I turned my head to him. He was wearing board shorts and a blue tank top. His shoulders were burnt red and covered in new freckles. It suited him, those freckles. I wanted to own every single one of them. His eyes were squinted as he gazed out and still they sparkled in the sunlight. His blond man-bun sat messy at the top of his head. He looked like he was made to be a surfer on an island beach, not a nature outdoorsman in the pacific northwest.
“I want to,” I finally answered.
“I’ll take care of you, you know.”
“I kind of don’t want to be taken care of.”
“I didn’t mean it like you’d be dependent on me or anything, but that you can think of what you want to do at your own pace without feeling pressured.”
I grabbed at the end of my ponytail and nervously ran my fingers through the strands, contemplating his words. “I want to be a dancer.”
He turned his head to me and smiled brilliantly. “Yeah?”
I blushed at his intensity. “It sounds silly, though, doesn’t it?”
“No.”
“How would I even do it?”
“You want to perform or choreograph?”
“I don’t know, both? There are theatre programs in the city. I’ve looked some up, but they’re a bit intimidating. One of them expects you to have yoga classes under your belt, and all these weird criteria crap.”
“So? You got a year. You can do all that.”
“You think?”
He wrapped his arm around my waist and pulled me to him. My body pressed against his front. He looked down at me, the greens of his eyes mesmerizing. He leaned down and brushed his lips against mine. “You can do it,” he murmured, licking along the crease of my parted mouth. “I’ll be there with you.”
“You promise?”
“I promise.”
I smiled back at him and wrapped my arms around his neck. He lifted me up and rested my bum on the fence and crushed his mouth to mine. It was hot already, but I felt even hotter as he spread my legs wide and settled his hips against me. I felt drunk on love already, but lust was even more glorious. Lust sent ripples of need throughout my body.
“Aston,” I panted, kissing him feverishly.
He broke away and looked over his shoulder. His chest was heaving up and down, his need apparent and against me. “I want you,” he told me.
“Nobody’s here.”
He continued to look around, weighing our options. “I can’t risk it.”
Before my hopes could be dashed, he picked me up and led me off the trail and into the dense bush. All the while his lips remained moulded to mine. Metres from the trail, he dropped me slowly to the ground and kissed my neck, chest, and stomach. I was shaking when he started pulling my shorts down but not my underwear. He removed a condom from his wallet and covered his body over mine, passionately prolonging our touches until I was moaning out loud for him to hurry.
He had the corner of the condom packet in between his teeth when I heard heavy footsteps approaching. It’d come out of nowhere. My ears had been pumping so much blood, I didn’t know until whoever was there had reached us.
“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” barked a voice. “This is a public area! Kids walk this damn path all the time. Get up!”
Aston’s eyes spoke of horror and they mirrored my own. We recognized the voice. We knew who it was, and all my fears came to light.
We’d just been discovered by Dad’s partner, Adrian. What were the fucking chances?
Aston pulled away from me, but he kept his body in front of mine as he slowly turned around and looked up at Adrian. I caught a quick glimpse of the middle-aged man. He was so like my dad in so many ways, but he was softer and funny too. He wasn’t in his police uniform, so at least I knew Dad wasn’t anywhere around. He was in casual hiking clothes, and with his age pushing fifty, it was surprising how in shape he was.
“Aston?” The surprise was evident in his voice as he looked at him. “The hell, boy? What are you doing?”
Aston kept my upper body hidden as he replied, “I’m sorry, Adrian. Got a bit carried away.”
“Who are you with? Does the family know you’re in a relationship?”
“Not all of them.”
“Move aside. You’re both in for a lesson.”
I blinked hard, keeping the tears at bay. God, this was a nightmare. This was not how I wanted our relationship to be found out. Aston hesitated, not wanting to move, but then he finally did. He pushed down my body so that my bottom half was covered up and rested my shorts over my underwear.
What followed had to be the most awkward and uncomfortable moment of my life. My eyes connected to Adrian, and a myriad of expressions followed. Confusion. Surprise. Shock. And then…realization. He stared between the two of us, unsure of what to say. He was utterly speechless. Then he took a step back and left us there, hurrying like his ass was on fire.