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“Ready?”
“Yup.”
I had Jules walk ahead of me so I could make sure she was always steady on her feet. She had taken off her heels and I worried she might hurt herself.
“Please let me carry you Jules. It’s not even a quarter mile away.”
“No, sweets. I got it.”
“Please Jules, I’m afraid you’ll step on a piece of glass or something. Jesse and his friends always drink out here. I know they leave their bottles laying around.”
“No, I’ve got it,” she insisted.
She took three additional steps before she gasped and grabbed at her foot.
“See Jules! That’s it. You’re so stubborn. Even as a kid you were always so stubborn.”
I handed the basket to her and scooped her into my arms. She held the little basket in her lap with her right hand and her heels dangled from her left, cluttering against one another with each step I took.
“It was just a small stick Elliott. There’s no need to carry me, really.”
“Give me a break Jules. I’d want to do this even if you were wearing hiking boots. I consider your Sunday attire a lucky break on my part.”
“I know. I can feel it.”
I grimaced.
“Uh, can you feel anything else?” I asked, one eye closed and my nose bunched, already knowing her answer.
“Uh, yeah,” she blushed, nuzzling her face in my neck.
“That doesn’t help the cause princess,” I laughed. “Besides, it’s only natural Jules, you can stop blushing now. I like feeling attracted to you and I like you knowing that I am.”
“I like it as well. Quite the ego boost.”
I carried her in silence and we traded feelings back and forth. First attraction, love, more attraction, heat, embarrassment, awkwardness, back to attraction, then love again. All the while, she unknowingly bit at her lower lip to keep from laughing and I didn’t bother correcting it. I grinned like the overeager idiot that I was. God, but I didn’t care.
When we reached the bridge, I let her legs go but clutched onto her waist not letting her feet touch the ground. I kept my face next to hers and grabbed the basket to set on top of the natural rock bridge before lifting her up to sit on the surface next to it.
“Stay there,” I said.
I took the handkerchief that my mom always insists I bring to church out of my pocket and bent toward the water, soaking it in the chill spring before wringing it out.
“Finally a use for this ridiculous thing.”
I lifted each foot by the ankle and wiped the dirt from the bottom of her feet.
“Ssssttt, that’s cold,” she winced.
“Should have just let me carry you love.”
“And miss this? Never. If I had a camera you’d be immortalized right now. Never had such delicious blackmailing material before. It’s a shame,” she said over my shoulder while holding onto my back.
I laughed before soaking the handkerchief once more and wringing it out to continue wiping the dirt from her already clean feet.
“That tickles!”
She started wriggling her feet but I clutched harder at her ankle to keep her still.
