How much that glowing face attracted me…
Why did that glowing face attract me so much? What did this mean?
“It opens up a new world, I’m telling you, Jonah. You think that all the birds around you are brown little sparrows, but if you look and listen, you’ll see there’s so much more. It’s like life. A lot of people go on with their days, living as if everything is a background track inside of the longest elevator ride of their life. They go on, day by day, missing out on so much. Everything so bland and mundane. I used to live like that, but I try not to anymore.”
Fox’s words hit me hard in the chest. He was a hundred percent correct. It was a lesson I was quickly learning myself. “So bird-watching? You’re more and more interesting by the second, man. I don’t think I’ve ever met anyone like you.”
“Oh, I’m sure you have.” He cocked his head, his grin drawing me in like a moth to a bright bonfire. “On second thought, nah, maybe you haven’t.”
“I definitely haven’t.”
“Do you have anything to do in your spare time? What’s your ‘bird-watching’?”
I shrugged, not thinking of much that drew my passions. “I can’t say I have something… I don’t know.”
“Come on, there’s got to be something you do to ground yourself. Something to say ‘fuck the world and its problems’ with.”
“Aside from my middle fingers, I’ve gotta say no… well, I guess, on second thought. Before the accident, I really loved working on things with my grandfather. As a kid, I grew up working on boats with him. We started on cars when I was around twelve. The last thing we worked on was a really nice, vintage Mercedes…Then, well… I came out of my coma and about five months later, my grandfather passed. So… yeah, I haven’t exactly been back in the garage.” My arms lazily treaded water at my sides. “Actually, that’s not true, I have been back. I tried going with Wendy a couple months ago. My shakes were really bad, though, so I dropped a whole bunch of shit. Wendy got pissed she had to bend down so much.” Fox’s face twisted, his eyes narrowing. “Yeah, it wasn’t a great day.”
Water beaded down Fox’s chest. I flicked my gaze downward, trying to memorize the glittering trail the water made as it traveled down his tan skin, over the bright tattoo, past his pebbled nipples.
I sucked in a breath. Filled my lungs with ocean air.
“Let’s work on it this weekend.”
“Huh?” I was taken by total surprise.
“Yeah, let’s work on it. I know shit about cars, but you can teach me. I can give you a crash course on birds if you’re interested.”
That got me laughing. “This is one interesting conversation, man. I’d love to see someone’s face if they had just caught that last part.”
“Good thing there’s no one around.”
“Yeah… good thing.”
When had we gotten so close? Why was my pulse beating as hard as the waves on the sand? Was I sweating, or was that ocean water dripping down my forehead?
What the hell is going on with me?
Our feet had crossed each other under the water, entwining us. I hadn’t realized. I should move. I should definitely move back, swim back, breaststroke back to fucking shore.
I moved. Closer to Fox. Closer to that handsome face that held a pair of breathtaking hazel eyes dancing with light reflected back from the crystal-blue ocean. He had a gaze that made me reckless, made me lose my mind.
There, surrounded by an endless glittering sea and a wash of bright sunlight, our lips reunited and my breath was stolen completely and totally. Fox’s kiss felt like a firebrand against my soul. From the second our lips touched, I knew he’d left his mark on me. I had thought he had done that before, but no, this was it. The moment there was simply no turning back from.
His lips were soft. He moaned, a delicate, foreign sound that I swallowed hungrily, greedily. I wanted more. I gave him more; I moaned into his kiss, and I pushed my hips forward through the water, my hands traveling up his wet back, feeling the traces of muscles underneath my fingertips dance under my touch.
It ignited me, in a way a kiss had never done to me before. I felt alive. Pure, unfiltered life straight from the source was flooding through me, filling me. It was the complete opposite of the cold embrace I had felt from the reaper himself. This was unlike anything I’d ever felt before, with any of my past girlfriends, any of my past lovers.
I’d never felt this before, ever.
And it scared me. Terror started to take shape, morphing from the plume of pure happiness I was feeling moments before.
But that was life. Shit changed on the flip of a dime. Happiness turns to fear. Fear turns to elation. Life turns to death.