Island Living - Poguelandia Edition

Ch 5: A Proposition

Kiara's POV

It's pitch black when I wake, his arm still wrapped around me, and his warm breath tickling my neck from his soft snores. He's sound asleep still, I don't want to disrupt his peaceful sleep. I know it's rare for him to get a full nights sleep after all the trauma he's faced back in the OBX. He seems at peace on the island. I'm not surprised by this, he knows that nothing on this island could harm him the way Luke has. I try to stay as still as possible, the warmth feels so intoxicating. I never expected JJ to be the type to enjoy snuggling, I personally never expected to enjoy it this much either. But here I am nestled against JJ Maybank, wearing his shirt.

I do my best to wiggle myself out of his grasp but I feel him start moving behind me. "You good Kie?" He asks while rubbing his eyes. "I'm good, I think I'm just gonna peak outside and see if it's light enough to go". He nods as I crawl over to the entrance and tilt my head outside. It's barely morning, stars are still glistening in the sky. It's nearing dawn as the sky is turning light blue near the horizon. I feel JJ coming up behind me and then he places a hand on my side. His warm hand touching the bare skin that's left uncovered from his cutoff shirt. When I look at him he's moving his head to look outside. He nods "Sun should be comin' up shortly, you ready?". He kisses my shoulder and we gather our things to leave.

When we get there the sun has slowly risen, the sky is pretty shade of pink and orange. JJ immediately strips out of his shorts and is jumping into the spring. He keeps his back turned waiting for me to join. I discard his shirt and jump in splashing him as much as I can before he can swim towards me and grab my hands. "Nice try Carrera, but a little water can't keep me away". I furrow my brows at him and give him a fake pout so he gives my hands a quick kiss then lets go. We both lay on our backs, floating like star fish, letting the morning sun warm our skin.

"J"

"Yeah Kie?"

"I have a proposition"

"And what would that be" He looks at me with a very enticing look. I look at him smugly "You teach me how to do a flip and I'll teach you yoga". He immediately smirks after hearing the words flip. "Damn Kie" he says taking a breath and combing his fingers through his hair "I'm sorry but yoga might be a dealbreaker" he says while trying to hide the grin on his face. I know damn well JJ can never say no to teaching me how to do a flip. I play along with his game, "c'mon Jay, I was really hoping to learn how to do a flip so I could jump off those rocks over there" I say while pointing my head towards the small cliff. The cliff isn't very high, it's about 4 to 5 feet tall so it's not too dangerous. He swims towards me appearing to be thinking deeply. "I think that can be arranged". He starts swimming towards the shore "well shall we get started then?"

We stand beside each other on the sandy beach part. "Ok so phase 1, start by jumping and moving your arms upwards as you jump to build momentum" he says while demonstrating and then glancing at me to try. "Gooood" he nods approvingly. He continues to the next phase which is rolling over in the sand. Took me a few tries at first, JJ having to grab my heels and give them a little nudge so that I could fully roll over. After a few tries I did it easily by myself. "You're already a natural Kie". I give him a smile, I know he's probably exaggerating. "Alright should we try the next few steps in the water?". I reply "You're the pro, I'll do whatever you say". He winks and I roll my eyes at the implication I knew he was making. We jump back in the water.

The water is so refreshing making it easy to jump back in. It's easy to imagine spending a whole day here, especially when it includes a JJ Maybank. "Alright Kie, phase ugh.. 3.." He says then moves his head to tell her to swim closer. "For phase 3.. you're gonna climb on my shoulders and practice the first jump off my shoulders ok?". We move to a shallow area and JJ crouches down so I can climb onto him. Feeling his warm skin against me.. I know we've been closer lately but his touch still gives me goosebumps. Focus Kie! I tell myself before I get too distracted. As he starts to stand up he grips my ankles. When he's fully standing he asks "Do you think you can try to stand now?". "Ok I'll try" I say as he lets go of my ankles and I put my hands on his head trying to balance myself. "Try not to rip my hair out or anything!" He teases while putting his arms up for me to grab instead. Once I finally steady myself he jokes "Took ya long enough".