Stuffing the other half of the taco into his mouth, he stared at me in that way I'd grown accustomed to. Like I was everything he wanted and everything he ever would want. I don't know how his eyes were able to express this, but they did. Finishing his ginormous bite, he molded his hand against my cheek. "I love you. So much. So damn much, Luce."
Leaning into his warm hand, I clinked my bottle against his. "Cheers."
TEN
Two fish tacos, two beers, and two hours later, I was still not ready to leave. Not even close to it.
"You want the last one?" Jude asked, holding out a taco.
"It's all yours," I said. Scooting behind him, I skimmed my hands up his shirt. "You want a massage?" It wasn't so much a question as a formality. In four years, I'd never known Jude to turn down a massage.
"Hell yes," he said around a mouthful of fish taco.
Applying pressure, I worked my thumbs up the muscles of his spine. He sighed, leaning into my touch. "Does that feel good?"
"Hell yes." He dropped the taco and hung his head.
I pressed my thumbs into the exposed muscles of his neck. "How about this?" I said, never sure how much pressure he'd want applied. Some days it was barely any, like he just liked the feel of my hands on him. Other days I couldn't seem to punish the muscles hard enough. "Is that still all right?" I asked, pinching the muscles running from his neck to his shoulders.
He groaned. "Hell yes."
"Sounds like it's a 'hell yes' kind of night."
He hung his neck lower, giving me better access. "Hell yes."
It'd been dark for a while, but we'd watched the sun set earlier and it was a sight I knew I'd never forget. I was starting to understand what the tens of millions of people who lived here saw in the place.
"Could you imagine doing this every night?" I said, working over a nasty knot around his shoulder blade. "Tacos and cheap beer on the beach?"
"Sounds like one hell of a life, Luce," he replied. "I'd be down with that."
"I saw a little beachfront house for rent a little way down the beach. We should rent it for a few nights during Christmas break and then we could watch the sun set every night." Having successfully worked out one knot, I moved to the next one.
"Sold," he said. "You, me, Christmas, beach, sunset. Where do I sign?"
I leaned over his shoulder as I continued to knead his back. "Right here."
His lips brushed over mine.
"I can't tell if these are all knots," I said, shifting behind him again, "or if they're insanely hard muscles, but you've definitely got something that needs working out."
He chuckled as I got back to work on a knot that was as big as my fist.
"What?"
"Luce," he said, grabbing one of my hands and winding it around his waist. "I've always got something that needs working out." My hand brushed down his jeans until he settled it over something that felt as hard as the muscles I was trying to relieve.
"A girl's job is never done," I said, gripping him.
He turned his head, his mouth searching for mine, but I had other plans. Popping up, I pulled the hoodie over my head.
"What do you think you're doing?" he asked, his eyes going dark as they skimmed my body.
Reaching for the string at the center of my back, I gave it a tug. "I'm going to work something out right here on the beach."
"Here?" His voice went an octave higher. "No. No, you're not." His words might have been against it, but his eyes weren't. "Besides, beach sex is highly overrated."
I leveled him with my stare.
"From what I've heard," he added, giving me a tilted smile, "sand gets in all sorts of places it shouldn't."
Grabbing the tie around my neck, I tugged on it. "I'm not planning on having sex in the sand," I said, letting my top fall to the sand. Jude swallowed. "I'm more of a water girl."
Without another word, I started for the thundering waves.
"There's sharks and shit out there, Luce," he called after me.
I smiled as I continued on my merry way. How far would he let me get before he couldn't stay away? Skimming my fingers into my swimsuit bottoms, I slid them down my body.
Once they were littering the beach, I turned toward him.
He swallowed again and stood up. His Cons were already off.
"Then you'd better come save me," I called back. "From the sharks and shit." Giving a wave and a shake, I turned and bounded toward the water.