cry, her nails digging into his chest.
When she fell on top of him, he felt her tears on his skin. She was shaking and clinging to him. They fell asleep like this together.
CHAPTER TEN
The next day it rained, just a slow, gray rain with no lightning. So they went for a hike in the rain and the mud. They made love against a tree on the hiking trail they'd found. Behind Grey, over his shoulder, was a gorgeous view of the mist-dappled mountains. As he loved her hard and passionately, she kept her eyes open for as long as she could.
They finished their hike and cleaned up. They popped popcorn and watched old movies in bed. The hours melted into each other so that she couldn't keep track of day and night. They camped out one night, making love under the stars. They went to an arcade and the movies, one day. They found a park and flew kites. It was a week of firsts for both of them.
But then she woke up to the last day. Saturday. They would leave in the morning. Then Monday would come, and they would go back to the way they were before she'd impulsively thrown herself into his arms.
Addy woke up before him, but she felt him stirring soon after. When he nuzzled his face into her breasts, she smiled. "Good morning, Dr. McDaniel," she said.
"The fuck are you calling me that for?" he asked in a raspy, morning voice.
"It's our last day. We said we would get back into the practice of speaking formally on our last day."
"Sounds like fun. You dress up like Ms. Hart, I'll dress up like Dr. McDaniel, and you can seduce me." He nuzzled up to her, burying his face between her breasts. She ran her fingers through his hair and stared up at the ceiling.
"We have to pack today," she said, her voice low and distant.
"I know, sweetheart. But not right now." His hand came up and rested on one of her breasts. She thought she could stay like this forever. She thought that this one moment, holding him against her like this, would be the memory she clung to.
"What should we do?" she whispered.
He didn't answer at first, instead turning his lips to her other breast and gently taking it into his mouth, laving it with his tongue. It was erotic, in a lazy sort of way. There was no urgency. No need to have each other right then. Instead, this simple act was pleasurable enough for them both.
At last, he leveraged up onto his elbow and stroked her hair. "I know it's warm outside, but what I'd really like to do is build a fire in the fireplace, stay in our pajamas, and just…be together. Maybe do a crossword puzzle together. Read poetry. Just hold each other. That's what I'd like to do on our last day, Ms. Hart."
"Oh, no," she whispered.
His smile swiftly turned to a frown. "What? What is it?"
"I don't think I can ever hear you call me Ms. Hart again without blushing."
He smiled again and kissed
her cheek and jaw and ear. "Ms. Hart, you're driving me wild with those big, innocent eyes of yours."
She giggled as he nibbled at her neck, sending shivers down her body. "Grey, don't," she objected, but not even half-heartedly.
He chuckled against her shoulder. "That's not my name. Today, my name's Dr. McDaniel. Say my name and tell me what you want me to do to you."
She gasped and giggled as he nipped. "Oh, Dr. McDaniel, won't you whisper dirty things in my ear while you use your hand on me?"
He hovered his lips near her ear and drove her into a frenzy before massaging her into a climax. She clung to him knowing they'd taken their little game too far. Those names—Ms. Hart and Dr. McDaniel—were their masks. Now, she wasn't sure she'd be able to keep the truth out of her eyes whenever he spoke her name.
He rolled to his back pulling her on top of him. Then he simply held her and trailed his fingers up and down her spine.
Later they rose and made breakfast together. They cuddled, in various positions, in front of the fireplace. They read together and conversed on some of their favorite topics. They took a long soak in the Whirlpool tub, then went to bed early so that they could lie in each other's arms for as long as possible.
The next morning she sat on the edge of the neatly made bed, her suitcase packed on the floor at her side. She was dressed in her usual pencil skirt and blouse with her hair pulled back in a barrette and her glasses pushed up her nose.
Grey was still wandering about, finding little odds and ends he'd left lying around. Addy was focused on keeping her mind and heart blank.
At last, he perched next to her, his hand on her back. He was dressed in his professorly blazer and slacks. "Let's say goodbye, here," he said. "Now."
She stared ahead, unable even to sit with good posture. "Goodbye," she said, though her voice came out mostly air.
"Addison, you can't mope like this—"
"I won't. Just today, is all. I'll sleep tonight in my own bed, and I'll come to school looking like nothing ever happened. Right now, I just have to focus all my energy on not crying."