Tom and I were laying on the deck, spread out over a blanket. The sun shone bright and hard on our skin, sweat gathered above my forehead. But the water around the boat was so peaceful, a shimmery greenish-blue, bursting into mist when it sloshed against us. Any weird feelings I'd previously had about this trip were gone.
The gift was too big. I'd never had a guy surprise me with a trip to Bora Bora, just to spend the weekend on a boat drinking, swimming, floating. Especially a guy I wasn't officially dating. I hate the word 'official' when it comes to relationships, like the government needs to know about it or something. Why can't something just be good without labels?
When Tom asked me what I wanted to do for my birthday around Christmas, I shrugged.
"I usually just do dinner. It's in January, too cold to do something fun," I said, slouching against puke my green couch I couldn't help but love. I looked outside through Christmas lights I'd hung at the time to see snow peacefully falling down the New York streets outside my apartment.
"We'll make something fun this year." Tom said, his hand on my thigh.
I didn't think this was what he had in mind. But when he showed up at my door, all he said was, "I talked to your boss and you're off for your birthday weekend." Then he held up the tickets and smiled, tilting his head in question: Come on, can we?
How could I say no?
We ended up spending the first night on the beach, drunk and skinny dipping. Tom is always very prepared, though; he brought three blankets in case we were a mess. Together, we usually are a mess.
We can't help it, we can't say no to each other. When third or fourth parties are around, they can act as a voice of reason. But Tom suggests doing something stupid and in the moment, it sounds like the best idea in the world to me. We feed off the energy, both agreeing to public disorder if it sounds like it'll earn a laugh.
This morning, Tom woke me by kissing my forehead. I lazily peeled my eyes open, the sun piercing immediately. Tom chuckled as I jolted to shield my eyes, and moved his head over mine to block the rays.
"I hope you're not tired of the water yet, love." he whispered. "We're going for a boat ride."
That was six hours ago. We'd eaten two meals, made love, and drank one bottle of wine on the boat. I wasn't tired of the water, the boat, him, nothing. Everything could stay this way for a good long while.
"You're going to burn," Tom interrupts my thoughts.
I sit up and my hat almost blows away. Tom places his hand on it and laughs.
"What would you do without me?" he says.
I grin at him. "Turn into a hatless lobster. What kind of life would that be?"
"Not near as satisfying." he agrees. He holds a bottle of sunscreen and motions me to turn around.
I groan but oblige. "I've truly never worn more sunscreen in my life, Tom. I think I'll be good after this one for a while."
His hands run over my shoulders, pressing deeply into my skin. I feel his callused hands stroke my back, massaging into my muscles as he goes. I think I'll need that again before long, but without the sunscreen.
Tom lays on his back beside me. He wears a necklace, swim shorts and sunglasses. His arm lays flat in front of me, and he raises his hand to play with my hair.
"Thank you for bringing me here, Tom." I say. I look out to the ocean on my left, and the small island line to my left. We're far enough from everyone, everything - we don't have to worry about being watched, talked about. Just me and him. "It's incredible. I've never done something this great for my birthday."
