Watching You

by Shannon Greenland

  In my whole life, there has never been such a perfect moment. But even as I think this, something way in the crevices of my mind feels off. Yet I can’t quite pinpoint what.

  Chapter Fifty-Five

  Stalker

  Viola thinks this is over.

  This is in no way over.

  Nobody knows what all I’ve done. Nobody.

  Just wait, Viola, just wait.

  I’m coming for you.

  Soon.

  Chapter Fifty-Six

  The next day dawns sunny and clear, and I wake to the sound of Spanish music. I find Riel sitting cross-legged on the bow of the boat staring out at the water.

  “Hey,” I say.

  He turns and smiles. “Coffee’s on down below. Go grab some and come join me.”

  I do, and minutes later I sit down beside him. He’s got stubble on his face this morning, and reaching over, I run my finger across the soft hair. “Sexy.”

  He grabs that finger and nips it, making me wish he was nipping other parts of me. “Watch,” he says, nodding to the ocean and turning the music louder.

  I snuggle in beside him, my head on his shoulder, gazing out, waiting…

  A dolphin leaps from the water, and I perk up. “Oh my God, I’ve never seen a dolphin before!” Another one flies out of the ocean and flips onto his back, and I suck in a breath. A third one stands on its flipper and skates across the sparkly water. “Riel, this is amazing!”

  Beautiful and graceful, they swim in sync with their flippers peaking the gentle waves. One ventures close to the boat, and the two of us lean over the side to get a better look. Riel grabs me and tucks me right as it blows and sprays us with salt water and air, making us both laugh even more.

  The song fades then, and gradually the dolphins do, too. Yes, this whole thing is perfect. There’s nothing off. At least that’s what I reassure myself of.

  Thirty minutes later, I’m eating a bagel, staring over the side of the boat, mesmerized by all the little orange-colored fish. There’s got to be at least fifty of them. I toss a chunk of bread, and they swarm, nibbling and zipping away.

  I’m still wearing the T-shirt and yoga bottoms from last night, but I climb down the ladder anyway and slip soundlessly into the chill.

  Holding my breath, I float, hands and feet suspended weightless. I open my eyes and smile as the three-inch-long fish dart around my body, swerving in and out of my arms and legs. It might be my imagination, but I swear some of them smile back. My sisters would love this. I wish I had an underwater camera.

  I come up for air to see Riel looking over the side of the boat, watching me. “You’re crazy,” he tells me.

  “I couldn’t resist.”

  “That water’s got to be freezing.”

  “Well, now that you mentioned it.” I shiver and swim toward the ladder. “This has got to be the most beautiful place in the world. Thank you for bringing me here.” I grab onto the rungs and climb up.

  Riel glances straight to my braless breasts now on display through my wet T-shirt. I don’t cover them. I’m not embarrassed or ashamed. His gaze heats and so does my body. No, I’m not embarrassed at all.

  “Viola,” he groans.

  I take a step toward him. “I told you. I don’t care if you touch me. I want you to.”

  Quicker than I’ve ever seen him move, he closes the gap between us. But his hand doesn’t go to my breast. Instead, his lips find my mouth, just like they did on the dance floor, and we claim each other in an electrified tongue-circling kiss.

  Yes, perfect.

  We end up motoring to a new spot, spend hours snorkeling and exploring, and that night after dinner, we spread blankets out on the bow and lay down. Tomorrow we have to go back to reality, and I still need to figure out what I’m going to do. I don’t want to go back to Tennessee, but how can I stay here?

  Beside me Riel stretches. “So I’ve been thinking—”

  “Uh-oh. Sounds serious.”

  He rolls over onto his side, propping himself on his elbow, and looks down at me. “There’s a cabin at my campground for rent. I checked in with the office, and they said if you’re willing to clean the other cabins when vacationers come and go, they’re willing to let you stay rent free.”

  “What?” I sit up. “When did you do this?”

  “A couple of days ago when I realized what was probably going to go down.” He takes my hand and caresses his thumb over my fingers. “You’re not mad, are you?”

  I stare into his worried face. This unbelievable man, even when he was upset with me, went and checked on a place for me to live. “No, I’m not mad.” I lift his hand and kiss it. “No one has ever tried to solve a problem for me.”

  “I know Ponce de Leon Academy was your dream.”

  “Yes, one of my dreams, but the reality is that’s no longer available. MIT is my ultimate dream, but with the disciplinary letter going in my file, that may no longer be available as well. I need to come to terms with the alternatives. I need to figure out what exactly those are.” I expect to feel frustration and disappointment at admitting all of that out loud, but surprisingly, resolution and determination is now more what I’m feeling.

  “Viola.” He puts my hand against his cheek and turns his face to kiss my palm. “Don’t go back to Tennessee. Stay here. Finish out high school here at the local high. Or for that matter, you can probably test out and start going to the local community college. The disciplinary letter will likely mean no scholarships or grants, but you can apply for loans. Please,” he whispers. “Stay.”

  His words weave through me, convincing me of what I already know I want to do. Of what I already know will happen. It may not be MIT, but I will go to and I will finish college. I will break the cycle I was born into. I will do something with my life. I will.

  “Momma has this motivational plaque hanging in our kitchen. ‘A dream only becomes reality with determination and compromise.’”

  “Yes,” Riel says. “I do need to meet your momma.” Smiling, he pulls me toward him, and we both stretch back out on the blankets. A comfortable silence falls between us as we stare up at the stars.

  Please stay. His whispered words bring a smile to my face.

  Closing my eyes, I snuggle into his warmth, and Riel slides his leg over mine and pulls me closer. I nestle in, his heartbeat lulling me. He hugs me even tighter, pressing my breasts against him, and I inhale a deep breath that is twined with his unique smell and the salty ocean. Does he want to take things further tonight? Because I do.

  His heart quickens as if reading my thoughts, and I lift my head to peer into his eyes. We hold each other’s gaze for a few long seconds, and then he moves first, rolling me to my back. He searches my eyes, as if waiting for me to tell him it’s okay.

  “I want this,” I tell him, and with my finger, I trace the line of his jaw to his lips. He catches my finger with his teeth and gently bites down, and I inhale a breath.

  Who would’ve thought teeth on a finger could be so sensual?

  Still holding my index finger in his mouth, he licks the pad of it, and then lowers his mouth to mine. He nibbles my bottom lip, and I sift my fingers through his hair, pulling him closer. He takes that as his cue to deepen the kiss, and somewhere in the softness of it, I register he tastes like the raspberry ice tea we had with dinner.

  Riel shifts to my ear then, trailing tiny touches along my lobe and down the side of my throat. I move my head to give him better access and moan when he uses his teeth. More. It’s all I can think.

  I part my legs and wrap them around the backs of his thighs.

  He pushes against me, and I catch my breath as I dig my fingers into his hips, pulling him closer and moving with the motion. Riel groans and slides down my body. No, I want him to come back up. I want him to keep rocking against me. But then he pushes my shirt above my breasts, and I change my mind.

  He gazes down at me, his eyes tracing the features of my face and then my bared breasts. “God, you’re
beautiful.”

  No, he’s the beautiful one.

  I pull my top all the way off and fling it aside, and it plops into the water, making us both laugh. He follows my lead, grabbing behind his shoulders and pulling his off. My eager fingers start a path, across the hair on his chest, down his ripped abs, and around to stroke his back. The mixture of all that is him intoxicates me. The smooth skin over hardness. The warmth. The light sprinkling of hair across his pecs.

  “I can’t believe we’re finally doing this,” I whisper.

  He dots a few feather kisses down my neck and shoulder. “You absolutely exceed my fantasies.”

  That makes me all kinds of heated. “You fantasize about me?”

  “You have no idea,” he whispers into my ear.

  “I’m glad I’m not the only one fantasizing,” I admit.

  “Oh?” He nips my ear lobe. “Which is better, fantasy or reality?”

  “Reality. By a long shot.”

  Chuckling, he moves down my body. “It’s only going to get better. Hopefully.” He laughs some more, and I do, too. Oh, how I adore him.

  No.

  Oh, how I love him.

  He presses slow, sucking kisses along my ribs and stomach. My body jolts at a sensitive spot near my navel, and he goes back to it.

  With one hand, he reaches down and runs his fingers along my foot, up to my calf, and higher to my thigh. He hesitates at my shorts a fraction of a second then slides his hand inside and around to the curve of my butt. I breathe in. God, that feels good. It was never this way with Manny. Never.

  Riel lifts his body and his mouth finds my breast, and I arch off the blanket, making it more than obvious how I enjoy it. Please do the other one, too.

  He does, and I untie his swim trunks and with some mumbled Spanish, he grinds against me.

  We both know where this is going, and so I’m the one to ask, “Condoms?”

  He stops what’s he doing, and I wonder if I made a mistake in throwing out the “condom” word. Maybe I misread him. Maybe he just wants to fool around and I misread things. But most guys would leap through fire if a girl said “condom.” Then again, Riel is definitely not most guys.

  He presses his forehead to mine. “I honestly don’t know.”

  “What?” I’m confused. He doesn’t know if he wants a condom or he doesn’t know if he has a condom.

  Riel lifts his head and drops a quick kiss to my nose. “Stay right here. Do not move. I’m going to go look.”

  So he doesn’t know if he has a condom, which just makes me love him even more. He came out here with me, not packing condoms, not expecting a single thing but to talk. Would it be weird if I proposed marriage? Yes, that would be weird.

  “What?” he asks, amusement flickering across his face.

  “Nothing.” I give him a little push. “Go look. I won’t move.”

  He levers himself up, but he doesn’t immediately move and instead gazes down at me with an expression I haven’t seen yet. Bewilderment. Realization. Adoration. Love. I can’t quite peg it.

  “Eres la mujer más increíble del mundo. Un día espero que seas mi esposa.”

  Then he’s gone, leaving his deep words resonating throughout my body. I have no idea what he just said, but the tender tone of his voice tells me he’s never said it before. It tells me those words were meant just for me.

  For me.

  “Yes, perfect.” This time I say it out loud. Like I need to hear it to really believe it.

  Minutes later, Riel is back, and with a sigh, he kneels down beside me. “No condoms.”

  I want to smile at his bummed expression, but instead I say, “There are other things we could do.”

  His eyes widen in interest. “Yeah?”

  “Yeah.”

  For a few seconds, he doesn’t move as his gaze rolls over me, touching on my face, my breasts, my legs, and though he doesn’t say a word, I can tell his imagination gets a little dirty and wild. I’d love to be inside his head right now.

  “Can I…can I go down on you?” he asks.

  Heat flashes across my body, and I don’t know what to say. Manny never went down on me. I did him a couple of times, mainly because he begged me to and I wanted him to shut up. But not once, not once did he ever do it to me. The fact Riel just suggested it without even mentioning himself first leaves me speechless and in awe.

  With a nod, I swallow, and I know my eyes have got to be huge right now as I stare up at Riel still kneeling beside me.

  “Are you sure?” he asks, clearly mistaking my silence for hesitation.

  I find my voice. “Yes, sorry. Yes, I’m interested. It’s just, my ex never did that to me, and so I don’t know what to do.”

  Riel grins. “Then it’ll be a first for both of us, because I’ve never gone down on a girl, either.”

  My chest expands on a breath full of curiosity and interest. “I’ll be your guinea pig.”

  His dimple flashes as he comes toward me. “Feel free to give direction.”

  Chapter Fifty-Seven

  Stalker

  Where is she?

  What the hell is she doing?

  WHERE IS VIOLA?

  I turn and hit the wall, gritting back the pain.

  She’s probably with Riel.

  But they’re not at his RV. I checked.

  So where are they?

  Oh, Viola’s going to pay for this. She will.

  Chapter Fifty-Eight

  Around noon the next day, we dock the boat back at the marina, hop in the Jeep, drop the top, and head over to meet Mar’s bus coming in from DC.

  As Riel drives, my thoughts drift back to last night. It was a little awkward at first, but once we both relaxed, it got better. And better. And better. After he was done with me, I started to go down on him, but he was so excited, he lasted only seconds. Then he proceeded to get embarrassed and apologize, and I just squeezed him and kissed him. After that, there was a whole lot more snuggling and kissing and touching and whispering into the tiny hours of the morning.

  Remembering it all now has my cheeks warming and a smile curving my lips. Yes, love.

  We park at the junior high campus, and while we wait, Riel reaches over and links fingers with me in this natural way like we’ve been doing it for years.

  I turn my head and look across the coastal highway to Ponce de Leon Academy sprawling in all its glory. The pang of loss I expect to feel, doesn’t hit me. Instead, there’s a peace. A contentment. A closure.

  My eyes track over to the woods where Manny attacked me. That’s something that hasn’t quite set in yet. My ex-boyfriend, a guy I was intimate with, stalked and attacked me. How could I have been so wrong about him?

  Riel squeezes my hand, bringing my attention over to him. “Thanks for going sailing with me.”

  I lean across the gear shift and kiss him. “Thanks for inviting me.”

  Mar’s bus pulls in then, and kids start to get off. A minute or so later, we see Mar and wave.

  She grabs her stuff and runs over. “Viola!”

  I laugh. I missed this kid.

  Riel helps her put her stuff in the back and she climbs in. “Were you two just kissing?”

  “Yes,” Riel immediately answers her.

  “Does that mean you’re boyfriend and girlfriend?”

  Riel looks at me. I look at him. It’s not like we sat and defined our relationship with the whole boyfriend/girlfriend thing, but we’ve exchanged some pretty heavy make-out sessions and I don’t just do that. So, “Yes,” I answer for both of us. “We’re dating.”

  Riel grins.

  “Cool,” Mar says and buckles her seat belt. “Can we get pizza for dinner?”

  After pizza, Mar goes straight to bed. I want to go straight to bed with Riel and finish what we started on the boat, but not here. Not with Mar in the RV.

  “Let’s go sit outside and have some coffee,” he suggests.

  Good idea, because I might attack him if we stay inside.

>   So we each grab our coffees and settle into the Adirondack chairs under his awning. I take the first sip, sitting for a few minutes, just taking in the chilled night. From somewhere in the campground guitar notes float through the air, and across the way a fire glows in the dark night, settling its woodsy burn around us.

  Tomorrow’s going to be a big day. Monday. The start of my new life. For the first time ever, I won’t be going to classes. I’ll be going to the office here and following through with the cabin. I’ll stop by the local high school. I’ll be a semester behind, but Riel’s right, maybe they’ll let me test out of first semester and into the second. Also, I need to start making a backup list to MIT. Yeah, big day. But I’m cool with it. I am. Fresh start. Amazing man beside me. Everything’s going to be okay.

  I take another sip of my coffee. “I never realized campground living could be so welcoming and cozy.”

  “A perfect lead in,” Riel says, pointing through the trees over to the right. “See that red one with the white fence and the lantern hanging in the tree? That’s your cabin.”

  I sit up with a bubble of excitement. “It’s so cute. I’ve never had my own place before.” Oh, I can’t wait to see inside.

  “But the best part?” Riel’s voice dips low. “You’ll be right over there.”

  I love the way that sounds.

  “As soon as I can ditch Mar, you and I are going to christen that place.”

  Heat zings through my body. “That is absolutely a deal.”

  Chapter Fifty-Nine

  On Monday morning, I get a text from Gillian: CALL ME. I MISS YOU. ~G

  The fact is, I miss her, too. I hate the way things were left between us.

  I text her back: I’M MOVING INTO A NEW PLACE. HOW ABOUT YOU COME OVER THIS WEEKEND AND HELP ME DECORATE?

  OMG! YES!!! She immediately responds.

  Yep, I miss the girl.

  I drop Riel at Ponce de Leon Academy and Mar at the junior high, and I set out to officially figure out my life. I go to the campground’s office first and follow through with the cleaning job and my cabin. Next, I head to the local high school and wait in line to see a guidance counselor.