The water felt nice that day.

We journeyed to the farther end of the beach where other locals hung out, away from the tourists who populated the areas that caught the most sun and had the most access to everything they could buy with their hard earned foreign money.

We laid in the sand for what seemed like hours…the warm kernels exfoliating our skin, my legs thrown carelessly and lovingly across his, my eyes closed, soaking up the feeling of cool air faintly trailing over our bodies.

“I want to take a swim,” he says to me, rubbing my head that has been on his chest for some time.

I listen to his heart beat. I don’t want to leave his side. My hands rub his bare skin and I find myself thinking if I could love any other sensation at the moment.

“Join me,” he tells me. I smile.

As he gets up, I brush the sand off his toned legs. I know that it’s irrelevant to do so, but I do it just to feel him. He holds out a hand to me, and I grab it. We walk, hand in hand, into the cool liquid.

“Holy shit it’s cold!” I exclaim. This is when he continues to walk further out, still clutching my hands into his. Then, he pulls me into him to feel the warmth of his body.

“On the count of three, we dip. 1…2…2 and a half…3” and we submerged. I wrap my hands tightly around his neck. When we break the surface of the water it’s filled with shudders and laughter. Soon, my body acclimates and I dive into the aquamarine colored waters once more. We wade for a bit, looking at each other allowing ourselves to become at home in the sea.

He tells me he wants to swim a couple laps and I join him for a few but then come back close to shore when I grow slightly tired. I then recline my body backwards, feeling the rush of water over my abdomen as I float on my back. I lay basking in the heat radiating from the low hung sun and the cool of the sea below me. As I close my eyes I feel a pair of hands grab my legs, pulling me in.

It’s him.

I wrap my legs around his waist and he slowly spins around, wading the water behind him. I look at him. This is my favorite place to be. By his side. I stretch my arms out and he grabs them. I pull myself into him. Hugging him. Kissing him. And he holds me this way for what seems like…forever.