| "I come here when I want to be alone." She didn't smile, but just said that. Mark tried to think of what to say. "So, what does your friend do here?" Jovi asked. He was relieved to hear the question. They started into a nice conversation. He told her about his friend that moved down here to go to school. She talked about her grad work. He talked about missing college life. Jovi soon took her shoes off and started to wade into the water. She looked back at him. "Wanna join me?" He shook his head. He was sitting on the side of the stream. "Chicken??" Jovi teased. "Nope, just...." He stopped, trying to find an excuse. Jovi laughed at him and lightly splashed him. "Don't go there..." He warned. "Or what? You won't even come into the water." Jovi splashed him again. In one motion, he jumped up and into the water, splashing Jovi and surprising her. She giggled. He was standing in the water, in his shoes, and started to laugh. She laughed too. He caught her off guard while she was laughing and tripped her. She went down into the water and immediately jumped up. "You are such a ...a...." "A what? Huh?" He smiled. Jovi jumped on his back. "You are going down buddy! I may have just met you, but dammit, NOBODY gets away with this!!!" She was pulling on his neck and hanging on his back. He was laughing really hard. She dropped off his back and gave him a little smirk. "What?" He looked at her. "This," she jumped up and splashed him. He got nailed in the face by a splash. "That's not funny." "I thought so." He reached out and grabbed her, holding her by the arms. She struggled and they both lost their footing. They toppled into the water, laughing the entire time. "Well, isn't this fun." Mark ran his hand through his hair. Jovi was pulling her scrunchie out and pulling her hair back again Mark watched as she did this. She saw him watching her. "I apologize. Now I am going to look worse than I did before." "I didn't think you looked bad before..." He reached out and smoothed a piece off of her face. She felt her cheeks grow warm. She had this really strong urge to reach out and do the same with his hair. Just as she did, he reached up to his forehead. Their hands bumped. She smiled. He did too. The silence they shared was something so awkward. Jovi realized she was lying in a stream with Mark Tremonti. She suddenly became self-conscious. Mark felt Jovi's tenseness almost immediately. He pulled away from her and stood up. He reached out and helped her up. "Well, I guess I really avoided getting wet." He smirked. Jovi just smiled at him. They went up on the side of the stream and sat in the sun. He took his shoes and socks off. "I guess I didn't know what I was up against." "Damn straight. I always win." Jovi grinned. "Well, I don't know if you won... but..." Jovi got an incredulous look on her face. "Do we even need to go there?" She gave him a look. "I better not. I might end up in the water again." Jovi thought that might not be a bad thing. They chatted again as they started to dry off. Jovi kept fidgeting with her hair. She was paranoid that she looked like hell. Mark seemed to read her thoughts. "You look fine." he reached out and grabbed her hand away from her hair. His hand lingered in hers. She felt her cheeks flush again. He smiled at her. "So, when you came down here today did you think you'd end up in a stream?" He laughed. "Nope, but I wouldn't trade it for anything...." He caught her eye. She felt his warmth radiating. She lost herself for a moment. He was still holding her hand. She could almost feel his pulse, it was quite fast, like hers. "Jovi...." She seemed to be a million miles away. "Yes." "When we fell, I wanted to... I had this feeling that you were..." he couldn't finish his sentence. Jovi came back to the earth. "What?" She said. "Jovi, I am not..." he stopped again. She got confused. "Damn." He said, then pulled her to him and kissed her. Jovi just about died. Slowly, the kiss ended. Mark pulled away from her. "Wow....." She quietly said. "I wanted to do that in the water, but I got this vibe from you ....." Jovi sat up. She smiled. "I know. I have some walls I am trying to get around right now." "I think we all have those to get around..." Mark trailed off. Jovi smiled at him. |
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