Old Me

44 - Salt and Sun

"What?" I asked a little annoyed, pulling away when Mikey chuckled against my lips, and I stared out the window at the house we were parked in front of.

"Someone's eager," he teased, making my face get hot.

I scoffed, "It's not my fault. I haven't been able to touch you in like two weeks, thanks to my dad," I defended.

"I'm just teasing," he sang, pulling me back to his face.

I sighed and leaned in to reconnect our lips.

"Ugh," I grumbled looking down, "This damn console keeps getting in the way."

"Come on," he said, unbuckling his seatbelt, "let's head down to the beach."

I agreed, following suit, and climbing out of the car.

We walked hand in hand a couple of blocks until we reached the beach. Mikey swung his backpack around and pulled out the blanket inside. I helped him spread it out and plopped down, the sand below warming my body.

I slipped off my sandals and looked over at him as he got comfortable next to me. I realized that I had never seen his legs before and took in the various tattoos that scattered his calves and thighs. I peeled my eyes away and took in the view of the ocean lapping the sand.

I jumped up, smiling as I removed my top. I shimmied out of my shorts, catching Mikey's gaze, "Take a picture, it'll last longer."

"That's my line," he chuckled.

"I'm gonna go dip in, I'll be right back," I said as I adjusted my bikini bottoms.

I slowly walked away, knowing that he was getting a full view of my butt in my cheeky bikini and smiled to myself.

The cool water splashed against my legs as I ran towards a wave and dove under it. I emerged from the water, wiping my hair from my face, and stood up. The breeze sent chills against my wet skin and I headed back to our warm blanket to dry off.

I wrung out my hair as I approached, smirking at Mikey's stare, satisfied that I was capturing his attention.

"Did you do that just for my enjoyment?" he asked as I plopped down next to him, putting my sunglasses back on as I laid back.

I smiled up at his face, "Of course not. Saltwater is great for the skin."

"Right," he nodded, unconvinced.

I closed my eyes and let the warm sun dry my body. 

"You're blocking my sun," I said, not bothering to open my eyes, as his body towered over mine.

I felt his lips brush mine softly and he gripped my hip. I giggled against his mouth as he kissed me with passion. He apparently didn't care that we were in public, his hand wandering down my side. I sighed with disappointment as he pulled away and I fluttered my eyes open. He sat up and removed his shirt, looking back at me and raising his pierced brow. He slicked his hair back and stared down at me.

"You don't know how much I wish we were alone right now," he smirked before standing up and walking down to the water.

I sat up to watch him walk away, enjoying the view of his sculpted body before rolling over to tan my back.

A little while later, I felt a wet body dripping above me and I rolled over to protest.

"Can I help you?" I asked.

"No," Michael smirked, sitting down next to me and shaking his wet hair out so it covered me with salty water.

I playfully pushed him over and he erupted into laughter. When he settled down, he rolled onto his side and stared into my eyes. The blue sky behind him made his eyes look intensely green. He wiped his hair that was sticking to his face out of the way and smiled at me.

"Did you live this close to the beach growing up?" I asked, imagining his hometown in Australia.

"We actually moved around a lot," he said, wiping a droplet of water off of my shoulder, "but we did live a few blocks from a beach for a little while."

"Why did you move so much?" I asked, studying his face.

"Uh, mostly because of my dad's job," he said, "I think I told you he's a contractor," I nodded remembering the detail, "and well wherever he would get work is where we ended up."

"Hm, that must have been really hard moving so much. I only moved a few times in my life."

He shrugged, "It definitely makes me want to find somewhere and settle there permanently."

"Wait," he said, scrunching up his nose, "I thought you grew up in the house that you live in now?"

"Uh, well, sort of. We moved into the house when I was like 9 or 10. Before that, we lived in this tiny one-bedroom apartment," I explained.

"My mom and dad got pregnant in high school and my dad started to work as an apprentice at a tattoo shop down in Chula Vista that my Uncle Lorenzo worked at. Once he had enough experience and enough money, he opened Oscuro Ink with him. Then he bought the house we're in now."

"Well, I can see why your parents are so protective of you now," he smiled.

"This is probably weird to say," he said, biting his lip in hesitation, "but I like that you didn't exactly come from money. Cuz I didn't either. I feel like you're able to appreciate life more when you have an understanding of what it is like to live on the bare minimum."

"I agree," I nodded, "as much as I hated the fact that we were poor and that I didn't have all the luxuries that other kids had, I am grateful now that I wasn't a spoiled kid from the hills."

"So why exactly did you move to LA of all places? Why leave Australia? I mean, I know you said it was for your dad's work, right?" I asked after a moment of silence.

"Well, actually, they had this lottery for visas to move to the United States," he began to explain, my face contorting with confusion, "I know it's weird, but as I'm sure you know, you can't just move here without the proper documentation and stuff. So, anyway, my dad entered us into the lottery and we ended getting picked. I didn't want to move, but obviously, the decision wasn't up to me--I was just a kid. It took like a year for us to finally get everything sorted so we could relocate permanently."

"Once we were here, it was a huge shock. LA was nothing like the movies. We ended up in this dingy apartment in a really crappy area of town. My dad was able to get a job relatively quickly, but it took my mom a while since she was a nurse back in Oz, and she couldn't do that here without the proper credentials...Anyways...that's how I ended up in the states."

"Do you think you'll ever move back?" I asked, tracing the lion on his chest.

"Mmm," he thought about it, "if life takes me there, I guess so. But, I don't really have anything to go back to. I don't have any friends and I am not close to my family."

I nodded, noticing that he shivered beneath my touch, making me smile.

"Plus, I've got you," he smiled, leaning to kiss my lips.