I beam back at him, because I know he will hold up to that promise.
Judd clears his throat and shifts around to grab a pole and bait. Reaching into the white foam container, he pulls out a worm and glances at me through the corner of his eyes.
I giggle, noticing that he doesn’t like those little slimy creatures anymore than I do. My body shudders when he lifts the wiggly, dirty thing up to the hook. Gross!! His head falls back and his body shakes with laughter. He raises the worm up into my direct view and looks back and forth between me and the creepy crawler.
“You know, I only do this because I am so crazy about you, because honestly,” he tips his head towards the worm while looking at me, “I think these fellas are pretty disgusting.”
He softly laughs and then continues his task of driving the hook right through the worm. Scrunching up his face, he puts one on the hook of the other pole and hands it to me.
Although I have my nose crinkled up from being grossed out, what he doesn’t see is my recognition of what he really meant when he said he is crazy about me.
Casting my line, I watch it glide through the air several yards out before sinking beneath the depths of the sparkling water. I smile to myself with a soothing warmth engulfing my heart. I can’t believe this amazing guy in front of me is more than willing to do something that disgusts him just because he is crazy about me. Something tells me he meant more than that, because at this very moment, I know I’m in love with him and the way he is so willing to do truly horrendous things for me.
WE STAY DOWN THE SHORE from our cabins well into the night before heading back.
Once we get to the beach, we find everyone indulging in a late night swim. Jake and Evan sit on the shore watching all the chaos unfold.
“Where have you two been off to all day?” Evan asks as we settle down into the sand beside him.
“Out fishing in your grandpa’s boat,” Judd replies.
“Damn, that’s where all the fishing gear was? Jake and I usually skip out on these events and go night fishing, but we couldn’t find the poles. Thanks to you, we’ve been reduced to watching your brother’s naked ass gallivant around,” he says, motioning out to the wild bunch in the water.
I look out at the water lit by shimmers of moonlight and see a figure up on the dock that looks like Piper with Abby’s blonde hair bobbing in the water below her.
“Sorry, man, we got to it first,” Judd replies with a laugh, right as I hear Abby scream.
“Oh my God, there’s a snake in the water!” she cries out.
Straining my eyes back to the lake, I can barely make out a figure swimming closely behind her.
“I got your snake right here baby¸” Tristan’s voice chimes in.
He must be continuing in his relentless pursuit to get my sister’s attention.
Everyone busts up laughing, even Evan and Jake.
I stare out at Abby as she quickly splashes away from Tristan and yells out, “Tristan, that is a snake I would gladly put out of its misery.”
She starts swimming for the shore while Tristan stays back by the dock to watch her.
“Oh baby, please put it out of its misery,” he calls out, trying to sound sexy.
She makes it to shore, grabs her towel, stomping past us, and then turns back to the water giving Tristan the finger.
A few minutes later, Tristan climbs onto the dock in all his naked glory and dances around with a beer in hand. Unfortunately, the moonlight illuminates the light wood of the dock, leaving very little to the imagination when it comes to him. Geez, this is what Skylar and Jessie were talking about. He has no shame, I think trying to hold back my laughter.
“Oh good grief . . . I definitely do not want to see that,” Judd says and then grabs my hand to pull me away from the x-rated scene.
“Where are you two going?” Evan calls out while laughing at Tristan.
“I thought we’d go listen to some music in my truck rather than get drained by the mosquitoes again,” Judd answers in a sarcastic tone as we walk uphill towards the gravel lot where he is parked.
“Don’t forget, I’m leaving in the morning. I still need your truck,” Jake says while standing and brushing off his jeans.
He must not want to watch his brother out there on display either.
“Don’t worry, it’ll be here. I’m not sure if I’ll make it back to the cabin tonight or not, so I’ll leave the keys in the glove box,” Judd yells back.
He opens the back cab door and I climb in. Leaning into the drivers’ door, he sticks his keys in the ignition and turns it. He spends a few minutes flipping through stations on the radio before he settles on one.
Once soft music is filtering through the truck, he settles down beside me in the backseat and pulls out his phone.
“So the reason I really wanted to come out here is for this.” He holds up his phone, getting into the contacts and pressing the button to add a new one. “What’s your number?”
I giggle at his question. “Are you going to call me instead of coming to see me tomorrow?” I tease.
He laughs with me and shakes his head, “No, this is for when we leave, so that I can call and take you on an official date.”
I stop laughing because this is a subject we haven’t crossed yet. He said he wants to take me on a date. I could scream. He wants my number. I feel like I am thirteen again finding out from a friend that the boy that I like, likes me back.
The excitement coursing through me is about to burst out like a confetti cannon. I want to giggle, I want to hug myself, I want to throw myself onto my bed and sigh out in happiness.
Smiling from ear to ear, I happily read off my number. I even look over his shoulder the whole time to ensure that he gets every single digit correct. After it is entered into his phone, he hits the add photo button.
He then turns it towards me and says, “Smile!”
I flash him my biggest grin, displaying the exact way I feel right now. He saves the picture and gets out of his contacts.
I quickly snatch the phone out of his hand before he can put it away. This is an opportunity any girl would take advantage of. I get back into his camera and decide to take my own picture. Although his gorgeous face is burned into my mind, I’d love a picture to drool over at night.
Snuggling up next to him, I hold up the camera. He looks over at me and I snap the picture. I end up taking a million pictures on his phone and we get sillier the more I take. We make faces, kiss, laugh, press our cheeks together, try to look serious, try to look mad and so many other funny expressions.
After examining them all, my favorite ends up being the first one where he is looking at me. Before I surrender his phone back to him, I get into his text messages and send that one picture to my phone.
He tosses his phone into the front seat and pulls me onto his lap so that I am straddling him with my legs bent along the sides of his thighs. My arms instinctively wrap around his shoulders and my entire body shivers as he runs his hands up my sides.
Over the course of the last two weeks I have gathered that he loves my reaction to his touch and this time is no exception because his face lights up, highlighting his dimple. I never get sick of seeing his smile. I’m obsessed with it.
He slides his hand up to the bottom of my swimsuit top and runs his fingers along it like he is straightening it out. I look down at his hands, wishing they were just a little further up. Quickly sliding them around to my back, he pulls me in for a kiss. I stretch my body up against his and my breathing automatically picks up from our closeness. He smiles against my lips and I realize I must have made my noise that he loves so much. As if the smile wasn’t enough to bring me to that conclusion, I notice a more intense reaction further down. I shift my hips towards him, wanting and needing him as close to me as possible.
I don’t know what has come over me this past week. I have never wanted someone like I want Judd.
He frantically runs his hands down my back, pulling me flush agains
t him. I settle into a rhythm of rubbing against him as his mouth moves all over my neck and chest.
“Wait, wait,” Judd says breathlessly, pulling back from me just a bit but further than I care to be from him right now. “I want you, Alyssa,” he whispers barely able to catch his breath, “but I want it to be special. You’re special and I’m not going to just do this in a truck.”
Just the fact that he admitted to wanting me makes my head dizzy with excitement. I try to smile but I cannot calm my racing heartbeat. I really want to return to where we were.
He takes deep, deliberate breaths and places his hands on both sides of my face so that I am looking into his eyes.
“I want to ask you something.” He squeezes his eyes shut for only a second and snaps them open with a small smile on his lips. “This is going to sound like we are back in the junior high or something, but I’m not sure how you go about these sorts of things.”
I laugh at his words, not at all knowing what he is going to say.
“So ummm . . .” he stutters around and looks away from my gaze. “Ok . . .”
His smile fades away and he composes himself to a serious expression. He drops his hands to my side as I remain straddling his lap.
“You are definitely over your ex, right?”
His question totally surprises me and I can tell he catches onto my shock.
He stumbles around, trying desperately to explain his reasoning for such a bizarre question. “What I mean is, you aren’t going to go back home and get back together?” He pauses taking in the confusion that I am sure is still plastered across my face. “I’m only asking because we’ve known each other for around two weeks and you told me that you had been with him for a year. I just wanted to make sure that . . .”
I smile at the nervous little boy he has become and place my index finger on his lips to stop him from going on. As he stops talking, a smile spreads across his face beneath my fingertip, as if it had pained him to ask that in the first place. Removing my finger, I press my lips against his, right as he pulls me tight against his body, perfectly meshing us together.
I pull my head back just far enough to look into his eyes. “Judd, don’t worry. I’m all yours,” I assure him causing his face to break open into a wide grin.
“Ok . . . good,” he says, still grinning from ear to ear. “Then here comes the junior high part.”
Wait, what?! I thought the rambling of a little boy nervous about me going back to my ex was the junior high part.
He goes on with a playful gleam in his eyes. “I was curious,” he pauses, takes a deep breath and lowers his voice as if he is shy, “Will you be my girlfriend?”
I don’t even realize how my response may be taken when I lean my face into his chest and burst into laughter.
“Well, that didn’t go as I planned,” he says in a sarcastic yet playful tone.
I look up and put my hands on his cheeks. “Yes, I will! I was just confused and worried about what you were going to say. Then when you asked, I was happy and relieved so I . . .”
Judd’s face lights up into a huge grin. He pulls my face closer to silence me with a kiss.
Pulling away, he adds to my surprise, “Well then don’t make any plans for the Fourth of July.” He winks and a giggle erupts out of me.
I calm down my giddiness and give him a sincere smile, dazzled by the swirl of emotion he brings to my heart.
“As if I would . . . like I told you, I am all yours,” I whisper with complete and utter confidence.
After pulling the key out of the ignition and plugging his phone into the charger, he settles himself in an upright position in the corner of the backseat, allowing me to stretch out with the rest of the seat to myself. I wish there was enough room for us both to snuggle up beside each other, but I’m happy as long as I am close to him.
“Are you going to be comfortable sitting up like that all night?” I ask, worried that he is going to fall over in the middle of the night.
The soft cotton of his shirt brushes my cheek as I press the back of my head into his lap and look up at him. His eyes are closed, but the soft melody of his voice vibrates through my body as he quietly sings a song like music is still playing.
“Mmmhm,” he barely hums with his head resting half on the headrest and half against the back window.
I twist my body to turn onto my side while curling my knees into my chest and bundling a handful of his shirt into my hand at his side. Wrinkles of denim scratch at my cheek as I get more comfortable and make every effort to forget where my head is currently laying. The weight of his warm hand gets heavier along my waist and his singing dies out, so I know he must be asleep.
Very few evenings since we met have we been apart. It doesn’t matter where we are or how comfortable, as long as we can feel the warmth of each other close by. I have no idea how I am going to fall asleep when I get back home.
Before I know it, sleep carries me away as well.
The next morning, we wake up to Jake tapping on the truck window. Judd and I both jump up, startled.
After getting up and stepping out of the truck, we both twist and stretch, trying to work the kinks out of our stiff bodies. Sleeping in confined spaces like his truck is worse than getting eaten alive by bugs.
“Hey, I looked all over for you two and then finally figured I would check the truck,” Jake laughs.
“Sorry about that. We just sort of fell asleep.” Judd looks over to me with a sheepish, yet proud smile on his face.
“I guess I’ll get going so you two can say your goodbyes.” I lean into Judd and slip a quick peck on his lips and then turn to face Jake. “Be careful driving home. I guess I’ll see you around,” I say hesitantly, not looking back at Judd for confirmation.
I’m not sure where this will lead, but I hope being in Judd’s life after this trip is in the cards.
“See ya guys,” I say, waving over my shoulder and making a deliberate effort to not turn and look at Judd again.
“I’ll come by your cabin after lunch and we’ll go for a swim.”
His words have me whirling around with an ecstatic smile. Flashing him one last look, I turn to jet back to my cabin and count down the minutes until I see him again.
With only a couple days left, we really do not want to waste any time that we could be spending together.
As soon as I cross the threshold of my cabin, I run to my cot, grab my pillow, hug it to my chest and fall back, smiling like a fool. After an elated sigh, it takes no time for all the girls to huddle around.
“Ok, spill,” Abby says, sitting down on the cot beside mine.
“Oh girl, you have it bad,” Lanie giggles.
I sit up, still squeezing the pillow as if it is Judd’s chest.
“He is so wonderful. I just can’t even explain it.” I let out another sigh; all of them are eagerly watching me.
“Oh, come on. Details, we need details,” Jessie huffs out as she sinks to the floor between the cots, also clutching a pillow to her chest. “You’ve spent practically every night with him. We need details,” she adds and everyone laughs.
Details, no way! The good stuff is just for me!
“He’s just amazing. He asked for my number and wants to take me on a date when we get back home. He tells me I’m beautiful all the time and the way he kisses . . .” I look up at the ceiling and am met with silence as they eat up every word I choose to share.
We giggle and squeal like it’s an all night slumber party.
Later, the girls all filter out of the cabin intent on renting jet skis for the day while Abby parks herself beside me with an all-knowing smile on her face.
“Happy you came?”
She throws an arm around me and all I can do is laugh. My sister knows me so well; she knew I needed to come on this trip, and now I see that she could not have been more on the money.
“So . . .” I ignore her question and decide to pester her, knowing full well the direction I choose to go will aggrava
te the crap out of her. “You ever gonna give Tristan a go?”
I hold my lips tightly together, trying to contain the laugh that is bubbling to the surface of my mouth as she turns and glares at me.
“As if,” she spits out with her nose crinkled, lips in a snarl and her eyes drawn down in a frown.
Standing up to join the rest of the group, she spins around, flipping her hair over her shoulder and tries her best to come off as annoyed.
We both laugh as she takes off to the door, giving me one last glance over her shoulder with a smile that tells me she knows I’m kidding. But if I didn’t know better, I would think that smile meant she is considering my suggestion.
“See ya later. Try to come hang with us tonight, you and Judd both.” She winks before disappearing out the door.
Once I’m alone, I grab my phone and power it up. Ugh! I have twenty-two missed calls from Kyle. Ok, this is bordering on harassment, right?! I delete all the voicemails and then swipe over to my texts. Good grief, fifteen texts from him, too. I delete all of them as well without giving a single one a second glance, then proceed to the message I so eagerly want to see.
I open up the photo from the unknown number and quickly add it to my contacts. J . . . U . . . D . . . D, I type with a ridiculous smile on my face.
Pulling up the picture again, I marvel at it as my heart races in my chest. In the picture I am pressed against his side with a huge smile and my eyes looking dead center into the camera. But that isn’t why I love the picture so much; it is because instead of him looking at the camera and smiling, he is staring at me. He looks at me as if I am a priceless treasure that he has waited centuries to discover, like a lost child finally finding his way home or like a blind man being able to see for the first time. He looks at me like I am everything he has ever dreamed of.
I close my eyes and pull the phone to my chest, squeezing it to my heart. I love him. I am completely and totally his.
Take My Breath Away Page 10
