Take My Breath Away

by Wendy L. Wilson

  He leans his head forward looking at me through long lashes. With all the wildness and craziness that has happened today, I just now get a chance to really look into his eyes. The sunlight shines down across his face and his hazel eyes sparkle with flecks of amber making them nearly look brown.

  I place my hands on each side of his face, running my fingertips over the course bristles of stubble on his jaw as I pull him toward me.

  “I don’t think this could go fast enough for me,” I say with absolute certainty.

  I smooth my hands across both sides of his face and smile, all the while, looking into his unbelievably gorgeous eyes.

  He breathes out an exaggerated sigh and crooks his mouth into a cocky grin.

  “Good gosh, woman, I . . .” he pauses with an uneasy look on his face and then quickly adds, “I am crazy about you. This is all kinds of new for me. I mean, I’m not usually like this and I definitely don’t move this fast . . . ever.”

  My heart trips up with his words, feeling exactly the same way. How is it that just a few days ago I was in a relationship with someone else? Kyle never made me feel this way!

  He pulls me against him, burying his face in my neck as I reflect on how wonderful this thing between he and I feels. When several rambunctious guys round the corner, he does not even try to pull away from our embrace.

  Moving too fast? Not at all! This feels just right; it feels perfect!!

  EVERY EYE IS ON US as the group of guys near the door to The Snack Shack.

  Judd moves away a few inches and quickly grabs my hand in his as he turns to face the group.

  “Guys, this is Alyssa,” he announces as they get closer.

  “Well, well . . . looks like you’ve been busy,” a stocky blonde, whose name I believe is Tyler, says as he nudges Judd in the shoulder.

  The rest of the group laughs and throws out a couple more teasing remarks. The heat in my face spreads like wildfire and I know it must be as red as a cherry. Judd doesn’t try to defend himself against their sarcastic comments but instead turns to give me a reassuring smile before we all start to flood into the store.

  “So, I guess you’re keeping my brother occupied,” a tall guy with chin length brown hair and bright hazel eyes says with a smirk.

  Brother? This must be the infamous Tristan. That explains the similarity he shares with Judd. They look very much alike, only Judd is a couple of inches shorter.

  The guy slaps Judd on the back, motioning for us to go in as he holds the door open. Judd looks nervous, but guides me in front of him.

  “Don’t even think about checking out her ass, Tristan,” Judd spits out in a commanding tone.

  I look back and his brother holds up his hands in surrender. He chuckles, barely sticking his tongue out between his teeth and I notice another similarity, dimples; only his brother has one perfectly placed on each cheek.

  Once inside, they storm the shelves for food and beverages, putting a good dent in the store’s supply. The guy behind the counter must be used to it, because he carries on about his business like it is completely normal for a mass of sweaty guys to clear the shelves like it is Armageddon.

  Loaded up with premade hoagie sandwiches, cases of beer, beef jerky, snack cakes and soda, the guys push and shove their way back out to the dock and head for the beach.

  Judd pulls my hand back into his at the same time a sweaty arm is flung across my other shoulder.

  I look over to see his brother once again at our side, wiggling his eyebrows as he says, “So tell me, is your hot sister going to join us?”

  I shrug my shoulders and laugh. Judd obviously doesn’t find this as funny as I do. He grabs Tristan’s wrist, picking his arm off of my shoulder like it is a stinky old sock that he wants to dispose of quickly. I have to giggle from his reaction. It’s clear that he wants to keep the ‘womanizer’ as far away from me as possible.

  Running down to the beach like a pack of wolves that have just been set free from captivity, I hear several whoops and hollers as all of my friends come into view. They are on the beach loading up coolers, towels, and rafts.

  Mitch and Tristan lead the pack as they collide with the girls.

  “Where you going?” Mitch asks as Jessie shoves a towel in her bag, a couple yards in front of me.

  “Hey, you don’t want to leave. Come on, the party’s just getting started,” Tristan joins in on the plea to get the girls to stay.

  “We were calling it a day, but I guess we can stay for a while longer. What do you say girls?” Skylar motions to Abby and Piper, who are just now coming out of the water.

  “I say hell yes!” Jessie hollers as she drops her bag and dashes into the water with Mitch hot on her tail.

  Mitch and Tristan obviously think my friends are a 24-hour buffet that they can take full advantage of.

  “Whoo! Come on, let’s get wet!” Crystal splashes water at Tristan, beckoning for him to follow.

  I guess with my group of friends, they haven’t had to try very hard either.

  We end up swimming and goofing off until the sun goes down. Judd and I try to socialize more instead of remaining in our own little intimate bubble. He cuts up with his friends while I sit on the dock cracking up at Piper’s stories about summers she‘d spent out here; however, I barely hear a thing that is said. My mind is too focused on all that happened earlier, and the recognition that through this entire evening, Judd’s eyes keep wandering my way.

  At the end of the night, we all head for our cabin, with the exception of a couple of people who have paired off to have their own fun. I notice Mitch and Crystal over by the dock having a bit too much. Jake, who I found out is Judd’s younger brother, and Evan take off to do some night fishing while Tristan grabs Jessie and darts off to the woods.

  Inside, everyone breaks into a serious game of strip poker; even Abby who seems to be far gone by now from the cooler full of daiquiris that she drank. Judd and I decide to forgo the game and head back outside to be alone just as several girls start to lose their tops. Tristan passes us at the door, walking ahead of an extremely pissed off looking Jessie.

  Moving past us, he looks at Judd and whispers, “Next,” with a sly grin on his face.

  My jaw drops. Wow! What an asshole!

  Judd grabs my hand and we race away from the drama to his pickup truck. He opens the cab and pulls out a couple blankets, a jacket and a small cooler, throwing it all in the bed of the truck. Hoisting me up over the side, he puts me down like I am precious cargo and jumps in behind me.

  After spreading one blanket out and shoving another one up against the back, he lays down, pulling me in beside him. He reaches into the cooler and pulls out a beer for each of us, then extends his arm out. Automatically, I nestle against his shoulder, letting the heat from his body warm my skin.

  I had figured we would go for a walk or go somewhere when he first led me to his truck, but as we lay here, I can see why he chose this destination. His truck is perfectly positioned with the tailgate facing the beach. There are no trees or cabins in our line of sight, just an open view of the sky. As the last traces of sunlight fade from the sky, countless stars peek through the darkness and light up the night.

  Lying within the security of each other’s arms, time stands still and it seems like days, but is more than likely just a few hours. We hear several of the guys leave the cabin to head back to their own and we even giggle when we hear far off moans coming from the water and woods.

  “So what brought you out here anyways?” Judd asks as the cabin door slams shut to our right and the air fills with hushed voices and giggles.

  I shift my head, making an extreme effort to touch every inch of his chest as I pull my hands up to support my chin.

  “It was actually Abby’s attempt to cheer me up.” I can’t see the expression of Judd’s face, but I feel him move and notice his face falls forward so he can look at me. “I actually just got out of a year-long relationship not too long ago, so I think she was trying to get my
mind off of it.”

  “Wow,” he says as he moves his head to look back up at the stars.

  I can only imagine what he is thinking.

  “I walked in on him with someone else. I mean, I literally walked in on him,” I add, not feeling the least bit of pain from the memory.

  “That’s awful,” his voice is laced with compassion, yet a hint of uneasiness at the same time. “Are you over him?”

  His question surprises me, because I haven’t really thought about Kyle in the last few days. All I’ve had on my mind is Judd and how he makes me feel.

  “I guess that’s a rude question. What I meant, is do you think you two will get back together when you get back?”

  I don’t even hesitate to answer this, “Absolutely not!”

  Pressing my toes to the bed of the truck, I push myself up so that I can be closer to Judd’s face. “Just so you know . . . this is the best week of my life,” then I place a gentle peck on his lips.

  He lets out a heavy breath through his nose, closing his hands in around my body to hold my lips against his for a while longer.

  As the hours tick by, our conversation flows like music, and our empty drinks have been thrown back into the cooler. The sky glimmers above us, but no matter how magnificent, I continue to take my eyes off of it to gaze up at him. He looks down at me with that playful smile on his face.

  “So explain something to me,” I raise my eyebrows and giggle at the not-so-subtle question I’m about to ask. “Why on earth are you single?”

  He chuckles and then turns his face towards the sky. “I’ve never really had time for dating. I mean, yeah, there were a couple of girls I dated, but nothing serious. Nothing like a year-long relationship like you had.”

  “Why didn’t you have time?” I ask, curious about all things Judd.

  He lets out a dry laugh that sounds troublesome. “I was busy with football and I worked on the weekends at a farm with my younger brother. I was also always trying to keep my grades up, hoping I would be eligible for a scholarship eventually.”

  I laugh at his response. Wow, no girls; Tristan must not have got that memo.

  “Have you always played?” I feel as though I am quizzing him, but judging from the smile on his face with each question, I don’t think it is bothering him.

  “Pretty much.” His chest swells with a breath and the warmth of his hand melts into my skin as he slowly trails a path up and down my arm. “My dad got me, Jake and Tristan into it when we could barely walk. He played when he was in high school. He was pretty good, too. I think he hoped we would follow in his footsteps. By the time we were all in elementary school, we loved the sport, so it just kind of stuck.” He stops talking, but his warm breaths dance across my ear and make my entire body tingle.

  Laying my head on his shoulder, I tilt my face to look over at him. It’s dark out, but I can’t miss the fact that his eyes are locked on me.

  I catch how he refers to his dad in the past tense, but I don’t dare ask him about it. We haven’t really approached the subject of my dad either and the worry that I have buried down deep this week. Judd seems to keep my mind occupied just fine, so there is no need to dive into depressing subjects.

  “Ok, so what about you?” he counters.

  “What about me?” I decide to tease, knowing he is checking to see how available I am.

  “Why in the world does someone as amazing as you not have guys lined up to go out with her? I mean, so you broke up with the asshole that cheated on you, but why were there not a million guys swooping in to take his place?” His soft chuckles make me smile, but then I realize I have to tell him about Kyle; particularly the part where we just recently broke up.

  “Well actually, it just happened the weekend I came out here.”

  All of a sudden, I’m nervous to talk about this. Last thing I want is for him to think I rushed into whatever is going on between the two of us. I guess it was fast, but I seriously haven’t even thought about Kyle since I saw Judd.

  “Did you love him?” Judd draws his eyebrows down and looks away from me.

  “I . . .”I go silent not knowing how to answer that. I thought I did, but then again he is the only boy I’ve ever really been with and if I loved him, wouldn’t it hurt more than it does? Would I really be able to move on so quickly if it was love?

  I open my mouth to say no, but Judd quickly speaks up, “You know what? Don’t answer that. You two are no longer together and you’re here with me now. I think we should just focus on that.”

  I bite my lip at how bad this may make me sound, but I want to give him an answer. “Well, my answer is no. I don’t think I would be where I am right now, feeling how I feel if that was love,” I say and then quickly look to Judd to see if he is prepared to race out of the parking lot and away from me.

  His arms tighten around me and he pulls me in closer, sending an electrifying sensation straight up my spine and leaving my body in a state of euphoria.

  “Precisely,” he says, flashing me a gorgeous, confident smile that washes all my worries away. “It’s his loss, anyways,” he adds and then places a quick kiss on my forehead.

  We go back and forth, story after story. As we continue to talk, he looks at me through his long lashes every now and again and a fluttering stirs in my heart.

  I stare back at him and silently question what this feeling is that is taking root in my very soul. Is it too soon for me to feel this?

  Right then, Judd stops talking and gently bends to kiss the top of my forehead with his soft lips. It sends electric waves through my whole body so I close my eyes tight, breathing in and out as his lips linger. Butterflies dance in my stomach and something shifts in my heart. That’s when I have to stop myself and question if I am, just maybe, falling in love.

  TRICKLES OF WATER AND A sudden movement beneath my head pulls me out of my sleep the next morning. Geez, what happened to peacefully waking up?

  “What the. . . .” Judd cries out, flinching upward.

  My eyes snap open as I hear Evan’s laughter fill the air.

  “Hey, let me up for a second.” I shift my body and sit up, feeling stiff as a board.

  Judd jumps to his feet, braces his arm on the side of the truck bed and catapults himself to the ground. Evan darts off to the other side of the truck, laughing hysterically.

  “Evan, I am going to beat your ass when I get ahold of you.”

  I look at Judd and realize the small splashes of water that hit me were nothing compared to what he got. His hair is dripping wet and the entire right side of his shirt is weighted down and sticking to his chest. Looking down to survey my own body, I see just a few splashes here and there. Hmm, Evan must have been careful not to get me.

  “Come here!” Judd hollers while Evan runs around the back of the truck.

  “Oh, don’t be too mad! You know you needed that! I was doing you a favor,” Evan yells from the front of the truck.

  “Evan,” Judd calls out as a warning.

  Evan slaps his hand on the truck and howls out even louder. “I just wanted to bring a little realism to the wet dream you were . . .”

  “Evan!” Judd yells even louder as he lunges for his best friend.

  They take off towards the cabins, running as fast as their legs can carry them and it looks like Evan may be in trouble. I giggle, wondering how bad Judd will hurt him when he gets ahold of him. If this were Abby and me, it would end in tickle torture, but I’m thinking a good wrestling match may be in their near future.

  “It was a joke . . . a joke, man!” Evan’s laughter and hollers ring out in the distance.

  I crack up watching Judd go after his friend as he darts away like a scared animal, all the while realizing the bugs must have feasted on me all night long. Trailing my nails across my thighs and arms, I notice swollen red welts.

  A little while later, Judd and Evan make their way back to the truck where I am still snuggled up in the back on the dry side of the blanket. I hug my legs to my
chest, feeling worn out and extremely itchy.

  Judd gasps for air as he shoves Evan, who is still laughing. “You have to admit, it was needed.” He smiles at Judd and somehow I get the feeling that Evan had reasons for the water bucket this morning.

  “Yeah, thanks,” Judd says as he elbows Evan and quickly glances to me with a small, embarrassed smile on his face.

  Oh! Listening to their silly banter, I easily put two and two together. I take it that Evan was trying to spare his friend humiliation from publicly displaying his unintentional ‘rise and shine.’

  While we both frantically itch, Judd and I both come to the conclusion that while sleeping under the stars may be romantic and all, it is definitely not something you should do without a massive amount of bug spray. Scratching from head to toe, I kiss him goodbye so he can go to work.

  Evan rolls his eyes and shakes his head, making fun of us. “Ok, come on before I have to hose you down again.”

  Giggling, I head towards my cabin, making sure to look over my shoulder as many times as possible.

  The rest of the day drags by, but I keep myself occupied by hanging with the girls, playing volleyball on the beach, making a run to the store with Piper and Abby and gathering wood for the bonfire tonight.

  Hammers echo in the distance and every once in a while we hear roars of laughter, but other than that you wouldn’t even know there was anyone else here.

  Evening comes and I am relieved to see Judd’s face among all the guys as they mosey down the beach.

  We all tear into the packages of hot dogs, buns, marshmallows, chocolate bars and graham crackers, ready to stuff our faces.

  While we chow down, Tristan is sure to make a spectacle of eating his hot dogs as if he is trying to teach each of us girls life skills that has nothing to do with food. He also spends the entire evening harassing Abby as she makes a point of moving as far away from him as possible. To her disappointment, he stays on her heels like a lost puppy while making obscene gestures; he definitely enjoys every minute of her aggravation. It seems she and Piper are about the only girls that don’t cave to his charm, and his efforts are getting pathetic.