Something More

by Jenna Tyler

  * * * * *

  Drew and I finish up at the convenience store, getting refreshments and taking a restroom break. To my surprise, he opened all the doors for me, coming and going. Well, except the bathroom door. That would just be weird and creepy. I wonder how long this chivalrous behavior will last. He also let me pay for my own goodies but, then again, he did say he would at least try to let me pay for some things.

  Once back in the Hummer, we are back on our way. He grabs my hand again and places a gentle kiss on it, then intertwines our fingers as if that is how they are meant to be. We grin at each other, and then both look back out through the windshield. “How far from here is the place we are going again?” I ask.

  “It's just around the bend, actually.”

  A couple minutes later, we pull into a little gravel parking area and he picks a parking spot in the shade. I can't even imagine how hot this car gets in the sun with it being an all black exterior with the dark windows.

  I open my door and I hear a slight growl. Not knowing exactly where it came from, I quickly shut the door, keeping myself inside. Never having been here before or knowing what kind of wild animals are around, I was a little frightened. Then I hear him snickering.

  I whip my head to look at him and see him grinning from ear to ear while he's gathering up his backpack. “What the hell are you grinning about?”

  “Me? Oh, nothing.” Another snicker escapes him.

  “Hey! Don't make fun of me!” I yell. “I've never been here before and I don't know what lurks out there. That wasn't a gator hiss so I'm clueless as to what critters can come after me.” He grins even wider. “What is so damn funny?”

  Drew tries to straighten his face, but fails. He does manage to get out, “You're so funny. That was me growling, you knucklehead.” My eyes narrow and then I look for something to throw at him. Nothing that will injure him, just a little something. I spot a pack of gum and zing it at his chest.

  “What were you growling for? You scared me!”

  He laughs enthusiastically. “I growled because you opened your door and that is my job.”

  I roll my eyes and open my door again. “Well, I like when you open my door but, in this instance, you would just be standing there waiting for me to gather my belongings. This way, we can be getting our stuff together at the same time.”

  Now he rolls his eyes at me. “I don't mind waiting for you,” he says. “Plus, I can check you out in those sexy jeans.”

  I raise one eyebrow at him. “So I guess you need to be walking ahead of me on this trail?”

  “That won't be necessary. These trails are wide enough to walk side by side,” he says, with yet another grin. He's got his pack on now and he comes around to my side of the car. I watch his lithe movements. So sexy.

  “Do you mind if I leave a few things in your Hummer to lighten my pack?”

  “Sure. Go ahead.” He watches me unpack two pairs of shoes, a beach towel, and pepper spray. I hold the pepper spray up to him and ask with an evil grin, “Am I going to need this on the trail?”

  He smiles. “I will always endeavor to be a gentleman with you, Rebecca.” I squint, as if checking to see if he's lying. He continues, “But you never can tell what may happen.” I look at him, still leery. One corner of my mouth perks up and I shove the pepper spray back into the backpack. Zipping it up, I sling it over my shoulder.

  “You forgot the kitchen sink, didn't you?”

  I give him a dirty look. “Ha, ha. I can't help that I am prepared.” Drew grabs the door and closes it. The chirp of the alarm arming itself goes off and we set out on our adventure.

  Four

  It's a beautiful morning with hardly any clouds and a nice breeze. I should relish these not-so-cloudy days. I make a mental note to go outdoors whenever the weather is nice. I’ve got to soak up that vitamin D as much as possible.

  Soon after getting onto the trail, Drew grabs my hand and interlocks our fingers. On the outside, my body’s reaction isn't noticeable, I hope, but on the inside, his every touch still sets me on fire. I wonder if he feels the same or if he can sense the change in my body when he touches me. I can feel my face flush.

  As if he can hear my thoughts, he looks at me curiously. “Rebecca?”

  Shit. “Yes?” Can he hear my thoughts? I smile.

  “Can I ask you something?”

  “Well, you kind of just did.” I look at him with a mischievous twinkle in my eyes. “But if you want to ask another, go right ahead.” I hope my banter is well received.

  Looking at his profile as we're walking, I see his mouth turn up in the corner. Phew.

  “Touché. I was just wondering something. I know the first time we ‘bumped’ into each other, there was some kind of feeling between us when we touched.”Oh, shit. He can hear my thoughts. “And I'm curious if you still feel it now after all the times we've touched.” If he only knew how deep I felt that fire and where it ignited. How do I respond?

  Honesty is always the best policy, right? Okay, here it goes. “Uh. Well, yeah. It's like a shock to my system.” I think I hear him blow out a breath in relief. “Do you feel something like that?” I ask, praying that he says yes.

  “Yes. It's puzzled me since that first time, but now I'm baffled that it continues each time. It's as if my body awakens in your presence.” Oh, yes! If he only knew that my body awakens deliciously from my head all the way down to my toes.

  “Well, I guess that makes two of us.” I pause, then decide to be brave. “Can I ask you something else?” He looks down at me with a perfect smile. So breathtaking. My breath hitches. “This might sound a little out there, but it might cause a good laugh.”

  He looks at me quizzically. “Oh, this should be good.”

  “Can you read minds?” Laughter bursts out of him. He's taking that question well. Relief sets in again.

  “Well, I didn't think it would be that funny.”

  “Rebecca, you do have a great sense of humor. I will give you that.” He is still laughing. I stop walking, hoping to get an answer. He stops, as well, but has to turn around to look at me. Our hands are still locked together. He looks me in the eye with a goofy grin on his face.

  Stepping closer to me, he brings my hand up to his lips and plants a kiss on it, eyes still on mine. He says, “No. I cannot read your mind. Whatever gave you that idea?” I take my eyes off of his and start to walk again. He falls in step next to me.

  “It seems you ask a question or make a statement about something that I had just thought about. Like you can read my mind.”

  He grins down at me. “It must be this weird connection thing we seem to have going on.”

  “Hmmm. Maybe. Like our bodies are in tune with each other or something like that?”

  “Yes. Something like that.” I take a deep breath and I hear him do the same. It’s a sound of...contentment.

  The Pacific Ocean is so beautiful. It seems more serene here than back home for some reason. The boulders and cliffs, the trees and mountains…everything is just gorgeous. Not to mention the godly man I am here with. He's a vision all his own.

  When we finally get to a little lookout point, I have him take a picture of me alone and then another one of the both of us. I have to capture a visual memory of this with some sort of tangible evidence. After taking the pictures, he puts the camera back in my backpack.

  When I turn around, Drew has a weird look on his face. “What?” I say. He steps closer to me and places one hand on the small of my back, the other he places on my face. His thumb is in front of my ear and the rest of his fingers are around the nape of my neck. Oh, my god. This is it. He's going to kiss me. My body starts to tremble. He leans in and I close my eyes.

  Suddenly, I feel his scruffy cheek against mine and he whispers into my ear, “I'm going to kiss you, Rebecca.” That was unexpected and it startled me. Do I say anything? No one has ever told me they were going to kiss me or asked permission to do so. They've just done it. I decide to nod, ever so sli
ghtly. I don't think I'm breathing at this point.

  My body feels like it's being tortured with pleasure that hasn't even happened yet. I may just orgasm from this kiss. Oh, dear god. I can feel his warm breath slowly moving from my ear down my jaw. Can he draw this out any longer? He's driving me crazy.

  My insides are all twisted up and ready to combust. My core is ready to take him in. Right here. Right now. I realize my panties are wet as his lips finally make the long, breathy trip to mine. His kiss starts gentle and quickly becomes more urgent. My lips part and his tongue finds mine. His hand at the small of my back pulls me in close and tight. I absolutely melt into him. My arms wrap around him and my hands work their way up to his shoulders. I draw him in so tight it's as if we have become one.

  What have I been missing out on all my life? No kiss has ever been like this before…so passionate and needy. Our tongues are dancing together and our bodies are inseparable. He slows the kiss and it becomes sweet and gentle again. He withdraws his tongue from mine and kisses the corner of my mouth. I kiss him back and take a little nibble out of his bottom lip when I pull away. Not letting go of him, I look up into his beautiful blue eyes. They are staring back at me and I see a twinkle in them. They look a little brighter, which makes me smile.

  “Wow,” I say, a little out of breath.

  “I agree,” he says, smiling.

  “I've never felt anything like that before.” I blow out a puff of air. All of my insides are still bundled up tight.

  “Neither have I.” He seems to be struggling to regain his composure. Well, that makes two of us.

  I don't really want to let go of him, but I feel like I should. I go to move out of his arms, but he reins me back in. So I hold onto him a little tighter, resting my head on his chest. The view is amazing and the company is even better. I think I could stand like this forever, even if we were just looking at a dumpster. I breathe happily.

  A few more minutes go by, and then he loosens his hold on me. I do the same. As we start to separate, he grabs my hand and interlocks our fingers. Then, not surprisingly, he kisses it, leans down, and gives me another kiss on the lips.

  As he pulls away, I lick my lips to savor the minty flavor he's left on them and then bite my bottom lip. He lifts his free hand to my face and with his thumb, gently loosens my lip from my teeth. I lean into his hand and close my eyes to memorize the feeling. He leans in again and nips my bottom lip, then kisses it. “You are so beautiful,” he murmurs so quietly that no one else can hear.

  Oh, wait. I didn't think about other people being around. Did someone witness our encounter? I'm sure a look of panic just flew across my face, but now a calm one replaces it. I don't care about anyone else seeing. Plus, I only know one other person in town besides Drew.

  I quickly realize the panicked look on my face was just after he said I was beautiful. Oops. I look up into his dreamy blues. There’s a look of concern on his face. “Did I say something wrong?” He noticed. Damn it.

  “Uh. No. Sorry. Thank you. Just after you complimented me, I realized we are in public and people could have seen our...that kiss. Then I realized that I didn't care.” I smile up at him and he returns it. I hug him and take in his manly scent. Body wash...maybe deodorant? And sweat? Masculine. Yummm. I feel a clench deep, deep down. Bec! Get a hold of yourself. You cannot take him out here in the open. Although... Oh, jeez. I shake myself out of my reverie. Can't go there right now.

  I slowly break away from him, but before I get too far, I lift myself up on my tiptoes and plant a kiss on his neck. “Thank you, Drew,” I whisper. “Really. Thank you.” I lower myself back down. His close proximity really messes with my head. I thought it was bad before. Now it's really distracting. We gaze at each other for a moment and then I speak. “Maybe we should get back to the hike?” I offer. We both grin.

  “Yes. Let's do that. Not for much longer, though. I want to take you down to the beach and then we can go to lunch.”

  A rumble in my stomach alerts me that I am, indeed, hungry. “Well, now that you mentioned food, I'm hungry. Can you grab a granola bar out of my pack, please? It should tide me over until lunch.”

  He chuckles. “I can do that. Did you bring any extras?” It’s my turn to chuckle. Men never think to pack such things.

  “Of course I did. Help yourself. Everything but the kitchen sink, remember?” Smiling, he grabs the granola bars and my water from the side pocket.

  We set back out on our walk…not holding hands this time, but eating our snacks instead. It already feels so comfortable with him, like we've known each other a while. This feels good, feels right. This is how it should be, right?

  After a little more walking, we’ve somehow ended up winding back around to the parking lot. There must have been a turn I missed somewhere. Oh, well. As soon as the Hummer is within range, he pulls out his keys and starts it with his remote. It is a welcome sight at this point. I just want to sit for a bit. Too bad he couldn't roll down the windows from his keychain. It would've cooled the truck faster. At least it's not nearly as bad as Florida heat.

  Drew opens the doors to let it cool down even more while we are putting our stuff away. I put all of my loose items that I left in the car back into my backpack. I'm ready to sit and I climb in. He closes my door and walks around to hop in the driver's seat. “We're just going to head down the hill to the beach. It won't take but a few minutes.”

  “Okay.” I lean my head back against the seat and soak up the air conditioning. It was a fast trip down to the beach so I reach in the back for my backpack and get my flip flops out. Can't go on a beach without them. Well, unless you are going for a run. I might just go barefoot even then.

  Out of the corner of my eye, I notice he's watching me take off my shoes. When I take off my socks, I see the marks left from them. Dang it. I guess I will look stupid for a little while with the millions of tiny fuzzy imprints on my feet. I slip on my flip flops and I'm ready to go. “You really did think of everything for our outing, didn't you?” he asks.

  “You have no idea. Thinking about it kept me up at night, but I tried to pack for any circumstance.” Seeing the sandals in my bag again makes me wonder why the hell I brought them to dress up a Gators t-shirt. Internally, I shake my head. What a dumbass. That's what I get for over-thinking it.

  Drew cuts into my thoughts. “You could've called me. I have a hard time sleeping most nights.”

  “Oh, yeah. Let me call up a complete stranger in the middle of the night. Sure.”

  “Well, I'm not a stranger anymore, Rebecca. You can call me anytime, day or night.” He gives me a wink and a smile.

  We arrive down at the beach. He gets out and walks around to open my door. He offers his hand. I accept it and slide out of the Hummer. “I guess you aren't a stranger anymore. I still don't know you very well, but definitely not a stranger.”

  Feeling more comfortable with him, I join our left hands together, bring his arm over my shoulder, and wrap my right arm around his waist. Side-by-side, we walk together out onto the beach.

  It's so lovely out here. Peaceful. Florida seems to have so many more people on the beaches, not to mention screaming kids every five feet. It's not like that here at all. We just stand and soak up the scenery. I'd really love to sit and relax. “Can I borrow your keys to run and get my beach towel? I'd really like to sit without getting too sandy.”

  “How about you pick out a spot and I will go back to the truck?”

  “Okay.”

  I look around for a spot with a good view of everything. I bet this place is amazing at sunset. I must come back...preferably with Drew. He returns fairly quickly, but doesn't have my beach towel. I scowl. He grins and puts up his hand to stop me before I begin to scold him. “I had a blanket in the back of my truck. Some guys do come prepared. Well, at least somewhat prepared.” My scowl fades and a slight smile turns up in one corner. That little...

  He snaps the blanket open and places it neatly on the sand. I walk to the edge
of the blanket closest to the water and sit, leaving my feet still on the sand. I slip off my flip flops and clap them together, wipe the little bit of sand off of my feet, and place them cleanly on the blanket. I hear laughter coming from behind me. “You sure are particular, aren't you?”

  “What are you talking about?”

  “You, with the shoes and the sand and everything,” he says, circling his arm in the air encompassing me and the blanket.

  “I just don't like to lie in sand or get it in my clothes. Do you?”

  “Well, no. But the way you did it all was a bit…anal retentive?” he says, somewhat shyly.

  “I have had lots of practice doing it.” He follows my lead and leaves his feet off of the blanket. I scoot back a little and lie down. I feel a little weird out here in my jeans, and I know I'm going to be sweating really soon. A moment later, he lies down next to me. Not too close, but close enough to make the fire inside burn hotter. He reaches for my hand but, sadly, there’s no kiss this time. The fire deep inside roars a little stronger.

  After just laying on the beach, with no kisses and hardly any conversation for about thirty minutes, I'm ready to go back in the truck. I'm pretty hungry. “Drew?”

  “Hmmm?”

  “I'm ready to go eat, I think. Maybe afterwards we can come back here, unless you have something else planned.”

  “Okay. Let's go.” We gather up our belongings and he shakes the sand out of the blanket, careful not to sling any in my direction. He's learned something about me, at least. I grin at him and he returns one to me.

  As we trek back through the sand to the Hummer, I hear the engine start. I need to get me one of those remote starter thingies, I think to myself. He throws the sandy blanket into the back of the truck and comes to open my door. Always the gentleman.