Trusting You

~Chapter 42

"Where exactly are we going? And since when did you have your own car?" I question.

"So demanding." Erick teases.

I huff in response.

He chuckles and says, "I got my driver's license last week. Mom was so happy she gave me her car."

I grin.

"Why didn't you tell me?" I ask.

"It was part of the surprise. And yes, there's more, and no, I'm not revealing anything now." He says before I can get a word in sideways.

In case you're wondering, Erick pulled me out of the house this morning and is now kidnapping my somewhere to some place.

I don't know how he won over my parents as much as he did.

Actually, I do.

My own siblings probably love him as much as they love me.

They all jumped on him and attacked him with hugs when they saw him.

I didn't bother pulling them off him.

Especially not when Erick looked at me for help.

I just laughed.

"We here." He says finally.

He gets out of the car and opens my door for me, helping me out.

"Where are we?" I ask, confused.

"A place that is quite personal to me." He says.

I take in my surroundings.

We're in a peculiar place, by the sea.

It's quite, calm and...beautiful.

The ocean is visible from where we're standing.

There's a dock that seems to stretch for a kilometer or so around the boundaries of the ocean.

Erick takes me hand in his and silently leads me to the dock where we sit and watch the ocean in silence.

"You come here a lot?" I ask, arching a brow.

"Only when I want to clear my head." He says.

"Are you implying that you want to clear your head right now?" I ask, teasing him slightly.

His green eyes focus on me.

"No, I just like spending time with you." He says, making my heart flutter.

"Why here though? Why not surfing or something?" I ask.

"We've already done those things. I want every moment with you to be special. I want everything we do together to be different, fun and adventurous." He says.

I look away, unsure of what to say.

"I like spending time with you too, you know?" I say quietly.

I'm not usually one to talk about my feelings a lot.

He smiles.

"You know, this place reminds me of my father a lot. He had green eyes too. They seemed to twinkle at me whenever I made him laugh, or whenever he was proud of me." He says quietly.

I can tell this is hard for him.

I take his hand in mine.

"What was he like?" I ask, curious to know what the man who raised Erick would have been like.

"He was patient when I was not. He was daring and adventurous. He had always wanted to learn French, but he never could. He taught me how to surf for the first time, he was so patient with me. He didn't laugh at me when I fell, he didn't get angry often, but when he did, it was like the world fell. He was a man of good virtue and he told me that if I wanted to win with the ladies, I'd have to learn a thing or two about flirting. I was only thirteen at the time, so I didn't know how to. You know what he did? He taught me. He taught me how to flirt!" He says, making me laugh.