"Wake up sunshine!" a loud London-accented voice boomed.
Something jumped on the bed near me then, making my eyes burst open. I looked into the eyes of Gideon.
"Asshole!" I growled and shoved him away.
"We have a big day, get up and get ready!" Gideon jumped back near me again.
"Arghhhh," I groaned and turned over, away from him.
"It's going to be fun," Gideon's breath was by my ear. "Please?"
"Torturing me is your kind of fun. I'm not going," I covered my head with a pillow.
"I promise it's not anything torturous," Gideon's arms were on each side of me.
"You can't change my mind," I grumbled sleepily.
Gideon disappeared suddenly, his weight on the bed lifting. I heard shuffling and then more footsteps from where the movement had been.
"I hope you don't need this," Gideon sang.
Peeking out from the covers, I noticed Gideon holding my laptop. Gasping, I pushed the covers back ran at him.
"Don't you dare!" I growled.
"Dared," Gideon smirked and took off down the stairs.
Following him with a limp, I charged down the stairs. His speed was faster than mine, training when I couldn't helping him. Gideon swerved and went outside onto the deck.
"Give it back!" I whined.
Gideon didn't reply and instead ran out by the pool, his shoes gripping on the damp ground. He held the laptop near the water now and I stopped, widening my eyes.
"Please don't."
"I won't," Gideon smirked. "You have to leave with me."
"Okay fine," I nodded. "Just give it back."
Gideon walked to me and I met him by the pool. Taking the laptop from him, I smiled and hugged it close to my body.
"Thank you," I pushed Gideon back into the pool.
"Keona!" Gideon yelled before he hit the water.
Giggling I ran back up to my room. In minutes, I changed into shorts and a tank top. I straightened my hair and put on light waterproof mascara. Underneath my clothes I wore my bikini, because when in tropical places no one could ever know when they could swim.
"You're lucky that you got dressed," Gideon growled with his arms crossed after I made my way back downstairs.
"Your hair is a little messed up," I giggled and went to ruffle the damp blonde and black hair I loved so much.
Gideon grabbed my wrist from where he stood and glared at me. "Don't you dare."
"Dared," I whispered back and touched his hair with my other hand.
Gideon smirked after I ran my hand through his hair and then spiked it up again. "You are something else, Keona."
"Are you ready to go?" I asked in a deep voice like he would.
Gideon rolled his eyes. "Get in the car if you want. I'll be there in a minute."
I wanted to kiss his lips at that moment. Just a small smooch, nothing extreme. I wanted us to be something. The something that couldn't be broken.
Instead of following my thoughts, I leaned up on my tip-toes and kissed his slightly scruffy cheek. Pulling away, I felt heat rush to my cheeks and turned. Leaving Gideon to go to the car, I shut the door behind me softly.
Goddamn he's so hot. I want him to be mine!
Ignoring my strong thoughts, I walked to the car, my tennis shoes crunching on the gravel as I did so. I sat in the car for thirty seconds before Gideon came out of the villa, locking the door on the way out. Watching him, I saw he carried a bag-most likely with towels or supplies with whatever we were doing. Throwing it in the back when he got in, Gideon started the little rental car.
"So where are we going?" I asked.
"It's a surprise."
~~~
"Gideon, I'm tired," I complained.
Gideon glanced back at me a few stairs down. "Is it your side?"
"Yes," I said honestly. "My hip."
Walking back down to the same stair as me, Gideon held out his hand. I looked at him weirdly.
"Give me your harness," Gideon blinked.
Handing him the zip-lining harness, I watched him turn so his back was away from me.
"Come on," Gideon motioned for me to get up on his back.
"Oh, no," I shook my head. "I'm not going to do that to you."
"Just get on," Gideon rolled his eyes.
"I'll walk," I told him firmly and started up the stairs again.
"Keona, don't push yourself."
"Don't try and break yourself," I retorted.
Gideon sighed and decided he was going to lose this battle. Instead of continuing to argue, Gideon started walking right next to me. His hand came to the small of my back and I tried not to shiver.
"At least let me support you," his voice was thick.
"Fine," I sighed.
Once we reached the top of the cliff, we waited in a line of about five other people. Gideon kept his hand on my back, watching the scenes ahead carefully.
"Are you two going together or separate?" a man asked Gideon.
"Together," Gideon didn't hesitate.
"You," the man looked at me, "on the left line. You will be on the right sir."
After we were strapped safely into the harnesses, we were told to adjust our helmets so they fit. Gideon stepped up to the edge of the cliff, a different man hooking him up to the cable.
"Ready?" the first man asked me.
"No," I replied.
"You'll love it," the man hooked my strap onto the cable and connected another one to Gideon.
Gideon looked over to me and smiled softly. I returned the small smile and then looked down to the hundreds of feet of nothing.
Feeling a push on my back, I felt my feet go off the edge. All harness held me as I went plummeting across the line, winding biting my face and blowing back my hair. Gideon shouted a "woo" and I glanced over at him.
"Are you scared?" Gideon raised an eyebrow and I shook my head.
"No," I shook my head, yelling over the wind. "I've never done this before!"
"Neither have I!" Gideon smiled and I could only help but laugh.
"Slowing," the harness of both Gideon and I spoke.
Suddenly we started slowing down as a large group of trees engulfed us. I looked around curiously and spotted a monkey gazing at us from a tree.
"Look!" I pointed and Gideon turned his head to see the monkey.
As we sped along through the large piece of a tropical forest, my hair blew back. I noticed Gideon watching me with a smile on his face as I laughed. I could guess my eyes were filled with the wonders of the forest and he loved that.
"Your ride is almost over," the harness spoke again.
"Dammit this is fun!" I smiled.
We'd moved from four different lines to this fifth one. Since it was the largest one, the stairs had led up to a tall starting point. I wanted to do all five over again.
"Look at the cove!" Gideon was looking ahead.
We exited the jungle and started zip-lining across a short beach. The water was a beautiful light blue and it splashed up against the small sides of the cove. The sand was a pink and red color.
"I want to go there!" I looked to Gideon and he nodded in agreement.
Coming to a stop on a different, shorter cliff, we met two other men. They disconnected us and told us that we were to walk down the path back to the office to return our gear.
"That was amazing!" I jumped up and spun around while we started walking.
"It was something," Gideon agreed.
"Thank you," I turned to him and he stopped. "For bringing me out here to do that- it was fun."
"I'm glad you enjoyed it," Gideon smiled.
That feeling of kissing his lips off hit me again and I tried to ignore it. I began walking again, my limp more noticeable now. Gideon walked next to me in silence.
"Is that what I think it is?" I asked.
"What?" Gideon asked.
Running around the corner and down the path, I came face to face with a little waterfall. With wide eyes, I walked on the path that went underneath it.
"Be careful, Keona!" Gideon called out.
"They wouldn't have us walking on this if it were dangerous!" I yelled back. "Come on!"
Gideon appeared underneath the small waterfall after a few seconds, his gaze narrowed. I looked at the ancient paintings along the wall, amazed.
"Do you see these?" I turned and looked at him.
Gideon was feeling the water. "It's warm!"
Walking over to him, I gently felt the water. Pulling back and gasping, I smiled. Gideon looked at me slowly.
"Whoa," I looked at him.
"Keona," Gideon spoke slowly.
"Yeah?" I asked.
"I'm sorry."
"For what?" I tilted my head.
"I haven't been the most....cheerful recently. I'm processing a lot," Gideon glanced away for a moment.
"You haven't seemed different," I assured him. "You're still the grumpy asshole you've always been."
Gideon glared at me and chuckled angrily. "Really?"
"Yep, you're terrible!" I smiled triumphantly.
"I guess I'll have to work on that," Gideon's arm found its way around my waist and I felt a tingle go through my body.
Mouth gaped open, I went towards Gideon as he leaned to me. Feeling his lips touch mine, I wanted to scream. Warm and gentle, Gideon deepened the kiss by dipping his head into mine. I wrapped my arms around his neck and pulled myself closer to him.
I could only remember kissing him one other time. The second was better than the first and I was mentally screaming as to how happy I was. I wondered if Gideon had been waiting for a moment like this.
Gideon's hands on my cheeks wouldn't let me move and I loved that. I didn't want the kiss to end. His thumbs stroked right underneath my closed eyes gently.
I wish we could continue.
"We need to go," Gideon whispered when he pulled away from me gently.
"I don't want to," I whispered back.
Gideon smiled without showing his teeth and then kissed my lips one more time. When he pulled away the second time, his hand found mine. Grasping it tightly, Gideon started walking towards where the office sat.
"Go get in the car if you want, I'll return the stuff," Gideon squeezed my hand and took the gear from me, giving me the keys.
"Okay," I couldn't help but smile.
Gideon took a few minutes inside the small office so I turned on the car. Sitting in the driver's seat, I gripped the steering wheel and closed my eyes.
"I can't believe I just kissed him," I whispered.
"Is that bad?" Gideon's voice made me jump and honk the horn.
"H-How did you get in here?" I demanded.
"I opened the door and sat down," Gideon smirked. "Did you think I crawled through the window?"
"Stop sneaking up on me," I growled.
"So where are we going?"
"Home?" I asked.
"Don't you want to go to that beach?"
"I'd rather go eat at the villa or something," I shrugged.
"Okay. You're the driver so you decide," Gideon sat back in his seat.
"What are we eating for dinner?" I asked as I drove along the road back to the highway.
"Again, I have no idea," Gideon shrugged. "We could make something with what we have at the villa."
"Sounds good," I smiled and turned left onto the main road of the island.