“Ready to go?” he asked throwing his towel around his shoulders. I didn’t reply, I was too busy staring him down.
“Ok, I take that as a yes.” We walked together to the patio doors, and then took a left down the flagstone pathway that led to a black gate. Nick opened the gate and led me into the pool area. He chucked his towel on the closest lounge chair, and then dove into the pool gracefully, barely making a splash. I plopped down on the same chair. Nick’s head popped up a few seconds later. He shook his shaggy hair like a dog, wet droplets flying everywhere.
“Coming in, Morgan?”
“Nah, I’m good.”
“You’re not really going to make me come and get you, are you?” he asked, raising an eyebrow.
“Yep,” I smirked. He gave me an evil grin, then pulled himself out of the pool, slopping wet. He began strolling over to where I was sitting. I shot up, and tried to get away, but he caught me in an instant. My legs were knocked out from underneath me, and he pulled me up to his chest. I gave him one last panic look before he jumped into the pool with me screaming bloody murder. As I kicked my way to the surface I thought I gave him a blow to the chest with my panicky feet. When I broke through the water, I was coughing hysterically. Nick pulled me into his arms and held me against his chest.
“Morgan? Are you ok? I didn’t know you would react like that.” He gave me a worried look. I choked up some water before nodding. Nick placed a piece of my black hair, which was slapped across my forehead, behind my ear. My already ragged breathing started to kick into high gear, along with my heart rate. Our faces were inches away. Right when I thought he was going to close the space between us, he pulled away.
“Not yet, it has to be perfect,” he whispered to himself.
“Ok then…. Well I’m getting out now.” I pulled away from his grasp and pushed my way through the water and climbed out. I threw the towel around me and began walking back towards the house. He followed after hastily.
“I need to show you one more thing. Will you bear with me until then?”
“Fine,” I replied.
“Good, thank you. I think you will like it. Would you like to get changed first?” I looked down at myself.
“Yeah, that sounds like a plan.” We walked back to the house, Nick’s arm around my shoulder. I could have sworn I saw Mrs. Bradley glaring at us from the third story window. That woman gave me the heebee jeebees. Nick must had seen her too because he tightened his arm around me. He went to his room while I went into the bathroom again. After I was done, I grabbed a rubber band from one of the pockets and put my hair up in a crappy pony tail. I looked like I had just woken up without bothering to brush my hair. I scowled, but didn’t attempt to fix it. I opened the door and just left my bag in the bathroom, figuring that I would probably need to go back there again. Nick was waiting for me by the patio doors.
We took the same path but instead of going right, we took a left. The path was surrounded by shrubs that led to a large copper gate. Nick pulled out a key and stuck it in the keyhole. He pushed the door open and led me in. It was a large garden, arrayed with thousands of flowers, bushes, and trees. On the right side there was a small stream that flowed into the large pond on the left. I walked over the little bridge, looking down at the water. Little goldfish and koi swam in every direction. In front of me was a large arbor entangled in rose vines. There were lights shinning down on the little patio section, probably meant for dancing, and a stereo system well hidden behind a big bush. Nick grabbed my hand and put his arm around my waist, spinning me over to the arbor. We stood in the middle of the floor not knowing what to do.
“May I have this dance, Morgan?” Nick asked romantically, his green eyes sparkling with passion. I felt my hands get sweaty, especially the hand he was holding. I blushed a deep red as he began to sway us back and forth.
“You’re impossible,” I muttered; he chuckled.
“That’s always good, right?” he said with a smirk.
“Yeah,” I replied breathlessly.
“You know, Morgan…?” he began.
“Hmm…?”
“There was no other girl,” he said bringing his face a little closer to mine.
“Wait, what?”
“It was you all along. You were the girl I was talking about. I can never get you out of my mind. I… I …” His eyes were burning as they bore into mine. I didn’t know what to say, I just stood there speechless. I was afraid I would say something stupid, so I thought saying nothing would be better.
“Can I try something?” he asked. He put both hands around my face and leaned in, eyes closed. I stayed still when he kissed me. I had never done something like this before. When he pulled away he studied my face carefully.
“Well?”
“Wow…” I said. I grabbed a handful of his shirt collar and pulled him down to my height. As I wrapped my other arm around his neck, he wrapped both of his arms around my waist and kissed me back. Our lips moved in unfamiliar ways, but it was an exhilarating feeling. My pulse was racing a mile a minute, and our breathing was ragged. When I pulled away for a moment to catch my breath, Nick’s smile was radiating like the sun.
“You’re a good kisser,” he chuckled. I turned my head so he couldn’t see my embarrassed expression. Nick grabbed my chin so I was looking at him. He pressed his lips down on mine again gently.
“This will go over well with our parents…” I mumbled.
“I’m not that worried about them. You’re pretty much all that matters to me at this second. As long as I have you with me right now, everything is good.”
“You can have me forever,” I blurted out, feeling like a complete idiot after. He laughed at my abrupt reply.
“Forever,” he agreed, beginning to sway us again. I laid my head against his muscular chest. He smelled like a mix of chlorine and body spray. As he swayed us slowly I wished this moment would never end.