Free Letting Ana Go by Anonymous Page A

him.
    CAMERA PULLS OUT—LAKE POWELL—CONTINUOUS
    Camera pulls away from JACK and ME floating in the clear cool water, pans up the orange canyon walls standing guard around us, and fades into the bright rays of the desert sun.
    I guess it wasn’t particularly graceful. It wasn’t the script I’d written, that’s for sure, but when Jack kissed me it was perfect, just as it happened.
    I’m ready for the sequel.

Thursday, June 21
    Weight: 127
    Today was our last full day on the water, and Jill was right about one thing: her parents got tanked at dinner and were downstairs in their stateroom by 11 p.m. After her parents disappeared, Jill snuck downstairs with Rob and came back with an open bottle of chardonnay they’d left on the counter and cups for all of us. Dad let me have a sip of wine once at his brother’s wedding, but I’d never been handed a whole glass.
    Rob made a toast about “gorgeous scenery” and “lovely ladies” and “a week to remember” and Jack laughed and rolled his eyes, and then held his glass up and looked straight at me.
    Jack: To more than friends.
    If the moon hadn’t been so bright, no one would’ve seen me blush, but it was and they did. Rob made a horse sound. Jill smacked his bare arm. Jack and I laughed, and then we pulled out the big cushions the guys have been sleeping on all week and lay down on them and stared up at the stars.
    Lying next to Jack on the deck felt different from floating next to him in the water. He had one hand under his head, and I used his biceps and shoulder as a pillow. I fit perfectly againsthim, my head tucked up under his chin. He felt so sturdy, every inch of him solid and strong. Jill was holding forth on the evils of light pollution and I knew without looking at her that she was wearing her wide-eyed pronouncement face. Then all of a sudden she stopped yammering on midsentence and I glanced over to see Rob kissing her. Jack knew what was happening without looking and groaned that they should get a room. Jill giggled and Rob said “gladly” and they went belowdecks, leaving Jack and me with the sound of the water against the boat.
    The stars were so bright out here, and there were so many that the sky looked almost hazy with stripes of twinkling beams. Jack was quiet, and every time he took a breath, I felt his chest rise and fall against my body. It was a different kind of floating, a tide that made me feel like I was drifting closer to him—not physically, but on the inside. Jack must have felt it too, because right at that moment he turned and kissed my hair. He didn’t say anything at all, just held his lips there, and he took a deep breath, like he was trying to breathe me in.
    The wine was making my head warm, and I felt my heart speed up as I pressed my whole body closer to his. In one slow movement, he rolled toward me and slid his arm under the small of my back, pulling me tightly against him. His lips foundmine and he kissed me long and deeply, like he was hungry and he couldn’t get enough. I wrapped both arms around his broad shoulders and felt the strength pulsing through his whole body as he held me close. I felt so safe, tucked beneath him, his thick arm wrapped around me, holding on to me like he was drowning in the warmth of my breath and I was the only thing that would keep him afloat.
    I slid my hands under the hem of his tank top and let my fingers wander up the knots of muscle in his back and shoulders. He rolled a little to the side, and I felt his hand on my cheek, then it slid down my neck and over my shirt. For a second I was worried. I wished my breasts were bigger and wondered how they felt under his fingers. His touch was firm like the rest of him, but gentle, and suddenly I had goose bumps on my arms. I wanted him to like touching me, to like the feel of my body as much as I liked the feel of his.
    All at once I was so glad that I’d been watching my calories with Jill. I felt lean and pretty under the spell of