Moving Forward

Chapter Twenty-Five

"Hey," I call out.

"You're here." Blake's eyebrows raise with surprise.

"Are you ready?" I question.

"Yes." He nods.

Blake says goodbye to Thomas and London before heading off. He takes the lead while I lag behind. Before we disappear, I look over my shoulder to see Thomas and London walking inside. She places her hands on the couch and tries to jump up with no luck. Damn, can she be any cuter?

We're not even a minute into the drive and Blake's already bored. He plays around with the seat, taps his foot, and then looks out the window before setting his gaze on me.

"Where are we going?" he asks.

"It's a surprise, okay?" I grin.

"Please?" he begs.

"No." I shake my head. "I'm keeping this a surprise."

With an extensively long groan, Blake's attention flickers to the moving surrounding outside. At least he's not bugging me anymore.

Our arrival at the beach as Blake's curiosity at peak. He straightens up in the chair and looks at the passing view as I pull into the carpark and find us a spot. Since the day is winding up, more people are leaving than coming. Thankfully, that means I nab a parking spot close to the entrance.

Blake immediately jumps out of the car and stretches his limbs. I peak around the car to see the stunning smile plastered on his lips.

"What next?" he questions.

"Can you help carry the picnic basket?"

"Yes, I can," replies Blake.

I open the boot and pass the basket to Blake while I grab the blanket. Pocketing the keys, I walk towards the walkway to join up with Blake. We walk down the pathway and onto the beach front. Sand easily gets stuck in my thongs which makes walking annoying. I flick 'em off and carry them in my other hand.

The beach is almost quiet despite a few people wandering around. Blake and I walk for a long time until he decides on a spot. He places the basket down while I roll out the blanket. He helps to straighten it out before flopping down and looking at the water crashing onto the sand.

"Do you like it?" I ask.

"Yes, it's beautiful here." He smiles.

"I'm happy to hear that," I reply. "I thought we could eat food and watch the sunset."

"I think this is perfect," he says.

While Blake watches the waves, I get to work setting out the food. There's an assortment of breakfast delights to consume. I went for a classic fruit salad, a cook up of now cold fried food, and then pancakes and croissants.

"Breakfast foods?" Blake frowns.

"Yes." I nervously chuckle. "Breakfast food is amazing, even if it's cold."

Blake nods his head in agreeance as he reaches for a slice of crispy bacon, "Hm, this is great, Ava."

We eat a huge assortment of food until there's hardly anything left. I pack away the containers and then lay across the blanket and pat my stomach.

"I think I might explode." I sigh.

"So, we shouldn't go swimming then?" he teases.

"There's no doubt to whether I'll sink."

"I'll take my chances." He winks.

Blake wraps his arm around my waist and tugs me towards him. The pressure on my stomach has me gagging. He quickly moves back and sheepishly smiles.