"That happened a long time ago," I tell her, gliding my palms up the sides of her bare legs. "At least for me it did."
Her jaw tightens. "It's things like that which make them blurry and things last night... and things like in the car."
"There seems to be a lot of things, which I think might be a hint that you and I belong together."
Her eyes snap wide and I back off to try another tactic. She needs to smile and let those stressed lips free. I pinch her side and she squeals.
"Don't do that," she says, holding back a laugh. "You know I hate being tickled."
I graze my fingers across her other side and she squirms, before falling over the fence and landing on her back in the grass. I leap over the fence easily as she scrambles to her feet. She narrows her eyes, backing toward her back door. I run up to the side of her and she skitters out of my reach. She glances at the door and then at the front yard, which is closer to her.
"Micha, seriously," she warns. "We're too old for this."
I spread my arms out to the side innocently. "I'm not doing anything."
Her eyes flick to her house one last time and then shaking her head, she spins around and runs for the front yard. I give her a head start before I sprint off after her. When I round the house, she's up on the front porch, jiggling the door knob.
I laugh at her. "Is it locked?"
She heaves a frustrated sigh and hops over the railing, slipping on the grass. "Dammit Micha! I'm so going to kick your ass for this."
"I'm planning on holding you to that threat." I jog after her across the neighbor's yard.
She races across the grass, her hair falling out of a clip. She leaps over the brick fence into the next yard and smashes a row of flowers. Without using my hands, I hop onto the fence, but trip during my dismount and fall on my knees.
She freezes in the middle of the lawn and starts to laugh at me. "You so deserved that."
I get to my feet, dusting the dirt off my knees, and a dark smile rises on my face. "You think that's funny?"
Her eyes sparkle and it's worth the fall. "You look ridiculous."
"Do I?" I take a step toward her.
She takes a step back. "You do."
Abruptly the sprinklers turn on, drenching the grass and her. She screams and covers her head with her arms.
"Serves you right for laughing at me," I say with a grin.
She lets her arms fall to the side and smirks. "Well, at least it keeps you away from me."
Her dress is clinging to her body in all the right places and pieces of her wet hair stick to the sides of her face. She begins to twirl in circles with her hands up above her head.
"You're beautiful," I say, unable to help myself.
Ella
Micha looks ridiculous and I can't help but laugh. I haven't laughed in so long that it feels unnatural leaving my mouth. It's like we're kids again, as if this moment belongs in another time where things are weightless and full of sunshine.
As I'm laughing at him, the sprinklers turn on and my clothes instantly get soaked. At first I squeal, but then I let go, lifting my hands above my head and twirling in the water, figuring he won't come in after me.
He calls out something about me being beautiful and then he charges into the sprinklers, completely blind-siding me. His arms snake around my waist and we collapse to the ground but Micha holds my weight up, so I land on the wet grass gently.
"Micha," I say, trying to be serious. "Don't do it. You know how much I hate being tickled."
"Which makes it even more appealing." Water beads in his hair, his long eyelashes, his lips. With one hand, he pins my arms above my head and presses his body against mine. My wet clothes cling to my skin and I can feel every part of him. "I take that back. This is more appealing." He lets his hand move up my ribs, his thumb sketching along the ridges, sending my body into a frenzy.
I stop fighting him and lay perfectly still. Water sprinkles our faces as he lowers his lips to mine. Our wet tongues twine together, full of desire as they collide. A strange, unfamiliar feeling opens inside of me again and my legs fall apart and hook around his waist, requesting more of him, like they did last night.
Micha draws back, looking surprised as he glances at the house to the side of us and then at the street. Then he lets out an untamed growl and deepens the kiss, thrusting his tongue deep into my mouth. I suck on his bottom lip and trace my tongue along his lip ring. It sends a quiver through his body and I'm secretly pleased, but my pleasure confuses me.
"Ella," he groans and then kisses me fiercely. His hand travels upward and cups my br**sts. His thumb circles around my nipple and through the wet fabric of my clothes, the feeling is mind blowing. It's driving me wild and my knees vice-grip against his hips.
A moan laced with ecstasy crumbles from my lips. I'm starting to lose control again and it's alarming. I try to get past it this time, but it consumes me and I have to stop. After a lot of effort, I get my arms between our bodies and I push him away.
"We should get back." I look at the brick home of the yard we're laying in. "Besides if Miss Fenerly comes out, she'll have a heart attack."
Micha's aqua eyes penetrate me. There's mud on his forehead and grass in the locks of his blonde hair. "If that's what you want." Maneuvering to his feet, he takes my hand and lifts me to mine. He plucks pieces of grass out of my hair and lets his hand linger on my cheek.
Holding hands, we walk across the grass and down the sidewalk, leaving a trail of water behind us and something else. Something invisible to the outside eye, but to me it's more noticeable than the sun in the sky.
Chapter 13
Micha
I'm determined to have a party tonight, even though I'm not a fan of parties. Never really have been. I just like how they block out all the noise inside my head and what I'm hoping is that tonight's will block out the sound of my dad's voice.
Ella bailed on me when we got back to our houses, muttering something about finding her father. I offered to go with her, but she declined and took Lila instead. I let her be because I sensed she needed space. I was fine with her taking some time as long as it wasn't the space of five hundred miles.
Ethan and I take a break from working on the car to plan the party. After a massive amount of text messages are sent out and a couple of keggers ordered by Ethan, we're good to go.
We're hanging around in the kitchen, waiting for people to start showing up when clouds start rolling in and thunder rattles at the windows.
"Can I ask you something?" Ethan asks abruptly.