July 22

Windermere, Muskoka

"Put your hat on, Elle. You're going to burn again."

Greyson's sharp reminder makes me roll my eyes, but I adjust my hat to shade my face from the sun, I look over my shoulder to see where my friends are.

I absolutely fried myself yesterday at the horse show. And now, Greyson was treating me like a child.

I'll admit looking in the mirror this morning had been nearly comical.

I'd liberally applied aloe to my sunburned face, neck, and shoulders, but I'd still had to use a heavy coat of tinted moisturizer, and concealer, to cover the embarrassing helmet strap tan lines this morning, though.

"I've got tons of lotion on, Greyson. Cut me some slack, I'll be fine."

His frown makes me smile. I know he's just trying to take care of me, but it's a little overbearing. "If I'd wanted to come berry picking with my dad, I would have. Loosen up. Please."

His dramatic sigh forces me to bite back a laugh. "Fine, do what you like, but I'm not spending one more night in your bed until your sunburn is gone. You were like a furnace last night, and you wouldn't stop cuddling closer. I thought I'd drown in sweat. If you burn again, I'm sleeping in my own bed and leaving you to your misery."

I laugh at his grumpy comments, knowing his threat is totally empty. "Mhmm," I wander further into the field, picking berries left, right and center, tossing them gently into my basket. All while fantasizing about what I'll do with them.

Ryan and Mads are off in the distance, and I watch as Mads tosses her hair back, laughing at something Ryan's said. He's made it his personal mission this summer to boost her confidence that had been bruised by Craig. I smile, I love how well Ryan fits into our group of friends. It encourages me to believe it will only be easier to keep what Greyson, and I have found this summer alive.

I straighten, standing, but leave my baskets on the ground to shade my eyes, looking for the boy in question. He's nowhere to be seen. I frown, how far did I wander? I thought I'd left him just behind me.

We've been picking strawberries for most of the afternoon; we must have several kilograms worth by now, but we've likely eaten the same amount.

Wandering the shaded path back the way I'd come, I look for Greyson.

"Wha-," I practically squeal when an arm snakes out from behind a tree, pulling me into the shady grove.

My heart stutters, but I smile once I realize who it is. Without turning around, I tease him, "Now who could this handsome stranger be, trying to steal strawberry flavored kisses?"

His chuckle rolls over me, "Whoever you want me to be," is the only reply I get in a low husky whisper.

I turn in his arms and tip my face up. "I want you to be a boy who can't resist the taste of berries on his girlfriend's lips. Just a boy who can't resist a girl, so, for once, he doesn't try." I panic for a moment, realizing I've just called myself his girlfriend, out loud, when we've literally never talked about it. His small hesitation makes me nervous, but I relax when he smiles down at me.

I sigh as Greyson's lips move over mine. His kiss is drugging, sweetened by the sugary taste of ripe strawberries eaten from the vine. His tongue tangles lazily with mine. God, I love how he makes me feel, and today, I feel a little wild.

Twirling away from him, I push the thin spaghetti strap of my sundress down over my shoulder as my hair blows in the wind, covering part of my face. I lift the hem of my dress, allowing it to blow in the breeze, flashing him with tantalizing hints of the pale blue lace panties I'm wearing as I twirl.

His eyes flash a molten gold and brown as he stares hungrily at me. His Adam's apple bobs in his throat as he swallows convulsively.

I turn, looking over my shoulder at him, tipping the other strap down, letting my dress slide down my back a little, biting my lip. I try to seduce him like I've seen in the movies. Nerves, excitement, uncertainty floor through me, but the way he watches me, spurs me on. My hat blows off in the gentle breeze, and Greyson catches it, setting it down on his basket.

He reaches for me, pulling me back against his chest, his hand sliding up the front of my body until he grips my jaw in one hand, tipping my head up and back. "Tease," he whispers before crushing his lips back to mine. This time, I taste the hunger, the desperation, the need, and I want it all. His free hand splays over my stomach, keeping me close, pressing me closer still.

I'm dizzy from his kisses, breathing hard, straining back against him, desperate for more when Ryan's shout causes Greyson to jerk in surprise against me. Swearing, he lowers his forehead to the top of my head, tugging thw shoulder straps of my sundress back in place before kissing my temple. He smacks my butt lightly when I wiggle against him restlessly. "Don't push me, Elle. I'm barely hanging on by a thread here."

I smile to myself. All I want is for him to lose control, just for a moment. I agree with his decision, our decision, to wait longer before, well before going any further but the least he could do is cooperate with a girl who's dying to know what everything is all about.

He puts my hat back on my head, picks up his basket, and takes my hand, leading me back to where I'd left my own heaping baskets of berries.

Ryan and Mads are waiting for us at the end of the path.

"Bet Ry and I picked more than the two of you lovebirds," Mads teases with a twinkle in her eye. "In fact, I'll be disappointed if you picked half as many since that would mean you weren't using your time together properly." Her eyebrows wiggle at me wildly, suggestively.

"Not for lack of trying, that's for sure," I mutter to Mads, who giggles and rolls her eyes in sympathy.

Greyson's hand claps over my mouth, and he gives me a stern look, but Ryan had heard me, his startled laughter escaping before he could stop it.

"Christ, Grey. Good luck with that one. You don't stand a chance."

"Don't I know it."

Greyson and I picked more berries than Mads and Ryan, which earns me Mads' comical disapproval.

"You drive, Ry."

Ryan snags the keys Greyson throws at him in midair before helping Mads climb into the passenger side.

With a boost, I climb into the bed of the pickup truck, ahead of Greyson. He slides into the corner, leaning against the cabin, before tucking me securely between his legs, sitting on his jacket. His arms are wrapped around me, so I tip my head back onto his shoulder for a kiss.

"You're a menace, Elle. You'd tempt a fucking saint. I don't know how I ever resisted you."

His hand slides back across my cheek and into my hair as he kisses me, rubbing his lips across mine, lingering but not taking the kiss any deeper. I nearly groan in frustration again, when he smiles against my mouth.

"What are you planning to do with all your berries, Elle?" His lips brush over mine. "I love the way the juice stains your lips, I could kiss the taste of strawberries from them for the rest of my life and never get tired of the flavor."

His gravelly whisper sends tingles up and down my whole body. The rest of his life? I can't tell if he really means that or if it's just an expression. The intensity with which he says it startles me a bit. I haven't even thought that far ahead. It sounds... nice though.

I press my lips more firmly to his before answering, "I'm going to make a strawberry shortcake for Liam tomorrow. Would you like to stay and help? Mum and Dad are in the city this weekend for work stuff, so I could use an assistant chef."

"Will you let me lick the cream from the bowl?" His eyes twinkle down at me, and his tongue traces my bottom lip lightly.

Dizzy from his teasing kiss, I try to tease him back, "Greyson, I'll let you lick the cream from anywhere you like." I don't fully realize what I've said until it's out of my mouth. I slap my hand over my mouth, horrified. I've seen the American Pie movies, I know what they do with whipped cream. The strangled sound he makes causes me to flush a deep red, like the berries we've just picked.

Greyson lowers his head to rest against mine and starts to laugh. "God, what a picture you've created in my mind. You can bet your sweet ass I won't forget that offer anytime soon, Elle. One day, I'll take you up on it, licking cream from every inch of your body. For now, I'll come and be your kitchen bitch."

I smack his arm, "You have the dirtiest mouth, ever."

"You'll learn to love it, one day I'll show you just how dirty it can be." His nose brushes the shell of my ear, and his rough whisper shocks me, and I blush again.

Ryan drops us at the marina, taking Greyson's car back around to his cottage with a promise to bring it back here tomorrow or the next day.

I get behind the wheel, standing at the center console of my small boat, and Greyson jumps in, sitting behind me and pulling me down onto his lap. It's quite wavy as we zip across the open lake.

"Can you take over, Greyson? I'm not sure I can manage with the waves and wind."

"You don't want to try? Come on, I'll help you."

Giving in, knowing it's hopeless, I let him try to guide me in not once, but twice before handing the wheel over to him.

"Don't worry, Elle. You'll get it. This boat's a bit small to practice in for waves this big. We should really try it in my boat, I'm sure you could do it then."

His encouragement makes me smile as I move to the bow and grab the line. When he throttles down to add power and spins the wheel effortlessly, I leap out, timing my jump with the boat's motion. I secure the bowlines efficiently as Greyson pulls the stern in, tying off, leaving just enough slack for my boat to bounce smoothly in the wild waves.

Carrying our berries up to the main cottage, I immediately begin the tedious task of washing them and removing all the stems and leaves. Greyson is a total distraction during this process. His light touches and kisses to my neck and earlobe drive me to distraction.

"Greyson, I'll never finish these if you keep distracting me. Go put on some music, or something, maybe grab us a couple drinks on your way back?"

As soon as he steps away, I take a moment to run my wrists under the cold water, trying to cool my overheated body. He is going to drive me to do something insane.

As if he knows the effect he has on me, Greyson wanders back, two blood orange San Pellegrino sodas in hand. He snags a strawberry from the bowl, popping it into his mouth, smiling at me from across the counter.

He takes another one holding it up to my lips this time, so I part them, allowing him to slide the sweet red fruit into my mouth. His thumb brushes my bottom lip, then he puts it in his mouth, sucking the juice off, watching my face. His tongue flicks out over his thumb, and I nearly choke on the strawberry on my mouth.

"See, Elle? Not so fun being the victim of a tease, is it?"

Points to him. Laughing, blushing, I turn my attention back to my work, and he laughs.

"Give me some, I'll help."

That lasts about ten minutes.

"Is there something else I can help with? I can't clean more berries, I'll go mad."

I look over at his bowl and sigh, "Greyson, you've cleaned like ten berries." He pouts at me, and I'm reminded of him as a boy, just for a moment.

"Just give me something else to help with."

"You can make the whipped cream. Grab the whipping cream from the fridge, there's a cold bowl in there too. Let's use just a little vanilla sugar as well."

"What do I beat it with?"

"Oh, you do it manually." I bite the inside of my cheek, wondering how long I can keep this up.

"Seriously? Won't that take hours?"

"Well, you're pretty buff, I guess. You might be able to do it faster."

When he starts whipping the cream aggressively with the manual whisk, I can't hold it in anymore. "Greyson, I'm kidding. God, your face."

As I reach for the electric whisk, he grabs me around my waist and hauls me back into his arms, kissing my neck, tickling my ribs until I'm squealing with laughter.

"Stop, please, Greyson. I have to finish these berries, or I won't have time to make dinner."

"You're such a brat sometimes, Elle."

"You love me anyway, though," I say the words so offhandedly, I barely register what's come out of my mouth until it's too late. "Sorry, you know what I mean, a figure of speech."

He accepts the whisk in silence, and I focus on the berries. "I know, relax, Elle. It's fine."

With the berries cleaned and drying, I slide the sheet pans of round biscuit batter into the oven. I roll my shoulders and set the timer. My neck and shoulders are stiff from bending over and picking berries all day, then cleaning them.

Mentally reviewing my plan for tomorrow, I count the time I need to finish the dessert. I estimate that I'll have time to build all the shortcakes tomorrow, packing them in the cooler just before leaving.

Just as I'm about to shift my attention to what we'll make for dinner, I feel Greyson's hands on my shoulders. "Let's take a short break, Elle. You need it," he whispers, dropping a kiss to my bare shoulder.

He pulls me out onto the screened-in porch and sits in the chaise lounge, pulling me down between his legs and my back to his chest. His hands return to my shoulders, kneading, pressing his thumbs into the sore muscles.

I sigh in absolute pleasure and lean into his touch. His voice is soft in my ear as he speaks quietly. "You are the best part of my life, Elle, the best part of me. Thank you for everything you do, for being who you are." Even at a whisper, his voice is thick with emotion.

Although his words fill me with happiness, I don't want him to be grateful; I want him to trust me, open up, and share his burden. How do I make that clear, without diminishing this first step he's taken?

"You make me happier than I've ever been, Greyson. All I want is to be with you, I never get enough of you. As much as I already feel that way, I do hope you'll still let me in a little more, trust me a little more. Treat me as a partner."

I wait for him to respond, but his hands only continue their soothing massage. "Greyson, you need to let me in sooner or later. It doesn't always feel good, being left on the outside, trying to guess what you're feeling. What you're thinking."

"I know, Elle. I've been thinking about it. A lot, actually. Since we were at Jules' pace." His hands slide around me to grab my waist, shifting me up and around, l pull back and cross my legs, so I'm facing him. I don't interrupt him, and I don't touch him.

"I don't know how to let you in exactly, can we just take it a few steps at a time? I do want you to know that I want us to be together after the summer. I want things to continue, the way they are." He shifts his eyes up to mine, smiling shyly.

My heart melts. "I'd like that too, Greyson. I love spending time together, I don't want it to end either." He leans forward and kisses me lightly.

"Does that mean you'll call yourself my girlfriend again?"

I laugh, smiling brightly, but still a bit embarrassed. "I guess I jumped ahead a little there. I was worried I scared you off for a moment."

"Nothing you do will ever scare me off. It might take me a minute to adjust or get used to, but it won't scare me off. I never want to be without you." The last sentence is whispered quietly as he pulls me into his arms. I revel in the soft, tender kiss he places on my lips, and shift closer to him. With a sigh, I let him deepen the kiss, comforted beyond measure to hear what he wants from us, from me.

"I don't want to be without you either." I barely whisper the words, but I can tell he's heard me by the way his arms tighten around me and I only hope I never forget how I feel at this moment.

And just like that, after dinner, once we finally get around to eating something other than berries, he pulls me down to the dock for a swim, and we watch the stars just like we used to.

And for a moment, I completely forget that he hasn't really let me in, that he hasn't really told me anything I didn't already know.

- - -

Join me in the comments: tell me what you like, what you didn't like, or whether you're into Grey and Elle as a couple! Consider voting if you liked (or loved) the chapter :)

Xx Toria