Temporarily Yours

Chapter 24

If you want to know
how much  I love you,
count the waves my dear.

::::

  The waves of the Caribbean Sea cascaded in and ebbed out, lapping up on the shore over and over again, creating a sense of calm. I stood at the water's edge, allowing the water to flow over my feet. Taking a deep breath, I stuffed my hands into my khakis shorts' pockets, feeling the warm tropical breeze ripple my shirt. It was finally here, Crash My Playa.

  Just as I had done the first year, last year, I had a private part of the beach to myself, away from the commotion of thousands of country music fans at the resorts. I wasn't totally avoiding them, I'd go in there a few times, but I just enjoyed the peacefulness. Although, I'm very excited to have my own section of the beach this year in particle. This was because Caroline would be joining me.

  I was jolted from my thoughts by the sound of a car door slamming shut. Immediately I turned on my heel, spinning toward the direction of the bang. I was met with Caroline opening the back hatch of a van, lugging suitcases out of it and setting them on the drive. It'd been three days since I'd last saw her before she took off to Georgia. My heart leapt into my throat when I saw her, she was finally here. And she looked just as gorgeous as ever. Her hair was done up in a messy bun on the top of her head and her makeup was done, but lightly. She was wearing a thin, white sweater and short jean shorts. She was beautiful.

I ran up toward the house, closing the space between us. "Caroline!" I said enthusiastically.

She popped her head up and a grin erupted on her face. "Luke, hey, I made it!"

  I approached her and didn't even hesitate wrapping her in my arms, squeezing her tight. She relaxed almost instantly and nuzzled her head into my chest. The rapid pounding of my heart was obviously not going to slow down anytime soon.

"I missed you," I whispered, slightly chuckling.

  She clutched my body slightly harder. "I missed you too, you have no idea."

We pulled apart, breaking away from our heartfelt embrace. I stood back a little bit and truly admired Caroline's beauty in the rays of sunshine. I don't think I'll ever get used to that feeling I get when I see her.

Caroline slightly giggled and shook her head. I gave her a quizzical glance. "What?"

"Oh," She chuckled. "It's the fact that we just hugged like we were never gonna see each other again and we'd only been away from each other for three days."

"Well it sure did feel like a lifetime, not three days. I missed having you around, mostly I missed you like crazy girl." I admitted. Her cheeks flushed pink, the blush causing her to look away in embarrassment. My heart swelled. I loved when I could make her blush so easily.

Caroline looked toward the back of the van, motioning to the last suitcase and carry on bag left in there. "Can you help me?" She asked.

I nodded and lifted the suitcase out with ease, gently setting it down onto the concrete before moving to grab the carry on. As I reached over, I accidentally bumped into her, causing us to topple back into the truck, leaving limbs tangled her and there. We looked at each other and just started laughing. Pretty sure people could hear our belly-rumbling bellows from across the beach.