so easy…
“Let’s stay like this forever.”
“As much as I would love to make that happen for you, I think we have to go back in eventually.” This couldn’t be easy for her, either. He could see the way she seemed to avoid his eyes, as if afraid of what might happen if she found them.
“Do you ever wonder what would have happened if I had left with you?”
“I wonder about a lot of things, Pen.”
“Do you think we would have ended up together?”
“Would you have wanted us to?” His response seemed to throw her off guard, her eyes finally meeting his.
“Honestly?” Penny asked. He nodded his head, feeling her heart beating just as fast as his own was. “At the time, I didn’t think so. But after you left…” She sighed, looking up at the night sky. “I didn’t think you could miss a person that much.” He could hear the tears in her voice.
“I didn’t either,” Tommy agreed, reaching up and brushing his thumb along her cheek.
“You didn’t answer my question.” He was hoping she hadn’t noticed that.
“You didn’t answer mine either.” Tommy reminded her. She lifted her head, meeting his eyes with a certain determination.
“You first.” He hesitated for a long moment, wondering what he should say, trying to decide how to respond.
“After you kissed me, I thought we might.” He confessed.
“After I kissed you, I thought we should.” Penny replied breathlessly.
He didn’t know who initiated the kiss, but all he cared about was that it didn’t end. He carried them back toward the coast, his hands holding her as close to him as he could possibly manage. His body longed for the shore, aching to lie beside her.
She was just as eager, he realized, as she pulled him in, her lips claiming his hungrily. His hands roamed over the soaked material of her clothes, wanting to remove even the thinnest barrier between them.
It wasn’t until a loud clap of thunder sounded in the distance that she stopped him, pulling away breathlessly. “Wait,” she pressed her hand to his chest. “We can’t—”
Tommy groaned in frustration, rolling over and laying next to her. “You’re killing me, here, Pen.”
“You told me you wouldn’t do that again.”
“I told you I’d try. Besides, I think it was you who started that one.” He stared up at the sky, his body tense.
“Well it doesn’t matter.” Tommy couldn’t help it—he laughed, shaking his head. “You know it’s a bad idea just as well as I do.”
“Do I?” Of course he did, logically. But his body, on the other hand…that seemed to have a mind of it’s own. A mind that wanted nothing more than to roll over and continue what had started just minutes ago.
“Business, Tommy Davidson. Just keep reminding yourself that.”
“I’m really beginning to hate business.” He turned his head to look at her, trying not to notice that he could see right through her thin white tank top.
“It’ll come to an end eventually.” Her voice sounded far away, tinged with sadness. “And once it does, we’ll both go back to our own lives, won’t we?” He wished he could tell her it wasn’t true, but he couldn’t bring himself to say the words. Because he didn’t really believe them, and the last thing he wanted to do was lie to her.
So instead, he said nothing at all.
“Hey Tommy, whatever happened to your dad?” Suddenly Tommy wished very badly that he had said something. This was definitely not a topic he was willing to discuss.
“I don’t know. Last I heard, he was somewhere in Florida. He retired, I think.”
“You think?” Tommy shrugged.
“We haven’t spoken much. He wasn’t too thrilled that I took off. You know how he was—I was supposed to be a Military man, just like he was.”
“You haven’t even called him?” Tommy shook his head.
“I send him a Christmas card every year. That’s about it.”
“You should try talking to him. It’s been a long time. Maybe he’s changed.” Tommy laughed—not genuine laughter, but empty. He doubted it. The Colonel was always going to be a hard-ass, up until the day he died. And he was always going to be disappointed in Tommy, no matter what he did.
“You never know. People change.”
“You haven’t.”
“In some ways, I have. You have.”
“I haven’t.”
“Oh, I beg to differ. The Tommy Davidson I remember would have already broken Kevin’s nose by now—probably twice.” This time, Tommy laughed for real. She had a point there—but that was a change that had only occurred within the last few weeks.
Penny