"How come you didn't pick the place we were at before?" I asked Alex as he set up the tent. I was as useless as the first time and watched as he assembled everything. He stood up and handed me the spades and walked back to the truck. He came back with material and rope in his hands. "What's that for?"
"It's a hammock and the reason I picked this spot." He walked over to where two trees stood together and started wrapping ropes around them.
"Are you sure it will hold you? Do you even know how to set that up?"
He gave me a funny look and I started fastening the tent down. "I know what I'm doing, Holly. It will hold both of us." He walked back over and helped me finish with the tent before he took the hammer and put the finishing touches on the hammock that would supposedly support us both.
I was sitting there, bored and letting my mind linger, so whenever he dropped the hammer and turned my way, he caught me with my eyes where they'd rested on his ass. I slowly moved my eyes up to his and dropped back onto the grass at his amused expression. "It feels nice out." A gentle breeze went by, fluttering the skirt of my dress up, but I made no move to stop it as Alex made his way to me.
He dropped to his knees over me and I brought my hands up to rest on his knees. "You look beautiful today." I smiled and he picked up one of my hands, kissing the back of it. "Green's a good color on you. It brings out your eyes."
"How come I'm the only one with green eyes?"
He tilted his head. "Dad's parents both had green eyes."
"Why didn't he?"
"I'm not God; I have no idea. I'm happy you do, though. They're beautiful." He leaned forward and kissed my forehead, letting his lips linger a moment.
"I like your brown eyes. They remind me of coffee and chocolate, two of my favorite things."
"You're silly." He rolled off of me and pulled me to lie on top of him, smoothing my dress down.
"I like it when you wear jeans, too. I don't know if you've noticed, but my eyes tend to stray when you do."
"Is that your excuse for eye-raping me all the time?"
I lifted my head and stuck my tongue out at him. "You like it. Don't pretend you don't."
He brushed a lock of hair behind my ear and I reached up to press my lips to his. "I do like it," he murmured between kisses and I smiled. I pushed my hands underneath his shirt and brushed my fingers over his abdomen. "You're not stripping me in plain daylight, Holly."
"So when it's dark I can?"
"I'll think about it." I let his mouth occupy me a few more minutes before I pulled back again.
"What about in a tent during the day?"
He rolled us over, slipping his arms underneath my back and knees before getting up. I held onto his shoulders tightly as the ground moved farther away until he was steadily standing and striding towards the truck. "You act like you don't trust me."
I looked back at him and smiled. "I do. I just wasn't expecting that. Where are you going?"
"To get our pillows and sleeping bags." He sat me on the truck bed while he got into the back seat. He handed me mine and helped me off the tailgate, evidently noticing he couldn't carry me back with everything. I stuffed my pillow under my arm and wrapped my fingers through the elastic on my sleeping bag so that I could wrap my arm around his waist.
"I love you."
He shifted everything into his other hand, too, before wrapping an arm around my shoulders. "I love you, too, Holly." He let go of me to duck into the tent first and I paused beside our bags I'd brought over. I felt ridiculous as I checked over my shoulder before pulling a condom out of the box Eli had made me buy those weeks ago and slipping it into my pillowcase. "You coming?"
I jumped and turned to the tent opening. "Yeah, sorry." He took my sleeping bag from me and spread it out beside his and I sat my pillow beside his. He was turned from me, straightening the bottom of our sleeping bags, and my eyes snapped to his as he turned back.
I covered my cheeks with my hands as I blushed from the loving smile he gave me. "You're adorable." He tugged on my arm and I let him pull me closer so he could kiss me.
"Take this off," I told him, pushing his shirt up again. He quickly pulled it off and I splayed my hands over the expanse of skin.
"I still look the same as yesterday." He tilted my chin up to kiss me.
"Call it being grateful when you let me touch you freely."
His fingers found the zipper between my shoulder blades and slid it down. He didn't make any move to push my dress off, just slipped an arm under the fabric to curl around me and hold me to him. I slid my hands down and around his back, hesitantly sliding my hands over the pockets I'd been looking at moments before.
He pulled one of my knees up to his waist and slowly leaned me back until I was lying down. He settled into me with his hips pressing against mine before he pulled away from my mouth. He watched my face as he ran his hands up my thighs, gathering my dress and pushing it around my waist. I leaned up and helped him pull it off, catching his eyes sliding over my skin once I'd tossed it aside. "I still look the same as yesterday."
His lips tilted up before he looked back at my face. "I'm inclined to say you don't."
"Why?" I kept my eyes steady on his even though my stomach quivered as he ran a hand up and down my side.
"Because I'll always love looking at you and I intend for that to be my reason."
A smile spread across my face as he started kissing my jaw. "You're so silly, Alex."
"Like you aren't?" He kissed me so I couldn't protest. I made a small sound as he rubbed my hip bones in small circles and pressed myself against him more. "Take it easy, Holly," were the words he murmured to me as he trailed his mouth over my neck and shoulders.
I sighed, dropping my head back, my eyes fluttering closed, and satisfying myself with pulling my fingers through his hair. "I want you." I barely even heard my own voice I'd whispered it so softly, but he pulled my hips up so we pressed together more.
