Chapter 65

"Now you're protected," I spoke, in a motherly voice, squeezing his cheek, who grimaced. "You can dive now."

"No," he replied, and a damned smile broke out on his face. "We can dive now."

Before I could open my mouth to protest, or take off my beach hat and sunglasses, Steve was already carrying me towards the sea, running with me on his lap. Hurriedly dropping my beach gear onto the sand, I curled up like a fetus in his arms, already feeling the cold temperature of the sea before I even got into it, and let out a desperate yelp that made him laugh.

"Oh my God, it's so cold," I said between my teeth as we reached the icy water, and he continued to lead me into the sea until we reached a height that was neither too shallow nor too deep.

"No problem, I'll warm you up," he laughed, putting me down and hugging me around the waist.

"What a cliché phrase, Steve. "I grumbled with an amused smile, giving him a tight hug and placing a kiss on his chin. "But I really think you better warm up to me, or I'm going to get really mad."

"Uuh, I want to see that one," Steve groaned, making an exaggerated face of desire and sending me a kiss, accompanied by a wink.

"Idiot," I laughed, pushing him by the chest and not managing much more than to pull away from him for two seconds. "I'll show you who's the brave one."

"I doubt it," he challenged, looking up as if to disguise something, and I winced: I let my knees buckle, causing my whole body to immerse itself in the crystal clear water, and resurfaced a few feet later, already out of reach of his arms. Surprised by my sudden agility, he was caught wide-eyed and open-mouthed when I splashed a large amount of water in his face.

"Oh, my God!", I exclaimed, bringing my wet hands to my mouth in a sign of astonishment, not knowing whether to laugh or to be pitied. "Sorry, love!"

I ran to Steve, who was covering his face with his hands and bent over, and bent down so that I could see the damage the salt water had done. As soon as I did, he caught me off guard and fought back, pouring triple the amount of water on me and soaking me instantly.

"You asked for it, young lady!" he laughed, even though his eyes were red, and I couldn't help but laugh at the look on his face, typical of a child who's had a drink of water.

"Can you run, Suan?", I asked, closing my eyes with an angry smile. "THEN YOU'D BETTER LEARN!"

Steve let out an almost girlish yelp, feigning fear, and ran off, being followed by me despite the difficulty the water caused. We frolicked in the sea for a time I couldn't calculate, until he finally decided to let me sunbathe while he lay on the lounger beside me, reading a book and looking even whiter than its pages due to the large amount of sunblock I had rubbed on it. Every now and then he would take a swim, and when he came back, he refused to apply another layer of sunblock, despite my constant warnings to be careful. The sun was too strong for an unaccustomed person like him to expose himself like that.

The day went by calmly, between cuddling and swimming, and we only left the beach once, to eat a light salad that we prepared together. When it was already getting dark, we watched the sunset, as on the previous afternoon, and went into the house to take a shower as soon as the sky became totally dark.

"Oh, Lil," he whined as he came out of the bathroom. I had already taken my shower, and was sitting on the end of the bed rubbing cream into my hair while staring vacantly at the TV on in front of me.

"What? - I asked, and when I looked in his direction, my eyes and mouth immediately opened. He was all red, especially under his eyes where he always rubbed after getting out of the water because of the salt. His eyes were watering a little, and his expression was one of agony.

"It's burning," he said in a whiny voice, walking slowly toward me so that it wouldn't sting at all, and I ran up to him in dismay. I made mention of touching him, but quickly turned back, because of the panic his eyes showed when he realized my intention.

"I told you to put on some more sunscreen, Steve!" I groaned, biting my lower lip in pity. "Come, sit here and I'll put some cream on you."

I led Steve by the hand, the only place that didn't seem to be burning so badly, to the bed, and he sat down carefully, wearing only his boxers. I climbed on the bed behind him, with the after-sun cream in hand, and began to spread it over his shoulders gently, while he just stood still, afraid that something would burn at any movement. When everything had been properly treated and smelled wonderful thanks to the cream, he smiled at me, looking like a little shrimp. A very grateful little shrimp, by the way.

"Sorry, Lil," he murmured, making a sad face, and at that moment I frowned in confusion, kneeling in front of him. "Now I'll barely be able to hug you."

I gave an understanding smile, feeling a slight twinge of agony. Can someone explain to me why my newly adopted anti-Nicholas doctrine seemed even harder to follow after this conclusion from Steve?

"It's okay, love," I spoke, swallowing all my thoughts and playing shyly with his fingers. "I don't mind, really."

And not caring would be a thousand times easier if Nicholas showed up later. Come to think of it, woe to him if he doesn't. He'll be a disgraced man, if you can even associate that word with the existence of razor-sharp scalpels in biology labs.

OK, pretend I didn't think that. My mind is too rotten to be taken seriously.

"I wanted this weekend to be perfect," Steve whispered, holding my hands so gently that they seemed to be made of a sacred material. "But as usual, I blew it."

"Hey," I grumbled, making an angry face, "Don't start, Suan."

He just sighed and raised his gaze from my hands to my eyes, smiling and saying:

"You really don't exist."

Yes, I know. Another thing that doesn't exist is a thing called time. Where is the time that doesn't pass for Nicholas to arrive soon?

Argh... I don't even need to tell you that you should erase this sentence from your memory too. Maybe even hell isn't bad enough for me.