Never Again

Chapter Six

"Good morning beautiful." His voice tickles my ear, waking me up. Opening my yes, I smile. His blonde locks are deliciously disheveled; his pink lips are plump from the night's sleep. I could get used to this. "Me too," I hear him say.

"What?"

"I could get used to this too, sweetheart," he says, tucking a stray hair behind my ear. I blush, realizing I said my thoughts out loud. "But it'll have to end for today, we have a race later, and as much as I want to, we can't afford to lie in bed all day! We do have a trip ahead of us too!" I look at the clock and see that it's already pretty late. I groan and he laughs. "C'mon, up and at 'em!" He hits my butt, and I squeal.

"Matty!" He just walks into the bathroom, laughing. Begrudgingly, I get up and stretch. I begin to shuffle through my drawers for my bathing suit. Finding my bottoms, I slip them on under Matty's shirt. "Matty, have you seen my bathing suit top?"

"Which one?" he calls from the bathroom.

"The black and white polka dots, any idea?"

"Your dresser?" I roll my eyes.

Some help you are. I keep looking, throwing my belongings this way and that; when I finally find it, I let out a little "Ah ha!" and tie it on.

"Someone's looking sexy." Whipping around I spy Matty in his swim trunks and a white V-neck.

"Thanks, babe." I smile and throw on an Anthem made tank top and a random pair on denim shorts. "You ready?" He shakes his head yes and grabs my hand. I'm about to question, but I see him toying with the ring. Butterflies begin to form, thinking of last night.

"My wife..." Matty begins to kiss up my arm, making me giggle.

"Almost wife," I correct. He shakes his head no.

"In my mind, I've already take that pretty white dress off your-"

"Okay, okay!" I throw my head back, letting out an awkward laugh. Matty gruins and kisses my lips.

"Let's go, wife-to-be. We have a race to win."

~~~

The traffic is light, so the trip to Liberty Landing Marina is smooth. I was asleep most of the time, but when I manage to stay awake, Matty and I sang along to our CD titled "Road Time", which consists of anything from disco to Michael Jackson. His voice is awful, but I don't care- I just love to see him smile. Pulling up to the New Jersey marina reminds me of last night at the party: just as crazy, but twice as busy. Care line the parking lot and sides of the roads, and double that of various yachts are docked along the piers. It's gorgeously crazy; the atmosphere is just buzzing with excitement.

"You ready?" I shake my head yes. Getting out of the car, we lock hands and make our way to Bale's Fire. Peter, an old friend of Matty's, meets us there.

"Matty," he shakes his hand. "Just finished the last check-over; she's all good, she's all yours!" he pops the keys out of his hand and they fly to Matty. Catching them, he smiles. "Break a leg, dude." Matty nods his head and motions to toward the boat. I climb in board and Matty follows.

"Thanks for everything, Pete!" Peter mock-salutes and walks off, leaving Matty and me to ourselves. Matty scoops me up and envelopes me in a hug. Nuzzling into his neck, I breathe in his cologne and sigh. "Do I smell that good?" I pull back and find him grinning.

"Shut up, Matty." I playfully shove his away and turn to leave, but he grabs my hand, spins me back into him, and kisses me.

"I love you," he whispers.