the buzz in my blood. That’s due to the force of nature beside me. Veronica lets go of my hand to start tracing her fingernails along my arm as we make our way up the porch and at the door she gives me a slow, wicked smile.
Her fingers slip along my collarbone to my chest, causing the breath to catch in my lungs. Her touch tickles, it teases and when she glances up at me from behind long lashes, I’m undone. I place both of my hands on her hips and back her up against the house.
Veronica fists the material of my shirt and drags me into her. She’s smaller than I am and while I don’t mind leaning down to kiss her, tonight, being that close isn’t close enough. I want to drown in her.
In a swift motion, I lift her and she giggles. The sound filling me with joy. She weaves her arms around my neck and her legs around my hips. We fit perfectly together, and each of her slight shifts to be comfortable creates sensations I want to feel again and again.
Veronica shines. Her blond hair glows against the porch light, her blue eyes sparkling, and the smile on her face is glorious. She’s pure bliss and it’s a world I want to be lost in forever.
I rest my forehead against hers and revel in the gravitational pull that’s between us, in the way her breath teases the skin of my neck, the way her chest rubs against mine as she breathes out and I breathe in. My heart beats faster in anticipation with the awareness that the moment we start, neither of us might want to stop.
“What are you waiting for?” she whispers in amusement. “Are you going to kiss me?”
I don’t have to be asked twice. I kiss her and the ground beneath us rumbles and shakes. The vibration racing through my toes, up my legs and along my body. She presses into me and I press into her as our kisses become deeper, hungrier, and our hands begin to roam.
Veronica breaks away, kissing along my neck, then whispers into my ear, “Inside.”
Her apartment or mine, I don’t know and I don’t care as just the idea of inside is the most amazing idea I’ve heard. With her still in my arms, I move us toward the door and Veronica’s soft laughter is an addictive drug making my head spin.
When I fail at entering the code, Veronica reaches out and does it for us while still focusing on kissing me. The lock gives, we’re through the door, we pinball down the foyer hallway to my door, and then I’m able to navigate that lock with no problem.
Once in my room, we fall onto the mattress, into each other, and we give in to the warmth, the joy, the heat, the touches, the sighs, the kisses, and time stops as we lose ourselves in each other.
Thursday September 5: Weight 113 ½ lb.
Cured a lot today. It was a nasty rainy day.
Got a nice long letter from Maidy today. She sure is a cheerful cuss.
Oh, Diary, had 99.3 temp. tonight. Why, oh why, doesn’t it go down? Am I ever going to get well? I’m just about discouraged.
And I’m so lonesome. Oh, dear, but I wish Morris would come back. Really, Diary, I care for him lots more than he does for me I know.
“Why are we doing this?” I ask as Knox opens the door for me to an old one-story, fifties-style church that hasn’t seen a paintbrush or new furniture since the 1970s.
“Because our AA meeting is huge, and you like blending in. It’s your comfort zone. You need smaller and you need to learn how to be you.”
“I am me,” I grumble.
Knox stops in front of the door labeled for the meeting. “And who is that? Are you the popular athlete who everyone loves because you become what everyone wants? Or are you the guy who jumps off of cliffs? Because those are two different personalities, brother.”
I roll my neck, uncomfortable with how easily he sees me. “What if I don’t want to be either of those?” I pause. “Or what if I’m a little bit of both?”
Knox stretches out his arms. “See, brother? One minute in the building and you’re already starting to ask better questions. Now let’s go.”
He opens the door, waves me in and I decide to keep my mouth shut as he’s the master swimmer in this scenario and