AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Well, that’s not helpful at all. Dad’s out there with Trace for ten minutes and as far as I can tell, there’s a discussion for all of it. Unfortunately, Dad and Trace both come out of the water at the same time. So much for rushing into the water the moment Dad was coming back to find out what was said. They’re both smiling, so that’s good.
“I think we’re ready for those sandwiches you put together,” Dad tells Mom.
My eyes are on Trace as he sits next to me. He shrugs in response to my unspoken question, which gives me a little hope that I’ll find out what was discussed later. For now, it’s time for lunch and enjoying a day
at the beach.
“I know I put sunscreen on you; how did you get this sunburned, Britt?” Trace asks the next day when we’re home and he’s gently rubbing some of that cool gel on my back and shoulders.
“I don’t know, but we obviously should’ve done more.” Trace and I both reapplied the same number of times, but he’s a nice tan while I’m red and uncomfortable. “I’m going to hate wearing a bra tomorrow.” The moment we got into the car, I carefully removed mine. My shirt irked me, but the bra was the only thing I could get rid of.
“We can meet for lunch here and I’ll put some more of this stuff on you.”
“Aw, thanks, Trace. You’re the sweetest boyfriend ever.”
He chuckles. “Still not going to tell you what I talked about with your dad.”
I pout, even though he can’t see me. All he told me was that it was a “good talk.” We spent most of today with my parents before getting home around nine. It was a great weekend. Perfect, even. But now we’re home and I’m suddenly exhausted.
“What’s wrong?” Trace asks. Can he read my mind? He’s finished with me, so I turn to face him, still holding my shirt to my chest to cover me up.
“What makes you think something’s wrong?”
“Your shoulders just all of a sudden dropped.” Ah, so he can read my body language. Trace pulls me against him, and his eyes squint a bit as if he’s trying to read my mind.
“It hit me how tired I am is all. Don’t you want to go to bed early with me?”
He smiles. “You read my mind.”
We send Lily out, get ready for bed, Trace goes to make sure the doors are locked, and I don’t even care to warn Trace about the fact that I’m so not sleeping with a shirt on. The plan is to sleep on my stomach with the sheets way down low, so it doesn’t rub against my back. How does only one side get burned? That is the other mystery here.
I watch Trace enter the room, stop when he sees me, and he asks, “Shirtless or naked?”
“Pajamaless.” I am wearing panties. Unless it’s after sex, I’ve never slept naked with Trace. Not to mention that he’d be naked then too. He climbs in next to me and matches how I’m lying while Lily jumps onto the bed and settles at my feet. “Are you glad we went this weekend?”
“Yeah, but like you, I’m in need of some time to recover. Hopefully, going to bed early will be enough.” He leans over to give me a quick kiss. “Love you.”
“Love you too.”
Yes, hopefully this will be enough.
Trace falls asleep rather quickly, but I don’t. I carefully turn onto my side and even my back. Trace has amazing sheets. I could comfortably sleep on my back if I could ever fall asleep. I gently toss and turn for two hours.
“Britt,” Trace grumbles. “What’s bothering you?” He sighs as he rolls onto his back, looking at me with sleepy eyes.
“Nothing. I just can’t sleep.”
“Come here.”
I wiggle over to rest my head on his chest.
“Just listen to my breathing and heartbeats and see if that helps. Worse comes to worst, I’ll bore you to sleep.”
“Did I wake you or did you happen to wake up?”
“I always wake up when you’re tossing and turning, but I don’t mind. I would rub your back, but…” His voice trails off and I laugh a little.
“I love you,” I whisper.
