Page 62 of Do It With Me

“Thank you for letting me be part of it,” I murmured, swallowing the lust that shot through me like a lightning bolt for having her body pressed so close to mine. “We should get back to them.”

She sighed through her nostrils but nodded. “You’re not wrong.”

Her mom called out suddenly, waving at us from the shore. “Ella, look. Seashells!”

Ellora laughed and broke away from me. “Come on, I’ll race you to the shore.”

She took off swimming and I let her go, wading back behind her but knowing I needed a minute for my body to calm down. Whenever she touched me, I was hard as a rock and ready to go, so I stayed in the water while they walked along the wet sand, only joining them once there was no more tent in my trunks.

It was a delicate balance, this thing she and I had going. On the one hand, she made me feel like a teenager. Not only because my libido had been pushed into a gear it had last seen when I’d been sixteen, but also because it felt like I was on the cusp of something great, and new, and exciting.

But on the other hand, it went so, so much deeper than that. I felt her pain like it was my own and I knew she was going through something unbearably difficult. This wasn’t just the casual start of a potential new relationship. It felt like we were being forged in fire, the lust and excitement of something new mingling with the deeper, shared understanding of a relationship that had grown through the trials of life.

As we walked, the doctor kept watching from a polite distance and Bree laughed as she collected shells in the hem of her dress. Ellora bent down and picked up a perfect pink conch, polished smooth by the tide. She handed it to her mom, who held it like it was treasure.

“For me?” Sara asked, genuine, childlike wonder in her voice. “It’s beautiful. Are you sure you want me to have it?”

“Always,” Ellora said.

Her mom smiled and tucked the shell close to her chest. “Then I’ll keep it forever.”

Ellora looked up at me through wet lashes, and for one perfect moment, everything felt still and meaningful, like time itself had decided to take a breath and let her have this. Just one last afternoon on the beach with her beloved mother.