Summertime Sappiness

Fortunately, they escaped death by musical wacky races, arriving at her family’s holiday home with only ringing ears from Oliver’s many performances. Emilia had been hearing this material ever since her brother—who was like an overgrown guinea pig—landed the part.

At least it had distracted Luke from the numerous near-miss swerves and horn blasts Oliver employed as he drove like an absolute cock-womble.

Luke had slipped inside the downstairs bathroom to splash cool water across his face. Oliver lingered outside to ensure they hadn’t damaged his beloved car while getting their bags in and out.

She was glad of the moment’s peace as she flung open the glass doors, parting the pale gossamer curtains more like vapor as she all but skipped outside.

On the furnished deck of the beach house, Emilia stood with her arms resting on the white wooden railing.

The lingering sensation that jumped on her nerves, the worries she’d had about Luke meeting Oliver, gradually dissipated. She took in the familiar scene before her.

Golden-hued sand spread along the length of the beach. Glittering cornflower blue water frothed languidly as far as she could see.

The colors were as gentle on her sunglass-veiled eyes as a vintage photograph.

Gulls sang their pestering song to harmonize the percussion of the ruffling sea waves and swept across the endless clear sky.

A melody of summer and indulgent joy. She couldn’t wait to get down there. Hoped to show Luke the stunning spectacle of the gloaming and darkest night.

Her toes tingled with the urge to curl into cool, damp sand, and her heart soared at the thought of doing it with Luke at her side.

She drew in a deep breath. The sharp, briny air and salt laced breeze flirted with her loose hair as Luke’s arms wound around her from behind. He rested his chin on her shoulder.

She leaned back into him and waited. Any second now...

“You two are in the master upstairs. I deliberately chose the room on the opposite side of the house. If I hear one sigh or noise, I’ll tell mother about the time you broke her favorite necklace and blamed it on my poor pup,” Oliver said in his outside voice.

Emilia stifled a snort as she and Luke turned to face him.

“Your prissy little dog is always eating her things when you visit. Who do you think she’ll believe, you or me?” She joked, enjoying the way he stiffened.

Oliver shot her a look so lethal she would’ve been dead if looks truly could kill.

“I’ll spin a tale worthy of a movie, Lia. Don’t you worry,” Oliver replied, smirking like a serpent.

To her surprise, Luke spoke then, “That only works if you hadn’t told us your plan. I’ll back Emilia up when she tells your mom that you planned this to get back at her for claiming the master bed.”

As she looked at Luke, now standing beside her with his arm around her and watching her brother with a contented smile.

Her stomach fluttered wildly, like a sparkle of fireflies had taken flight. With an audible slap of his hands to his sides, Oliver narrowed his eyes and rolled them.

“Great. She finally found one that can talk back. Wonders never cease,” he said and shook his head.

Emilia laughed and listened as he threatened them once more.

“I have my ways. Don’t test me. Keep it quiet. I need my beauty sleep for tonight.”

“I hope you wake up in a better mood! Let me know if you need a bottle of warm milk,” she retorted and gave him a queenly wave as he flipped her off and sauntered away.

She loved her brother, but it was like arguing with one of those talking dolls children loved.

Pull his string and he’ll repeat the same five things until someone listens or punches him in the face.

“That was—interesting,” Luke said as they heard Oliver kicking his room door shut.

“You get used to him.”

“And how long will that take?” He asked.

She turned, wrapping her arms around his neck and pushing up on her toes to kiss his laughing mouth before pulling back.

“It depends. Sometimes forever isn’t long enough,” she said in a murmur as he pulled her closer, hands splaying on her back to hold her there.

His penetrating eyes shone with a glint of peace. It softened all the hard lines and shadows on his pretty face as a pleased smile settled in.

The catch in her chest as he looked at her in that intense way of his never lost its potency. And the erratic, vibrational rhythm of her heart when he touched her never calmed. Only grew louder.

They’d spent more time together than not since Christmas. She never tired of looking at him, seeing him coming out of the quietude he wore like a cloak.

He was the kind of handsome that she’d noticed in an instant, but it had slowly settled in her bones and spoke to her long before he’d said a word more than hello.

And it was more than skin deep with Luke. He was handsome from the depth of his eyes to the tender way he spoke to her. The kindness he so freely showed.

She loved how his voice quickened when he was gearing up to show her his latest sketch or telling her a tale from his childhood. She loved his private self, revealed only to her, with full trust she’d protect it.

Emilia loved—Luke’s bristled mouth parted. She watched his lips moving, hearing nothing but her own blood thumping in her ears.

She tried to cover her near swooning distraction to catch on to what he was saying.

“—does that sound good to you?”

Without a clue to what she was agreeing to, she nodded, but wasn’t fooling him. He knew her too well by now.

“You didn’t hear a word I said, did you?”

She shook her head and fixed an apologetic look on her face. He let out a charming, deep chuckle, just as lovely as the first time she heard it.

“Let’s skip unpacking for now and go down to the beach, Emilia. I know you’re dying to.”

She practically squealed as she jumped, agreed, and kissed him. Loud and over-exaggeratedly as he laughed into it.

A messy, scratchy top lip kiss that made her long for an empty house, an extravagant amount of time alone. And far less clothing than they currently wore.

He stroked her skin through her dress. She savored it for a few long moments before gathering the strength to break away. Failing to suppress the shivers whispering through her with every tiptoe of his fingers down her spine.

“You know all the right things to say to a lady, Luke! Let’s go, don’t stop talking and we might be able to piss off Oliver and break his rules before the day is out.”

He didn’t object as she unwound herself from him, and quickly took her sandals off as he followed suit.

He’d barely set his shoes down when she grabbed his hand, threading her fingers through his and tugging until he ran with her off the decking and onto the hot, pale sand.

She felt like a child as they ran. Both slipping and sliding down the incline, unable to stop giggling as they crossed the demarcation where dry sand met wet.

Sumptuous summer heat enveloped her despite the wind fluffing the waves up. They waited for the ever-warm sea to hit their bare feet.

From the corner of her eye, she observed him; despite being far from it, she felt home. Perspiration beaded on Luke’s flushed face, and his light shirt clung to his chest as the song of the ocean and eager birds faded to background noise.

His mouth curled at the corners, his stance relaxed, and he looked happy, but she still hunted for something to reassure him he wouldn’t melt away.

“It’s cooler at night. We should come back then and you won’t have to worry about being cooked alive,” she said, jesting, as they waded through the shallows.

Tendrils of long black seaweed brought in by the rolling waves determined to bind their ankles like slimy manacles.

“I’m good. I was just thinking I should’ve changed out of my trousers, though.”

She glanced down at his legs and nodded, cringing internally as she hadn’t thought. “At least we don’t have far to walk home and only we get to use this part of the beach. It’s all for us.”

“What about your brother?” Luke asked, and she wondered how long he’d been dredging up the words to ask.

“Oh, don’t worry about that lanky fireweed. He fucks off to drink and burn things with his friends who live a few houses down. We’ll rarely see him.”

Luke choked on a laugh and said, “Burn things? Is that a hobby you two share?”

Her smile was catlike as she replied, “I only do it accidentally! I forgot it was in there. Anyway, no, they like to sit around a bonfire, strumming guitars and singing at each other. It’s horrible, but I sometimes go to take pictures and videos to blackmail him when he’s sober.”

“Does it work?”

“Beautifully. I still get mileage out of last year’s videos,” she chuckled, shameless.

After reaching a sign that prohibited them from going further without permission from the owners of the property, they turned. Walking back the way they came.

Sweat streamed down Luke’s back and plastered his loose hair to his nape. The sun seemed determined to flay the flesh from his bones.

His white shirt offered little protection as the rays beat down on him. Lia was entirely at home and unbothered. He didn’t complain to keep her smiling.

Chose to probe her further on her blackmailing instead.

“What do you make him do for you?”

She stopped to consider, kicking her feet in the water to make it splash as he put his back to the broiling sun.

“Nothing illegal. A while ago, he was adamant about setting me up with one of his friends and wouldn’t stop talking about it. Mom was even on board, so I threatened to share the video of him drunk off his ass, rapping his own lyrics last summer. He can’t rap. He can’t write a song. It’s terrible and hilarious. I plan to play it at his wedding when it happens.”

“You’re an evil wee thing,” Luke laughed, but secretly, he wanted to see her extorting her brother in action.

They meandered aimlessly along that stretch of beach as he slowly baked and ignored the prickling on his back every time it faced the sun. The ocean breeze taunted him with tiny puffs of cooler air.

It coated his skin with a light mist of the brine. Stolen from the water’s white foam spray as it hit the rocks stationed almost intentionally along the coast.

The long green tufts of grass trembled at the top of the hill they’d raced down and made a gentle rattling sound. He wished he’d brought his phone to snap a photo, but relied on his memory instead.

He and Emilia walked hand in hand along the sand. The granular grains rolled and itched between his toes as she darted toward something glinting under the sunbeams.

He kept her talking, hanging on to every word as she told him stories of mischief and childish madness with her brother. She had spent most of her summers here.

Her face positively beamed as she spoke of sibling rivalries and moments of friendship found once they got over their anger.

He had assumed she was the same back then as she was now. But his brows hiked nearly to his hairline as he learned she used to be shy and often quiet.

Luke couldn’t imagine her being a timid child. Not after knowing her now.

She was a tiny cyclone of color, noise, and light. A shot of adrenaline to his rigidly structured and monotone life. Pieces of her had quickly bled into his home and mind.

It ignited a riot of exhilaration and emotion whenever he noticed pieces of him in her apartment and her mannerisms. She’d picked up some of his Scottish slang he’d use when calling his siblings.

The coarse words sounded hilarious in her smooth American accent. The happy, fizzy flip in his stomach as she pocketed a frosted piece of emerald sea glass she picked up told him he was in deep.

He often felt as if they’d captured lightning in a bottle during those snowy days she’d needed a place a stay.

They had an eternity to capture more singular, glorious moments together.

He did just that, joining her in exploring the beach. He helped her find pretty shells to keep as a memento. She found immense joy in the small fish nibbling at her toes when she stood motionless in the sea.

Everything had a yellowish sepia effect, like a movie set in a desert as he watched her frolic. Beckoning him over whenever she discovered something she wanted to show him.

His mouth was dry. He tasted salt each time he licked his lips, and the sweltering heat never relented. But he shared in her simple pleasure of finding tiny creatures and unique shells.

Both shedding all the responsibilities they bore at home and work. A bounce in their step, playfully shoving and grabbing each other as they danced along the water’s edge.

And he’d never appreciated the world they lived in more. Just being together somewhere no one from home could find them.

Except her brother, but he wouldn’t split hairs as she kicked the crystal water and splashed him to cool him down.

Hours passed as the sun slowly began its descent into its watery bed. It still drenched him with sweat. The seawater that Lia flicked at him evaporated almost instantly upon touching his skin.

By the time they returned to the house to prepare for their night out, Luke felt like an unseasoned, over boiled lobster.

The relentless sun had dangled in the sky like a giant fiery ball of Hell, as if it had a personal vendetta against him.

The air-conditioned room was a cool caress that lasted mere seconds before he again felt the heat nipping at him. Emilia patted his shoulder as she stopped in the open doorway.

He winced and failed to hide it.

She caught it.

She never missed a trick. Her voice held a distinct note of oil slick guilt as she shoved her sunglasses atop her head and spoke.

“Oh, no. We forgot the sunscreen! Why didn’t you say something?”

He shrugged. “I forgot until it was too late. And you were happy.”

She huffed, giving him a glare he assumed was supposed to chastise him, but he’d seen kittens more frightening.

“Don’t you dare tell me you let yourself get burnt because I was happy.” She actually stomped her foot as she took his hand and tried to drag him away as she said, “Come on, you silly man, you’re going in a cool shower while I get the after sun out of the freezer. I think it’ll be better to stay in tonight.”

She gave a satisfied little nod as she moved decisively to help him.

“It’s just sunburn, Lia. We can still go out.”

She whirled, silver-gold hair flittering with her dress, and eyes flashing like lightning fracturing a royal blue sky. He memorized every detail and his fingers itched to count the scattering of freckles like a constellation across her cheeks and nose.

Though the gleam of exasperation in her frowning gaze would be difficult to capture.

“You might not feel well. Just let me take care of it and we’ll figure out dinner after,” she said.

He sighed, but realized it wasn’t really about him. She was taking the blame and needed to rectify it by looking after him. It was as though his vision sharpened as he gazed at her, and their future instantly became clear.

His pulse raced, heart banging like a rubber drum behind his rib cage. A feeling of sweetest possessiveness overcame him.

He neither owned nor desired ownership of her. But he couldn’t deny how he felt. She was his. He was hers.

It was as simple as that.

The argument he prepared withered under his tongue.

A strange, bubbling sensation swelled in his chest and down his torso. A soft smile furled his mouth, and he inclined his head.

“Okay, love, don’t fret. I won’t be long,” he said in a tender whisper.

He kissed her rosy cheek, not seeing she’d gone wholly still as if encased in ice. His mind was oddly quiet and his muscles were loose.

A sense of calm and ease filtered through him. It was a marrow deep knowing that they stood on equal ground.

Ground they’d chosen and built themselves. Luke was oblivious to his slip and Emilia’s uncharacteristic silence as he left to do as she bid.

Love, love, love...

The word repeated in Emilia’s head even after Luke’s footsteps on the stairs fell silent. So many emotions ran feral in her.

She couldn’t pin one down to name it. Each time she tried, it transfigured, and she was chasing it down again.

All of them were positive, but that didn’t make their whirling tempest any less intense or deafening.

Her heart raced faster and faster as the sound of the shower trickled through the buzzing in her ears.

Luke was a man of few words most days. But he knew how to wield every last one to make her feel completely overwhelmed and wanted.

It was a kind of power he wasn’t aware that he carried.

She loved him for that and everything else he did... everything in her went still. Her cycling thoughts, her flickering pulse, and the fine tremor in her hands all calmed at once.

And she had an abrupt impulse to run around the house laughing and singing at the top of her lungs. Her legs weakened, her mind was fuzzy and full of color.

Her surroundings disappeared; a long-awaited realization dawned. Love.

Just the thought sent a wild flutter of electrical shocks shooting through her nerves.

A sappy grin unfolded across her lips and warmth spread behind her eyes. They prickled with moisture as she lifted a hand to her mouth to smother the girlish squeal, trying to sneak past her teeth.

Luke loved her.

He showed it in so many ways. Especially now, when he agreed to put up with her brother just to be with her.

Or how he’d make enough food to ensure she would eat when she returned home too late to cook or order something.

Or that time she’d screamed bloody murder, and he’d raced inside her apartment with a kitchen knife, ready to stab whomever had frightened her.

It turned out to be nothing but a spider the size of a dog, boasting eight legs!

He hadn’t been mad, just chuckled as he carried it outside so she could have her shower. He loved her.

And she loved him.

Oh, yes, she did.

Fuck. And for once, she wasn’t the last to know! She was in love with him. Probably had been since four months in.

When they’d argued for the first time and made up before the day was done.

She couldn’t even remember what it was about anymore.

It didn’t matter.

Not now.

Not while her head felt too light and full of helium. All of her did, and she feared the wind would snatch hold of her and she’d drift out the open doors.

Poor Luke wouldn’t have a clue what had become of her or why. She didn’t know whether to run to him and scream it at him or keep it safe until they were totally alone.

Or would he want to tell her first?

It wasn’t like she could ask him.

No, she’d wait and see how he felt after his shower.

The last thing she wanted was for him to think he dreamed it while possibly delirious from heatstroke. She needed to control herself, wait, choose the optimal time to reveal it.

She was never very good at waiting.