“God, those two are made for each other,” I say, rolling my eyes.
“I fucking hate when he calls you Livy,” Gabe grumbles.
“The feeling’s mutual. Nobody’s called me Livy since the third grade.” I pull him close, wrap my arms around his neck, and plant a slow, firm kiss on his lips.
“Mmmm,” he murmurs against my lips, “what was that for?”
“I just love you. And I thought you needed a gentle reminder.”
“Remind me again.”
I kiss him again and then I stand up and tug him off the blanket onto the soft sand. “Walk with me? I need a break from the crowd.”
“Okay.”
“Maybe we can find a more private spot on the beach. Grab the blanket.”
Gabe gives me a familiar look when he realizes that I’m not merely interested in a walk, and it makes me laugh. He quickly gathers up the blanket and tells Brandon that we’re going to look for a better spot, but Brandon is too wrapped up in Audrey to care.
“Yeah, yeah, be safe,” he says lazily as we walk away.
I take Gabe’s hand and let him lead me down the beach away from everyone. “Did my brother just tell us to have safe sex?”
“I think so.”
“That is wrong on so many levels.”
Gabe laughs. “Doesn’t he know I haven’t deflowered you yet?”
“Oh my God, if you could never say deflower, like ever again, that’d be great.”
He laughs freely and it echoes down the beach.
We walk a long way before we settle on a quiet spot between two sand dunes, far enough down the beach that we can’t hear the chatter from the crowd or see the giant movie screen over the water. Gabe spreads the blanket out on the sand and we sit together like before, my back to his chest, his arms over my shoulders, his chin to my cheek, gazing out at the dark ocean.
A nearly full moon is hanging low over the horizon, casting its pale light on the beach and reflecting off the waves that roll in several yards away. They crash on the shore, one after the other, making a rhythmic hushing sound.
It’s a warm night, but the cool air coming off the ocean raises goosebumps on my arms. Gabe rubs them when I shiver. I rest my head back against his chest, feeling him breathe in and out against me. I could sit like this forever, listening to the hush of the ocean and the quiet pull of his slow breaths in the dark.
“I’m going to miss this.”
“You always do. Maybe this year we can check out some of the beaches in North Carolina. Raleigh isn’t that far from the coast. We can take road trips on the weekends.”
“Yeah. But they won’t be like this. They won’t be home.”
“My sweet, sentimental girl.” He hugs me tight. “This year is going to fly by, you’ll see. Before you know it we’ll be graduating, and then we can come home, at least for a while, until we get jobs like real adults.” He laughs low and soft in my ear.
“You promise?”
“I promise. This time next year, we’ll be sitting right here in this very spot.”
I smile softly. “You know, you can’t break your word. It’s all a man’s got,” I say, reciting a line from a movie, though I can’t recall which one.
“I would never break a promise to you, Liv.” His tone is suddenly serious and I wonder if we’re still talking about coming home after we graduate.
I turn around between his knees and his eyes grip mine.
“If you want to live here after we graduate, we will. Okay? I’ll commute if I have to.”
“Gabe–”
“If you want me to build you a house right here with my own two hands, I’ll do it,” he says, and a quiet rush of air leaves my lungs. He wraps his hand behind my neck and rubs his thumb over my cheek. “If you want me to love you every day for the rest of our lives, I will.”
“Gabriel,” I whisper, curling my fingers around his wrist.
He presses his mouth to mine and kisses me slow and deep, love pouring out of him and into me. His fingers push into my hair and I snake my arms around his back, pulling him close.
I break the kiss and whisper into his ear, “Gabe, I want you.”
He pulls his mouth back to mine and mumbles against my lips, “I know, I want you too.”
“No, Gabe”—I push his shoulders back and look into his dark eyes—“I want all of you. I don’t want to wait anymore.” I swallow hard, feeling my heart thumping in my throat.
Gabe’s face fills with intensity. “Are you sure? What about–”
“My virtue?” I smile softly and say certainly, “I am going to marry you, Gabriel North, but not today. And I don’t want our first time to be in a dorm room. I want it to be here, on our beach. I’m ready.”
The muscles in his clenched jaw tighten and he swallows hard, making his Adam’s apple bounce up and down. “Liv”— he brings his mouth back to mine—“I love you so much.”
“I love you too,” I whisper.
“We’ll go slow, okay?”
“Okay.”
His eyes fill with gentle concern. “You’ll tell me if I hurt you?”
“Yes.”
He kisses me softly, but urgently, raising my arms above my head. I hold them there while he lifts my tank top and slides it over my arms, exposing my white lace bra. He leans down and kisses the tops of my breasts softly. Those he’s seen a time or two, but I appreciate the special attention he gives them. He lays me back on the blanket and kneels beside me to unbutton my jeans. I lift my bottom so that he can maneuver them over my hips. He tugs them down past my knees and struggles a little to get them off my ankles.
“Fresh out of the dryer.” I smile. “Sorry.”
“Don’t apologize for wearing tight jeans, baby,” he says, and I giggle. He gazes down at what’s left of my clothing—my bra and matching panties. He reaches over his head and pulls his shirt off, and he’s all long lean muscles and golden skin, tanned from the summer sun. He crawls over me, still wearing his jeans, and positions his elbows beside my shoulders, leaning up to hold his weight off me. He drops his head and rubs his nose against mine. “Are you sure you’re ready to do this?”
“I’ve never been so sure about anything.”
He smiles and kisses me hard, pushing his tongue into my mouth, and mine tangles with his. We mastered kissing long ago. Slow, deep kisses fill me with hot, flowing honey that slowly travels down to my core. I press my hips up against his instinctively, needing to feel his hardness between my legs to relieve the ache there. Gabe takes my cue and slides his hand between us, slowly inching his way down my stomach until his long fingers are inside my panties, gliding between my legs. He pushes his finger inside me and I moan into his mouth, rocking my hips against his hand. He makes a deep, throaty groan and kisses me harder, pushing into me deeper, and then he rubs the slickness up over the sensitive spot between my legs, circling it again and again. I stop kissing him and drop my head against the blanket, arching my back as I quietly cry, “Gabe.”
He drops his mouth to my neck and trails warm kisses up to my jaw and back down, until I cry out with pleasure and my body shatters into a million pieces beneath him. He brings his mouth back to mine and kisses me slow as my body trembles beneath him.