Friendly Dating 2 - Ethan

Chapter 17 - Heat Fatigue

Well, right now I'm wearing swimming trunks, flip-flops and a black T-shirt with bright red, spikey letters shouting BAKA! It will have to do. I step into the road, and when I'm well within Rampant's line of sight, I make a big production of collapsing on the tarmac, my arms and legs spread wide. The universal signal for I'm dead.

It's like laying a honey trail for ants; ten seconds, and I'm being slobbered over by the friendly animal, and after a nice cuddle, I pick the dog up - even though he is becoming way too big and heavy to carry - and take him back to his home.

"Thank you, Ethan, thank you!" Mrs Henderson gushes, and I hope she will remember this moment of intense relief and gratitude next time she wants to rat me out to my dad. She probably won't; she cannot even remember the highly successful I'm Dead manoeuvre!

I return to my position of gatekeeper, and there is still no Kira. At first, I'm a bit irritated because it's hot, and the refreshing effect of my shower has long gone. I want to go for that swim. My irritation disintegrates in a sudden wave of panic that something might've happened to Kira. She's not generally the tardy kind, and she tends to be a bit clumsy at times. She could've had an accident and might be standing on her head in the chest freezer again!

Jolted into action, I grab my towel off the wall, vault the gate and run to their kitchen door, relief swamping my brain, making my voice a little high when I charge inside and see Kira at the kitchen table, packing a cooler bag.

"What are you doing?!" I shout because I'm still hyped on imagination-induced adrenaline, and my mind hasn't received the memo to chill yet. "I've been waiting for you for ages and ages!"

I'm standing next to her before I've even fully registered that I'm in their kitchen, and Kira wisely shoves the last tiny piece of chicken left on the cutting board into my mouth. She was making sandwiches! Kicks makes the most amazing sandwiches. I could kiss her! She'd probably stab me with the knife she has in her hand, but I'd die happy.

"I have the best girlfriend," I grin, looking at the cooler bag filled with stuffed plastic containers.

"Awesome!" Kira says cheekily, moving to the sink to wash the last of the items she'd used to make our lunch. "Does that mean we're done with this weird exp-"

"Shut up," I scoff, not letting her finish such a blasphemous sentence, and zipping the cooler bag, I pull its strap over my shoulder. "Ready to go now?"

"Yes, little boy," she says, rolling her eyes, and I swear, I just want to eat her. "Let's go!"

Looking at her, I can feel a warmth spread through my heart, which is not kind to my over-heated body. Kira is wearing the ridiculous roaring turtle T-shirt Deli designed for a fundraiser for the turtle sanctuary, and I know it means that she's comfortable enough to be herself now.

"Why is it a turtle?" I ask the same question I always ask her when she's wearing this, her favourite shirt. "The turtle sanctuary has a gazillion other marine animals in there, very few turtles. And why is it roaring? Seriously, Kicks, turtles growl, they don't roar..."

"Yes, they do!" Kira huffs. "Don't Google it," she adds, turning a shade of pink that ensures that the next thing I'm going to Google will be roaring turtles.

We hit the road, and the first chance I get, I take her hand in mine. Feeling the delicate softness of her fingers, all my stress almost immediately roll away. I forget the rugby match, the heat, the ache in my bones. There's only me and Kira and the cool breeze tickling through my hair. I know I'm grinning like a psycho, but I cannot help myself.

I'm living the dream, Baby!

She didn't resist when I took her hand, and I see that and her outfit as a sign of progress. The few times I glance at her, I can see her bite her lip to stop herself from smiling. I know when she is dying to laugh, and she is holding it in hard right now.