Page 22 of Stick Games
She inches back, and my heart beats rhythmically against my ribs. “What was that for?” I ask.
“For suggesting this.” She waves her hand around the gorgeous cenote. “For staying behind today because you didn’t want me to spend my birthday alone.”
I clear my throat. “Uh, well, that might have been totally altruistic.”
She laughs and reaches for my hands. “So when you suggested the ‘yes’ day, you were hoping to get me into your bed?”
“Maybe.” I whistle innocently and glance around.
She goes up on her toes and kisses me again. “Thank you, Gabe. This is the best birthday I’ve ever had.”
“Really, better than the time we made banana splits the size of our heads?”
“Better.”
“Better than the time we did the pirate treasure hunt at the park?”
“Better.”
“Hmmm.” I search my brain for some of the great events we had over the years. “Not better than the water balloon fight though, right?”
Her soft, contented chuckle squeezes around my heart. Fuck, I’ve missed her and want to spend every single birthday putting this exact smile on her face.
“Better.”
“Anything for you, Millie.” As I go serious, my gaze roams over the flush on her cheeks, and as we stare at one another, I can’t help but think she’s feeling this magical moment, this change in us every bit as much as I am. At least I hope she is. I give her a playful whack on her butt. “Now come on. Let’s go cool off.”
“Right.” She carefully steps into the water, and it gets deep really fast. “I guess now I know why we needed life jackets.”
“They’re also to help us float. Roll on to your back.”
She stretches out on her back, and murmurs, “Wow,” as she stares up at the stalactites. “Never in my life have I seen anything so spectacular.”
I want to look up, but I’m enjoying her enthusiasm too much to tear my gaze away. I watch her float for a moment. “Come on in, Gabe.” She holds her hand out to me and I slide into the water and swim to her. When I reach her I roll to my back and her hand finds mine.
I breathe in the beauty as my heart pounds with happiness. I tighten my hand around hers, wanting to live in this moment forever. We fall quiet, the outside world gone as we enjoy the wonders of nature.
After a while, she breaks the quiet. “Do you think they’re having as much fun on the catamaran?”
“How could they be?” I respond, and angle my head to find her watching me. “Wait, why didn’t you go?” I ask.
She just shrugs, and I can’t help but think it had something to do with me, and the hard time I’m always giving her on the ice. “When we go back to Boston, are you going to still be hard on me?”
“If you don’t listen to what I’m telling you and continue to push back, then yes.”
I laugh hard. “I do love that about you, Millie.”
Love.
“Well, I hate that about you,” she shoots back. “You make my life hard.”
“Yeah, babe, you make my life hard too.” She grins, assuming I’m talking about sex, but that’s only half true. She’s hard on me because I really fucking want her, and I vowed not to leave this island until she was mine, but her brother…fuck.
Although she said if he ever found out—and that he wasn’t going to—he’d have to get over it. Which means, I need to work harder to convince her that what happens in the Caribbean, doesn’t have to stay in the Caribbean… I also have to trust that she knows what she’s talking about when it comes to her brother, and a relationship with her wouldn’t ruin things between Ryder and me.
Of course, it would have fucked things up years ago, when she was too young for me and had the Olympics to concentrate on. I’ve been living under those rules for years now. But the Olympics are behind her and she’s definitely old enough. Maybe I’ve been worried about nothing. If Ryder trusts me, then maybe he’ll trust me with his sister in other ways. He knows I’d never do anything to hurt her.
The tension I’ve been carrying ebbs from my muscles, and as I flip upright and float, I consider my next move.
