Every day I got to spend with Nate was like an unofficial day off. I knew most of the reason why was because Joseph was so sweet on him, but I was taking full advantage of that. Anything that let me spend as much time with him as possible was a good thing as far as I was concerned.
I walked into the suite and took the tray with me to the bedroom instead of leaving it in the dining area. Who didn't love breakfast in bed? He was still asleep. He had gotten better about getting up earlier now, but I was still up before he was nine times out of ten. He was asleep on his stomach, and I knew underneath the covers he was naked, the way I had been when I had been under there with him.
He was so gorgeous, sometimes I found myself staring. How many people wished they had this view every morning? I could have watched him longer, but we had things to do. We were going snorkeling. All this time on the island, and he still hadn't gone.
I pulled the drapes open and got his swimsuit and a t-shirt out, then came back to the bed jumping onto it. I yanked the covers off his sleeping body.
"Nate... Nate... Nate?"
"Huh?" he grunted, waking up.
"Wake up, it's morning," I said excitedly. He opened his eyes and squinted up at me.
"What time is it?"
"Time to eat; I brought you breakfast," I said, swatting his ass. I crawled over his body to get the tray. "Drink this before it gets cold," I told him, holding the cup of coffee out to him. He rolled over so he was sitting and took the cup.
"Have you eaten already?" he asked me.
"Mm-hmm, while you were still asleep," I teased him. "We're losing daylight, Stone. We need to get on the water."
"Is snorkeling one of those things you have to do in the morning or else all the fish are gone or something?"
"No. I just wish you liked hanging out with me as much as you liked to hang out here," I said.
"You should just stay here with me then," he said, putting the cup down and holding my hand, pulling me back onto the bed with him. I giggled, falling into his lap.
"If only you were this excited to get out once in a while," I said, feeling his penis against my hip. "Come on, have something to eat so we can leave." I kissed him and wriggled off of his lap. He sighed and had his coffee, asking me to eat with him.
"I'm sure I'll love it," he said, eating a piece of toast.
"It's incredible. It's like visiting another planet," I gushed.
"I don't think I've met anyone who was this excited about fish before," he laughed.
"It's not just fish, it's everything. Turtles, coral, mollusks," I said. He was smiling, nodding patiently.
"They all sound delicious," he said. I frowned at him, making him laugh.
There was just something about the bottom of the ocean. It felt like being inside another universe or being in a beautiful picture or photograph. It was this beauty that seemed like it wasn't real, even when you were looking at it with your own eyes.
He had a shower and finally got dressed. We were lucky because the resort was right on the marine reserve. The water was perfect and clear and always full of life; we didn't have to go any further than Hulopoe Beach, the one he could see from his suite.
On one hand, I was running out of things that I could show him around the island, but on the other, I was getting to be with him when he experienced so many things for the first time.
I loved being the one who got to give him that. It was sort of dumb to think he would never have in his life if it wasn't for me. This was one vacation out of his whole life, but so much had changed for him already. It felt like this was him starting over, and I was getting to be with him as he did.
We were out on the beach, on board the excursion catamaran that was going to take us on a day-long ride around the bay, stopping at various snorkel sites where we could explore the reefs.
Some of the other guests were on the trip in the boat, and Nate was relaxed the whole time, talking to them, laughing, and making conversation. This was a new man. Sitting next to him, feeling him hold my hand when I slid it into his, I felt like I was getting the guy he was when he was relaxed, happy, and sober.
I loved the change I had seen in him, not because it made me happy per se, but because he laughed so much easier and felt so much freer — like he was getting what he had come to Lanai to get.
The water was pretty warm since it was summer. I had worried a little that maybe he would be the type that didn't like open water or didn't like swimming, but he wasn't. The only thing I regretted about choosing snorkeling was that we couldn't talk at the same time as being under water.
It was beautiful, of course, as I had predicted. He stayed close to me the entire time, asking how I liked it and making sure I was having a good time, like I wasn't the one who had brought him out today. It felt like a date. We had been out on them before, but both times had been a little more private. The dinner we had in the city was just us, he had rented out an entire restaurant, and the time at my house we were with Keno and Makani, two of my closest friends.
It felt like we were going public, sort of. It was dumb. I had never done this with anyone before. I didn't know if I was supposed to be feeling this giddy and happy with him, but I was, and I didn't want it to stop. He would hold my hand or put his arm around me, kiss me. I hoped that meant it wasn't just me who was feeling like this. I didn't want to jump to any conclusions, but I didn't have a lot of other options to call this besides love.