Make It Last (11 page)

             
“I remember everything, Bree,”
he
assured her as he opened the door.

             
When they wer
e escorted to their table, he
pulled out Briana’s seat for her, then sat across from her. Her delighted grin made him happy that he’d been taking care to be a gentleman for her.

             
They ordered their food and caught up as they nibbled on spinach dip.

             
“So,” Briana began, “how are your parents doing?”

             
“They seem happie
r than they’ve ever been,” he
answered. “Mom started playing tennis and has made a beaut
iful garden in their yard. She’
s taking more time for herself, since
I’m
out of the house, which is really good for her. Sin
ce she’
s so happy, that makes D
ad happy. They’
re going out on date nights now and everything.”

             
“That’s wonderful. They’re such a great couple. I’
ve always looked up to them for that,” Briana admitted. “When I get married, I hope my marriage is as great as theirs.”

             
“Me
, too,
”
Colin replied, reaching
over the table to hold her
hand.
“I know I’ve said this already, but I’ve really missed you, Bree.”

             
She
looked down at the joined hands and then back up into his dark eyes.

             
“I’m sure you’ve had plenty of com
pany over the last few years,” s
he said softly, not voicing the question that was apparent in her face.
             

             
“
I’m not going to lie and say that I didn’t date after we broke up. I kept things pretty casual for the most part, but I did have on
e
girlfriend while I was in school
.
It was more
of
a status thing. We liked each other, but we weren’t in love. It was nothing like my relationship with you, Bree.
You’re
the only girl that I’ve ever been in love with.”

             
Briana blushed at that, and couldn’t help the smile that
formed
at his words. She’d always
assumed
that he’d see other girls while he was a way, and she’d figured that unlike her, he would have anoth
er relationship. B
ut she couldn’t help the uneasy feeling that came with hearing he’d had another girlfriend.

             
“What happened?” s
he asked. “Why’d you break up?”

             
“She was only interested in dating me because I played football and was getting scouted. Once I got injured, there was nothing that I could do to help her get what she wanted.”

             
“That sucks,” she
said, getting angry on his behalf. “She sounds like a terrible person.”

             
Colin chuckled at her reaction.
“Nah, she’s not that bad,” he replied. “Like I said, we knew what our relationship was, so the only thing that was injured when she dumped me was my pride.”

             
Briana squeezed his hand, then let it go when their food arrived and they both began to eat.

             
They talked a bit more while they ate, catching up on things they’d missed in each other’s lives since they’d last spoke
n
.
As they waited for the waiter to return with their bill, Briana talked to him about Pete’s love for Kara.

             
“I feel so bad. He’
s been in love with her for over a year, and every time she brings another guy around, she crushes him a little bit more.”

             
“Does she know how he feels?” Colin asked.

             
She frowned. “She thinks he has a crush, so
she doesn’t take him seriously. She says that she wants to stay single and just enjoy life, but I don’t think she is enjoying life. I think she would love
to have someone, but that she’
s afraid of being hurt.”

             
After he signed the bill, Co
l
in took her hand and said, “You have to let them work this out. If you interfere, you’re just going to upset Kara.”

             
“I know,” she
admitted, “but I know that Pete is exactly what she needs. I just wish she’d give him a chance.”

             
They walked out of the restaurant, but Colin paused before they got to his truck.

             
“I know that you have to
get up early to go to your Moms
, but I’m not re
ady for our night to end.” He
pushed a strand of hair behind her ear as he spoke.

             
“It’s still early,” she
responded. “What did you have in mind?”

             
“I have a bottle of wine in the truck. How about the gravel pits
?” h
e suggested.

             
“Okay,” she
agreed with a smile, reaching up to give him a soft kiss on the lips. “Thanks for dinner.”

             
He
leaned
into her and deepened the kiss.
“My pleasure.”

             
When they got to the gravel pits and snuck through the fence, Colin opened his bag and produced a blanket, a bottle of wine, a corkscrew and two glasses.

             
“Looks like you thought of everything,” Briana said, pleasure lighting up her face.

             
He
spread out the blanket near the edge of the wate
r and opened the bottle as she
got comfortable.
He poured her a glass and handed it to her, sitting down so their thighs touched.

             
He held his glass up to her and said, “To second chances, and to the most amazing woman I know.”

             
“To second chances,” she
toasted.

             
She took a sip
and looked out over the water.
“It’s a beautiful night. I love the way the moon shines out over the water. It’s magical.”

             
Colin looked at her face reflected in the moonlight as he tried his wine. He felt the familiar longing and contentment that he al
ways had when he was with her
.

             
“Hey
.
” She turned to him with a wicked grin. “Wanna go swimming?”

             
“We don’t have our suits.
”

             
“You gonna let that stop you?”
she
asked as she stood up and placed her glass on a nearby rock and began to pull her shirt over her head.

             
Colin watched, awestruck, as she shimmied out of her skirt, then walked to the water and looked over her shoulder at him as she took off her bra and threw it on the ground next to her.

             
She gave him a come-hit
her smile. H
e jumped to
his feet and yanked his shirt
over
his head. When he pulled at his buckle, he watched as she strode to the water and dove in, her gorgeous body softly glowing in the moonlight.

             
He almost tripped in his eagerness to get his pants off, but quickly righted himself and finished taking off the rest of his clothing.
It seemed he wa
s no longer capable of rational thought. H
is sole focus was on getting in that water as fast as possible.

             
He barely registered the chill of the water as he dove in the direction that Briana had gone. When he surfaced, she was a few feet away from him, treading water as she waited.

             
He swam up
to her and pulled her to him.
S
he wound her arms around his neck.

             
Their lips met frantically, both of them reveling in the feel of their wet bodies meeting beneath the water, forgetting momentarily to kick their legs in order to stay above water.

             
They stayed in the kiss for a moment, as their heads submerged, then pulled apart and resurfaced with a few kicks.

             
They were both laughing as they came up for air, then began to slowly swim towards the shallow end.
When they reached solid ground, they came together, bodies hot and eager to touch.

             
Briana moaned
in
to
his mouth
, as Colin
began to lose control. Their hands we
re everywhere, the silky feel of her body
turning him on more than he’d ever been. He broke from her lips and trailed kisses along her jaw and neck
as her hands roamed freely under the surface.

             
The light shining in his face barely registered, as Colin licked and nibbled eagerly al
ong Briana’s shoulder, fueled
by the soft sounds emitting from her throat.

             
But when he heard a voice say, “Come out of the water and leave the premises,
you’re
on private property,” t
he fog in his brain began to clear.

             
They
broke apart and looked over towards the voice, which
had come from a police officer.
He shined
his flashlight in their direction.

             
“Come out of the water folks,” t
he
officer
said again.

             
Colin was almost to the shore when he realized tha
t he and Briana were naked. She hid
shyly behind his body.

             
“
Um, Sir, w
e’
re going to exit the water, but would you mind turning off the flashlight and allowing my date to get her clothes?” Colin said loudly, trying to sound firm but respectful at the same time. He didn’t want to anger the cop and get them in any further trouble.

             
The light went out and the policeman turned. They ran from the water to their clothes and dress
ed as quickly as possible,
their bodies’ slick and no
towels available to dry off
.

             
Once they were dressed, Colin threw everything back into the bag and thanked the officer as they made their way back towards the fence.

             
“Just remember this is private property and it’s n
ot safe to be out here at night,” t
he police officer called after them. “Don’t let me catch you here again.”

             
“Yes, Sir,” they both yelled back at him as they scurried down the road to Colin’s truck.

             
When they got inside, they both started laughing, and soon Briana was overcome by giggles.

             
“I was so scared
when he started talking,” she
managed. “I never heard him come up.”

             
“Neither did I
.
I almost had a heart attack when I realized what was happening.”

             
Briana giggled all the way back to her house. She tried to make her hair look presentable, but without access to a mi
rror and brush, she just threw
it up in a bun on her head.

             
When he parked in front o
f her house, he turned to her and asked
, “Can I walk you to your door?”

             
“Of course.”

             
He smiled
, his dimples causing her heart to flutter in her chest.
He held her hand up the stairs and turned her towards him when they reached her door.

             
“Thanks again for coming out with me, Bree. I had a wonderful time, cops and all.”

             
“So did I,”
she
agreed. “I can’t remember the last time I had so much fun.”

             
He leaned down slowly, watching her eyes as he drew near. He brought his hand
s up to either side of her face
and held her gently, as his lips touched hers.