“Great. Let me go wash up.” He heads inside while I take a seat on the few steps leading from the wooden deck down to the grass. I just so happen to be removing a cheese string from my chin when he reappears and sits beside me with two fresh beers. “You’re my dream girl, you know that, right?”
“Because I got food on my face?”
“How could I resist?” He smiles. “Thank you for feeding and watering me. I appreciate it.”
“You’re welcome. Should I put some music on?”
He ponders the question for a moment. “I was kind of enjoying the quiet.”
“Okay.”
We eat in silence for a while. Frogs and fireflies and other assorted bugs and birds provide ample ambience. Orange and pink paint the sky above the trees.
“This is one of those moments we were talking about,” I say. “The simple pleasure of good food on a warm night by the river.”
“You’re absolutely right. It’s a funny feeling, isn’t it? Being exactly where you want to be.” He takes another bite and chews. “Don’t get me wrong, the pizza you get in Italy is on a whole other level. The dough and cheese they make and the tomatoes they grow…amazing.”
“I’ve never been.”
“We should go sometime. Just for fun.”
I laugh. “Sure.”
“Sitting here, eating this and hanging out with you while nature does its thing, is sort of perfect.”
“Yes, it is.”
“I smell bad,” he says conversationally.
“You’ve been very brave today, helping to get her garden in order.”
“Like anything Audrey owned would ever dare to be out of order. I thinkyou’rebrave sitting within a country mile of me.”His laughter is low and lovely and hits me right between the thighs. Dammit. Maybe there’s no harm in a rebound crush, and that’s clearly all this is. Nope. There’s no harm at all, so long as I don’t do anything about it. Which will be easy, given he’s pure flirt with no follow-through.
“Wanna go in the water?” he asks, when we finish eating.
“That’s my plan.”
He unlaces his hiking boots and pulls them off, along with his socks. And next goes his tee over his head. Staring at his chest would be bad. His nipples hypnotized me or something in the clothes shop. It wasn’t my fault. Though thank goodness any overheating leading to a red face will be harder to see in this light. There’s no time to ogle, given he continues on, unbuttoning and unzipping his cargo shorts and setting them aside. I don’t check out anything below his waist because that would be wrong for reasons I can’t remember.
Friends. We’re just friends. Without benefits. Which is sad but such is life. Also, his friendship is a beautiful thing.
Focusing on my own clothing seems smart. So I do away with my tank and denim shorts. It’s a simple string bikini in yellow and white gingham. My hair is up in a ponytail. Any excess on my stomach or cellulite on my thighs and ass is as it should be. It’s the patriarchy who wants women frail and underfed and tired—and fuck them.
I look up to find his warm gaze skimming over me. From my breasts to my belly and down to my thighs. Seems we’re both overly aware of each other’s bodies. Of the bare skin currently on display. It makes me feel better with regard to the effort it’s taking not to stare at the visible dick imprint in his boxer briefs. I’m not a deviant hooked on a country-rockstar. Though it sure does feel like it. This level of yearning is unprecedented in me.
“You okay?” he asks.
“Yeah. Good.”
“Be careful on the rocks. They might be slippery.”
With the two fresh beers, into the water we go. Sitting comfortably is easy for the first ten feet or so. The water is at boob level when seated here, but then it gets deeper. So we stay in the shallows for now.
“Fuck yes,” he murmurs in his smooth, deep voice. “I needed this.”
My nipples are hard from the cool water and nothing else. I am not turned on by any overtly sexual guttural moaning on his part.
With his beer held high, he lies back and disappears beneath the surface. And when he reappears, his hair is wet and slicked back and beads of water linger on his skin. He really is disturbingly attractive with the hard jawline, sharp cheekbones, and high forehead. My eyes are dazzled.
