June 19th – outside Yachats, Oregon

I roll onto my back and stretch out in the huge bed. Sunlight cascades though the open windows and the room is filled with the sounds of the waves against the beach. Steven is moving around downstairs, but I don’t have the energy to investigate. My body aches from the combination of sightseeing and sex.

This beach house is rented for the week and I am enjoying our time together. Too soon summer will end and college will start. But I won’t think of that. I’m here to enjoy myself and Steven of course. I’ve enjoyed Steven all morning. We only got out of bed to eat breakfast and it is.... I rolled over to reach my phone; this place doesn’t have any clocks. Two eighteen. No wonder I am hungry. Maybe I should see what Steven is doing.

Footsteps on the stairs mean I don’t have to. I set the phone down and pretend to sleep as Steven comes in the room. A small thud—maybe a tray against the table—a rustle of papers, the sigh of fabric hitting the floor. The dip as the bed is climbed on and then hands upon my naked back. Kisses follow. I sigh.

“Do you want to go out for lunch,” Steven asks as his lips reach my shoulder, “or should I show you how scrumptious you look?”

I don’t want to get up. I like the feeling of Steven’s chest against my back. I want Steven to take me like he did this morning, totally until we aren’t two bodies but one. One body, one heart, one soul. I moan in frustration. “I’ve at least got to make it as far as downstairs.”

The bathroom is on the second floor next to the kitchen. The first floor is the living room and entry way. The third is a round bedroom with windows on all but the thirty degrees that face the road.

Steven rolls off and I force myself up. I feel Steven’s eyes on me and that turns me on in all sorts of ways. I should have taken care of business while Steven was downstairs. Then I could be indulging myself now. I lift the yukata Steven dropped and slip it on before hurrying downstairs.

When I come back up, the tray is on Steven’s nightstand and Steven has a notebook on his lap, a cup of tea in one hand, and a map in the other. I climb onto the other side of the bed and take the tea. It is warm and sweet. Steven likes me to drink it after I’ve bottomed. He says that it will make me more comfortable, which it does, but I’m not sure how. I glance at Steven. “What have we got?”

“Monita call again right before we left. She says we should pick up Javier on the fifth, but that’s when we’ll been in Paris.”

I set down the empty cup and pick up the notebook opened to the page with our itinerary. “Why should we change our plans for her again? We told her the fifth before, didn’t we? And she said not until the tenth. Paris is closer to London than Madrid is.”

Why does that woman constantly change her mind? Is she trying to drive us insane? She still hasn’t decided whether Javier is only going to spend a month in the States or live here permanently. Quinton’s mother wants us to pick him up first thing, so he can take the Grand Tour with us. And she hasn’t changed her mind even once. Benedetto’s mother has given an emphatic no to the idea of seeing us. Steven might have a way around her objection. We are going to spend two weeks in Italy, but none of it in Naples where Benedetto lives.

I haven’t asked. I want Steven to talk about it, but I don’t want to be the one to bring it up.

Zoe is coming with us and so we’ll have three kids by the time we get to Italy. We are going through Heathrow so we can visit Phoebe first and go to the party her mother is throwing before we head home. Emma doesn’t think Phoebe is old enough to go with us this time. I’m inclined to agree. Steven says she a lot like Dani. Liesl, Wendell’s mother has him in classes all summer to practice his English, but what better way to learn a language than to spend a month in a group that’s only common language is English?

My belly growls. Steven passed me a sandwich. Ham and Swiss with hungry sauce, my favorite. I look at it for a second before I take it. “I thought we were going out for lunch?”

“I’m too hungry to wait, what about you?” Steven bites into his own sandwich. I snuggled closer. When our sandwiches are gone, I leaned over Steven to set the notebook on his nightstand. “What if we give it an hour and then go out for an early dinner?”

Steven grins. “And how should we spend that hour?”

I grin back. “I’m sure we’ll think of something.”

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Texts from Josh:

Zoe’s doing fine. She snuck out of Dani’s room last night and slept in your bed. Good thing I was wearing a towel this morning. 8 Þ

Gramma says the plane tickets arrived.

Aunt J just came for Zoe. The poor little thing looked so relieved.

Gramma’s got three calls today from that Spanish woman. Come back before that crazy lady drives us all mad. Ø¿Ø

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A/N: This isn’t set in this year, so the dates won’t match up with the weekdays.