Never Alone

Start Over New

I jogged up the stairs and knocked on Brooke's door before going through, "Brooke? It takes you two hours to get ready for a...." My eyes widened as I looked at her. My heart seemed to set in over drive as I stared at her, "I've never seen that one before." She blushed a little as she grabbed her phone up from the bed side table.

She nodded and said, "It's new. Like it?" She asked. As she spun around, I nodded, she was so beautiful and she didn't even know it.

"Gorgeous. Do you know how beautiful you are?" I asked, taking her hands in mine. I put my forehead to hers and looked deep into her eyes.

She just shrugged in answer. I kissed her cheek and whispered, "More beautiful than I can explain." She smiled and I caught a tinge of pink in her cheeks. She blushed so easily around me. "Ready?" She nodded and followed behind me, her hand clasped around mine.

Annie met us in the kitchen on our way out, "Hey, kiddies, what time will you be back?" Brooke pulled a jacket on and stuffed her hands into her pockets.

"Is eight all right?" Brooke looked at me oddly; like I had just grown a few more eyes.

Annie grinned and nodded, "Of course, just . . . Take care of her?" I nodded and softly smiled,

"Always." She nodded and hugged her daughter,

"Have fun!"

"We will," Brooke said as we headed out the door. I went over to Brooke's side of the car and opened her door for her. She thanked me and got in. I shut the door gently and went over to my side.

"Ready?" I asked as I turned the key in the ignition. She nodded with a heart-throbbing smile. I examined Brooke's bikini once more and smiled, "I honestly do think that you look fantastic."

"Thank you," her voice was a tad shy as she mumbled. She shouldn't be shy, not around me. "You don't look too bad yourself." I chuckled and shook my head. I was in my swim trunks, they were white with blue designs on them.

"Thank you. I try." She nodded and questioned,

"Do you work out?" I stopped at a red light, looked down at my stomach and attempted to pull my skin. When I didn't get very far, I looked over at her,

"Yeah." She laughed and rolled her eyes playfully.

➰➰➰

Sitting down in the sand, I set my legs apart so Brooke could sit between them. She leaned against my chest and closed her eyes. I intwined our fingers and kissed her head. "I'm going to end up getting an uneven tan . . ." Brooke trailed off.

"We can switch position."

"It's fine."

"All right."

After awhile of tanning, we got up and decided to go to the ice cream shop on the right side of the beach. It was a very big beach, nothing like your small local beach that hardly gets used. I wrapped my arm around Brooke's shoulders and quietly spoke, "You should get another tattoo."

She looked up at me and asked, "Why?"

"For when we go to the beach."

She chuckled and shook her head, "Yeah since you were so for me getting the first one," she joked.

I scoffed with a small smile, "I just wanted to be sure that you wouldn't regret it. You'll most likely have the tattoo forever so you have to make sure that you won't get tired of it." She nodded,

"I'm joking, I know."

"I know, I'm just saying."

She thought for a moment, "What would I even get?"