Snap Happy (A Daniel Ricciardo story)

37. New Year, New Beginnings

EM

"Morning" a far too chirpy voice greeted me through a haze of delicious sleep. Not that I'd got a lot of it.

"Morning" I grabbed a handful of his t-shirt and used it to lever myself more snugly into the curve of his arm. "Hold on, when did you manage to put on clothes?" The fabric against my skin was totally at odds with my memories of the previous night.

I opened my eyes with difficulty. Yup, he was most definitely dressed. I however, was not. "Stop staring you perv!" I scrabbled frantically around for the bed sheet and pulled it up to my chin, ignoring the warmth that told me it was another beautiful day in the Southern Hemisphere.

"It's not perving when it's your own girlfriend!" he protested.

"It is when she can't do it back again" I retorted, tugging up the hem of his shirt in order to press my lips to the chiselled contours of his stomach.

"SHIT!"

I sat bolt upright like I'd been stung"

"What's up?"

"The rest of my swimsuit is still under your hedge!"

"No worries, you can get it when we go down for brekkie"

"No no no you're not getting this. I am not going anywhere while that top is still at large and your parents are in the vicinity"

"Does that mean you want ME to go find it?"

"Pweeeease" I gave him my most adorable face despite the chlorine-enhanced bed hair and sleep crusted eyes.

"Alright, alright where is it?" He moved over to the window and looked out over the pool.

"Thank yooooooou. It's in the bush near where I was standing last night "

"Uhh yeah, I think i see it"

"What do you mean you SEE it?

"It's..uhhh...it's not in the hedge"

"What are you talking about?" I wrapped the sheet around my body and shoved him out of the way so that I could press my nose to the glass.

There it was, hanging there like a double-cupped, pink and black flag of shame.

"Oh God" I flopped face down onto the bed and waited for the ground to swallow me. "They know don't they? If they didn't know already after last night then they do now."

"Relax - they're pretty chilled out for oldies"