We both looked at each other and then, perfectly timed, both let out long, loud sighs. I put my hands on my hips and stared at Alex.
“I feel like we’ve come this far, though . . .” he started. “I mean, we’ve done everything else on the list, except this.” His eyes drifted down to his hand and he started picking at the green ribbon around his finger.
“I know,” I said. “And I even waxed and shaved my . . .you know!”
He smiled. “And I read all your articles on the G-spot in preparation, just in case I needed some refreshing.”
“Really? Where did you read them?” I asked.
“Online. I Googled you and I’ve subscribed to the magazine online, so whenever you write something, I’ll be notified immediately.”
“You did?” Something about that made me really happy. “Well, I’m sure if you’d gone all the way, Alessandreeeeee would have really appreciated that.”
“I thought so too. It’s a pity I didn’t get to try all my newly acquired tips. And I’m sure George would have appreciated all the landscaping you went to such painstaking effort to do.” He smiled playfully.
“Thank you, I appreciate you saying that.” I smiled back at him. “It’s just such a waste that it remains unseen.”
“I couldn’t agree more.” Alex started nodding, and then mid nod, his smile began to falter and he started looking at me in that way that he’d looked at me the other day.
“What?” I asked nervously. My heart starting pounding in the back of my throat.
“When last did you go for a midnight swim in the sea?” he asked.
“Never.”
“It’s very refreshing. And it clears your head.” He started walking backwards into the sea once more.
“Is that why you were swimming? Clearing your head?” I asked.
He held his hands out and beckoned me. “Come.”
I looked around to see if anyone was there. The coast was clear. So I pulled my dress off over my head and tossed it in the sand.
“Nice underwear,” Alex said.
“Thank you.” I stepped into the water. It was so warm and clear.
Alex continued to walk backwards until the water was at his waist. I followed him in and soon I was standing opposite him.
“We did make a deal though,” he almost whispered. “To get through the whole list, together.”
“We did.”
“It would be criminal not to honor it, wouldn’t it?” Alex said.
“Definitely.” I swallowed hard, the tension that was building in the space between us was electric.
“I mean . . .” He paused for the longest time. Tension building and building until I almost felt sick from it. And then he finally spoke, “We could?” His words instantly set me on fire.
“We could,” I replied breathily.
“Only if you wanted to,” he added quickly.
“Do you want to?” I bit my lip; the excitement was almost too much to contain inside me.
“Only if you do.” His eyes drifted down to my mouth and I felt them burn.
“We did make that other promise too,” I said, letting my eyes drift down to his lips too.
