“Southside,” Olivia replied.
At the end of the driveway, Blaine put the van in gear, but instead of driving away, he pulled back into the rear of the property. “Hold on a minute, I have to go get something.” He hopped out and returned shortly, carrying a black duffel bag.
They sat in silence as Blaine navigated the van through town. Olivia’s heart pounded in her chest. She could feel the electricity running through the air between them. She longed to reach out and hold his hand. She gave herself permission to look at him, and studied his face while he drove. His eyelashes were light, unless you looked closely, you would miss how long and lush they were. His beard was mostly red, but had hints of blonde, the same blonde from his head, running through it. She wondered how his beard could be so red, while the hair on his head was so blonde. She blushed as she wondered about the rest of the hair on his body. She found herself lost in thought, but snapped to attention when Blaine pulled off the road. The rain had stopped and the sun was burning the wetness off the ground.
“Where are we?”
Blaine cleared his throat. “I want to show you something, before I take you home. Is that o.k.”
Olivia’s heart skipped, but she tried to appear calm. “I would love that Blaine, but I am soaked.”
They reached a small clearing with a pond fed by a small stream. The sun was shining through the forest trees, creating foggy sunbeams. It felt like they had happened upon a lush scene right out of a fairy tale.
Olivia tensed as Blaine leaned toward her, but he continued past her to reach into the back to grab the duffel bag.
“Is this where you kill me and stuff me in there?”
Blaine smiled. “You’ve seen too many movies. And you’ve left way too many fingerprints around here.” He pulled a folded t-shirt and a pair of sweatpants out of the bag. “I thought that you might need a change of clothes, so I grabbed these for you.” He placed the clothes in her lap. “Now you don’t have an excuse not to see Fern Falls with me.”
Olivia smiled and without thinking, kissed him on the mouth. She pulled back quickly, “I’m sorry, I don’t know…”
Blaine grabbed her face in both hands and interrupted her apology with a kiss. His lips felt so soft on hers and she loved the feel of his beard against her face. She realized that she was stiff as a board, so she relaxed into the kiss and Blaine pulled her from the passenger seat onto his lap. Olivia let her tongue respond to his and their kissing increased in intensity. Olivia straddled Blaine and her hips involuntarily began to rock in time with their kissing. Blaine wrapped his thick arms around her waist. Their breathing was becoming frantic and Olivia was experiencing feelings she never thought possible. Her womanhood was throbbing and she wanted him to touch her between her legs so badly. She leaned her body against his and pressed herself down onto his lap. She could feel his hardness through his jeans and she moaned into his mouth.
Blaine pulled away and looked her in the eyes. “Let’s go swimming.”
Olivia was surprised. “Swimming?” She asked. What had she done wrong? Why didn’t he want to keep making out with her?
“Well, we’re already wet,” he said, and swept a strand of Olivia’s damp hair away from her face.
Isn’t that the truth, Olivia thought to herself.
She’d never gone skinny-dipping before and thought that it only happened in movies. Throwing all caution to the wind, she shook her head yes, and jumped out of the van.
Blaine stripped out of his wet clothes and ran to the lake, ahead of Olivia. She watched his muscular back as he jogged down the wooden dock and did a huge dive into the clear water. She noticed that he kept his boxers on, and Olivia breathed out a sigh of relief. As much as she longed to let loose and stop being so uptight, her sensible bra and underwear actually offered more coverage than her bikini. She stepped out of her clothes and ran on her tip toes to the end dock.
“How cold is it?” She tried to dip her toe into the water, but the dock was too high, even for her long legs, to reach the surface of the water.
“It’s beautiful,” Blaine shouted as he treaded water in the centre of the small lake.
Olivia took a deep breath and dove in. She surfaced and squealed, “It’s freezing!”
“I know.” Blaine laughed. “It’s spring fed. It’s always cold, even when all the other swimming holes are 95 degrees, this one is still refreshing.”
Olivia swam out to Blaine. Once the initial shock had worn off, she found the temperature to be crisp, but refreshing.
“Come over here,” Blaine said, backstroking away.
She followed and when she got close to him, he reached his hand out and pulled her to him.
“You can put your feet down here.”
Olivia drew her feet underneath her body to find a flat rock. It was just big enough for the two of them to stand on, if they were pressed against each other. She was neck deep in the water and his chest was exposed, the flesh on his torso full of goosebumps. He put his hand around her waist and pulled her against him.
“You’re shivering,” he said.
She was shivering, but it wasn’t cold. It was the anticipation and excitement of being with him.
“Well, you can warm me up,” she said and immediately regretted it.Warm me up – so cheesy!