Hoax by Lila Felix Page B

easy.
                  Instead, I smiled at him, straightened my body and let myself sink to the bottom and swim back towards the shallow end.  I sat on the steps and leaned back on my elbows while his back was still turned to me.  I lifted my face to the skies to take in the moon and the stars. 
                  “You suck.” He said and we both laughed. After a few minutes, I heard splashing and sloshing water.
                  “Corinne” He whispered it, suddenly in front of me.
                  “I don’t want to but I need to go.  I have to work tomorrow, you know, here.”  He chuckled a bit but I could tell that he really hated to go.
                  “And I have to go to Monroe tomorrow.  Mrs. Stephenson ordered some curtains and I have to go pick them up.  So I’m not sure if I will see you tomorrow or not.”
                  He groaned and I loved the sound of it because it meant that he was going to miss me.
                  “Ok, well, we better get out.”
                  I got out, followed by Abel and grabbed a towel to dry off.  He dried off beside me and picked up his stuff to leave.  He stopped in front of me and tucked his clothes under his arm. 
                  “Why don’t you call me when you get home tomorrow?” He said as he lifted a wet strand of hair from my face.
                  “Mmmmhmmm,” and he walked away from me.  I shivered, not because I was cold but because I felt bereft of his presence. How weird it was to feel a chill in the middle of the summer heat.  Abel was constantly messing with my temperature and I loved every second of it.
                  I walked to the fence which separated the pool area from the rest of the backyard and held on to the points of the fence boards watching him leave.  How do you get so attached to someone after only two weeks? He looked back as if he heard me but continued on to his truck.  He opened the door, threw his stuff in and then stilled, standing in the opening.
                  Turn around, turn around, turn around. For the love of all that’s holy, turn around.
                  He backed away from the truck and did just that.  He walked back towards me and I held on so dearly to the fence boards that I could feel shards of wood pricking my skin, threatening to leave a splinter.  I couldn’t tear my eyes away from his; they were so full of want, so full of care.
                  He finally reached the fence and pulled me to him, both hands on each side of my face.  He didn’t hesitate—perfect.  I gripped the towel that made an upside down U around his neck and used the grip to pull him even closer.  His lips, his mouth, his tongue, I swear were all ten degrees warmer than mine.  I found myself needing this warmth now, yearning for him to warm me inside and out.
                  His thumbs began to caress my face slower and slower and they matched the pace of his mouth, coming to a halt. 
                  “Hmmmmm,” it was an inadvertent sound that came from my throat.
                  He chuckled, his lips paying homage to me one last time by enveloping my chin. 
                  “I really have to go,” he said as he started to back away.
                  “Ok, bye.”  I watched him make a repeat trip to his car and went inside before he started it up and before I tried to stop him from leaving.  I went straight into the bathroom and took a warm shower.  And standing there with the water pouring down my face I found myself smiling—smiling in the shower like a goon. 
                  I had dated two guys in my life.  One was a summer fling.  I don’t even know if one would call it dating.  But the whole time he was sharing walks with me in the woods at night, trying to get