I pushed him away and got out of the water. I waited for him to do the same before speaking, “It’s okay. You won.”
I tried to catch my breath. There was no victorious smile on his face; he looked even more serious than me. I could see him swallowing with difficulty, not even recovering the air that I was sure he must have needed.
I got out of the water as quickly as I could. I didn’t care about getting my hands and knees dirty; he did the same.
His white shirt clung to his body, revealing his entire abdomen. It wasn’t the first time I had seen it, so it didn’t surprise me again, but another thought came to my mind. I noticed Nick was also looking at my body. I looked down at my clothes and saw that my shirt was also clinging to my body, but it was transparent, he could see all of my skin and my pink polka dot bra. I blushed and crossed my arms over my chest, covering them.
“I’m hungry,” I hurriedly said. I walked towards our picnic. I didn’t let go of my arms, and I didn’t plan to.
Nick moved away from me, still with an unfriendly expression. “Stay there.”
What? Where is he going? I didn’t have time to ask; he had already disappeared behind the trees.
I didn’t worry; he had to come back, I thought he had gone to pee, but after fifteen minutes, I started to get anxious. At thirty minutes, I was getting nervous, and when an hour passed, I was hysterical.
I was about to go look for the van when I saw him approaching with a jacket in his hand. My blouse was almost dry, but my bra wasn’t, so when he handed me the jacket, I thanked him endlessly.
“Did you go all the way to the van just to get this?”
Nick sat beside me without saying a word and grabbed some sandwiches. I didn’t want to mention it, so I didn’t.
“Why did you decide to come to this university?” Nick finally asked without looking at me.
“I guess… Well, first of all, it’s a very good university. Also, Mom wanted me to be with you and Olivia. To see how you both were now.”
“How were we?” he asked, finally looking at me.
“Yes… It’s been many years, hasn’t it? And I wanted to see the older version of you.”
“What do I look like?”
“What do I think?” I asked, blushing and half stammering.
Stammering? Really? Since when do I do that?
“Was that what you were expecting?”
I tried to distract myself by spreading some butter on the toast Nick had brought. “I don’t know. I thought, well, you’d be a bit more like you were when we were kids. The last time I saw you, you were much shorter and thinner. I still remember it very well. ‘A little jam here too…'”
“Do you remember how I was back then?”
“Yes, I can’t get the last time we saw each other out of my head.”
Did I say what I think I said? Was I that stupid? I would relate it to the kiss. Of course, I would.
“Well… It’s what years at the gym do,” he said, smiling.
He ignored my comment. Perfect.
“And you, Nick? How’s life treating you?”
Just before he could answer me, Nick’s phone started ringing. As soon as he saw the name on the screen, he rolled his eyes and answered.
“What?” Silence for a while. “Alright, why are you calling me?” he asked disinterestedly. Alright, good luck.
He hung up with whoever it was and left the phone by his side. “Who was that?”
“Olivia, she’s going on another trip.”
I choked on the food. Alone with Nick again? Who’s going to save me now?
“Seriously? She just came back…”
“Yes, but her job requires it. Many business trips.”
“And for how long?”
“I don’t know. She didn’t tell me. But never more than four days.” He shrugged as if it didn’t matter, when for me, it was vital that she be home.
We heard thunder, and I flinched in surprise. I hate thunder.
“I see you still fear them,” Nick reminded me, and I just nodded.
I’ve been afraid of them since I was a child. I remember that when there was a storm, Nick always slept with me because my brother never wanted to, repeating over and over that I would give him lice.
I didn’t have lice.
At least, not many.
“Yes, I do, but I don’t need anyone to sleep with me anymore. I’m all grown up now.” I smiled at him, and he rolled his eyes. I know he found it amusing.
“Well, then we’d better leave. It’s going to rain, and pretty hard.”
I nodded at that, even though I wanted to stay longer. We packed everything up and took the long walk back to the van. Nick asked me several questions about my life in Portland, which caught my attention; he seemed genuinely interested. We continued talking all the way back home, no longer forcing this relationship to work. It was working. And it was perfect.