In Too Deep(10)

The words dimmed my enthusiasm, reminding me that Melina and I both had lives off the island, lives that were a couple thousand miles apart, both in nature and in distance. I felt a wave of sadness tinge my day and looked back at the surrounding sea.

"Hey."

I ignored Melina, lost in my own thoughts. She pulled on my hand. "Hey."

I turned and looked at her. "Yeah?"

"I just had the same thought you did, and I made a choice not to think about the outside world until I have to. This is the most fun I've had in years and I don’t want to ruin it.”

I smiled and gave her hand a squeeze. "All right, deal. Let's have some fun, the rest we can think about later." She was right, I was a bit saddened at the thought that this would all come to an end soon. But at the same time, that could be for the best.

We made another lap of the island before the boat operator slowed down and let us drop lightly into the water. It was so slow that our heads didn't even dunk, the life jacket keeping us up above water the whole time. Still, we never let go of each other's hand until the boat swung around to pick us up and take us back to the dock. "That was amazing," Melina said to the operator as soon as she got on board. "How often do you get to do that?"

"I tend to do more hang gliding than parasailing," our guide said. "There's a launch point just at the top of the hill that you can use when the winds are right."

"I don't suppose you guys rent those out?" I asked, thinking back to some of the hang gliding I'd done. The Sandia Mountains north of T or C had some great hang gliding spots.

"No, Mr. Forrester wouldn't like that. But, what I do in my own time he doesn't worry about, so I get to do that on my own. And here we are," the operator said as he pulled up to the dock. The parasail was a huge soaking wet mess on the back deck of the boat, but he unloaded it without a care. "I'll get this sorted out later. You guys have a good afternoon."

On land again, Melina and I held hands. "I was thinking, if we're just doing the grill, we don't have to change clothes," she said. “But I’ve got to know one thing. How on earth do you stay in such great shape if you’re always on the go?”

“I find the time,” I said as I turned around. "Little bit of weights, little bit of calisthenics, stuff like that. What about you?"

"The pharmacy kept me so busy I have to admit I don't get as much done as I should," she said. "But when I have the time, I like to ride my bike. I did some of that this morning."

"Me too," I said. “I actually wouldn’t mind doing it again.”

Melina shook her head, instead running her fingers along the lines between my back muscles. “I’m enjoying this far too much right now, and to be honest, the idea of trying to ride a bike with wet shorts on doesn’t sound comfortable in the least."

"I forgot about that," I said, groaning as she found a knot in my back and rubbing it sensuously. “You’re pretty good at that.”

“Thanks,” Melina whispered in my ear, "because this is one of the most erotic moments I've had in a long time."

I turned my head to her and we kissed again, our mutual passion building within each other. I was so ready to take her right there, but she pulled back with a small smile and I think she noticed the confused look on my face.

“My body wants to, but my mind is telling me we should take this a little slow.”





Chapter 7





Melina




After our parasailing, we ended up going to the resort's little movie theater, which was playing something neither of us had seen yet. Watching Robert Downey Jr. pretend to be a superhero wasn't exactly Oscar-worthy, but it was a fun time, and the room was perfectly conditioned, cool enough that we weren't sweating but also warm enough that the water in our clothes didn't chill us once it cooled down. The whole thing kind of gave the afternoon a feeling of youthful innocence, like I was a decade younger, a high school girl out with the local quarterback hunk.

I felt like that in a lot of ways, like the invisible girl who somehow, someway ended up on a date with the big man on campus. Cam and I were two years apart in age, and he would have been a senior when I was a sophomore, adding to the whole crazy magic of the whole thing. The only thing missing was a make-out session in the middle of the movie, but both of us were enjoying the action enough that we didn't feel the need to. There was a sort of adult confidence that we had plenty of time and that a quick session of groping and tongue wrestling during a movie wasn't necessary.

As the lights came up, I looked over, and he was resting his hand on my knee. "What did you think?"

"Lots of special effects, shallow plot, tons of cliches, and Robert Downey Jr. being Robert Downey Jr.," he said. "In other words, fabulous. Come on, let's grab a burger."

We made our way to the pool area but were surprised to find that the normal grill was shut down. Instead, as some sort of special event, the pool area decked out in bunting and a huge sign that said Happy Birthday! We went up to one of the staff. "What's going on?"

"It's the birthday of the owner’s first child. We here at The Cay celebrate it every year since by everyone's math, she was conceived here, so we kind of feel a bit of pride in the whole thing. So tonight the normal fare is replaced with pulled pork barbecue and grilled ribs, and birthday cake later."