Page 155 of Seasons of Love
“You think…” he says, placing his hands on the car on either side of me.
I swallow. “That we have everything we need.”
“Not quite.” He presses me against the car and kisses me. My body instantly lights up, and I want more of him. I put my hands on his ass to keep him close and feel his body’s reaction to our closeness, the meeting of our lips, the dueling of our tongues.
There seems to be no rush on his part to end the kiss, which is something I am easily on board with. As the intensity of our kissing subsides, so do our erections, thankfully.
“Now we have everything we need,” he says.
“Maybe another pair of beach shorts on top of these would come in handy. I wasn’t prepared.”
He looks down at the bulge in my shorts.
“Maybe we can take care of that later.”
“You can count on it.”
We finally grab all the stuff and walk to our spot, where Florrie gives us a look before telling Sara, “I think your daddy’s boss might have been looking for the ice chest at the back of your daddy’s throat.”
Milo groans, but I laugh because Florrie isn’t wrong.
“How about we go check out the lake water, sweetpea?” Milo says to Sara.
He removes her clothes and dresses her in the cute navy swimsuit with white bows that I remember Marnie wearing when she was the same age.
I remove my shirt and put on sunscreen. Milo does the same, and we do each other’s backs before putting a hat on Sara and lathering her with a protective layer of children’s high-SPF sunscreen.
“Are you joining us, Florrie?” I ask.
“Nah, I’m happy sitting here watching people and reading my book. You go on ahead.”
The water is cool but not as cold as I expected. It still takes my breath away as we go in slowly.
Sara’s holding on to Milo. Her little hand closed in a fist around a clump of his hair.
We stop when we’re short of waist deep.
“What do you say, sweetpea? Want to try out the water for size?” Milo asks.
He holds her out, and as soon as her toes touch the water, she pulls her legs up as far as she can.
“It’s a bit cold, isn’t it?” I ask.
Milo wets his hand and then touches Sara’s feet. The more her feet get acclimatized to the temperature, the more she kicks, and before long, we’re waist deep and she’s kicking her legs in the water.
“Thank you for bringing us here, Ellis. I can’t even remember the last time I came to the lake, and I certainly didn’t know about this beach.”
I straighten Sara’s hat. “It’s my pleasure. I admit I don’t take days off like this often enough. It’s nice.”
“Why not?”
I shrug. “During the weekends, if I’m not seeing my family, I end up working and preparing my lessons for the week. And this summer, I’ve been busy with a few school projects I want to complete before the start of the year.”
“It must be hard being a teacher. So much responsibility,” he says.
“No more than being a parent, but I get to give them back,” I joke. “I like it. Despite my parents’ lifestyle, working and traveling all over the world, they never pressured us to do anything we didn’t want. When I said I wanted to be a teacher, they were supportive. Just like when Darius said he wanted to be a nurse. For me, being a teacher gives me the opportunity to help all those young minds open themselves up for the future. I don’t want to shape them. I want them to question the world, to be brave, and not be afraid to find out who they are.”
Milo smiles. “I think I understand it. It’s important for kids to have good role models, and I know it sometimes doesn’t happen at home. My mom always encouraged us to follow our dreams.”
