Okay, after yet another extremely long hiatus, I have another chapter for you all. I am so sorry for how long this is taking me. I have many, many chapters in progress for the future, but I need small fillers that I am currently working on. I promise there will be much more if you all want it

This chapter takes place several months after the last one, on the forth of July.

Enjoy!

I look over at Abby who is lying next to me on the blanket. It's hard to believe
that it's only been six months since we stared dating; it feels like so much
more. I look back at our ups and downs and smile; everything that we've gone
through has been worth it. Abby stretches her arms up over her head and a yawn
escapes her mouth. Her hair is pulled back into a messy ponytail and her cheeks
are painted a faint shade of pink from the afternoon sun. The July air is hot
and humid, sticking to our bodies. I can see Abby's skin around her tank top
shine from the perspiration. The ground below us is cool and feels great
against my warm skin.

"How much longer?" Abby moans. I love it when she whines. I look out across the
horizon at the setting sun.

"Sweets, it's not even dark yet," I answer, "Fireworks are viewed best at
night." She sighs and scoots closer to me. I know this is an invitation to
cuddle, but I decide to toy with her a bit. She nudges me with her shoulder and
I look down into those big brown eyes; she knows she can win me over with those
any time, but this time, I am somehow able to avoid taking the bait.

"May I help you?" I ask. She looks startled, probably wondering why she failed
tofaze me.

"Well I um…" she tries to answer but instead stumbles over her words. I try my
hardest to hide the smile that's breaking through, but Abby catches me. "You're
an ass, you know that?" she says and turns away from me. I chuckle to myself
knowing that if she caught me laughing, I'd receive a nice, hard punch in the
face.

"You know," Abby says, "That guy over there looks like he's in need of some
love, and I thing I can help him out with that." I look over at the guy she's
pointing at. Not bad, I guess. Probably mid twenties, tall, brown hair,
athletic build. Of course he's no match for me, but on the "Ray's Completely
Heterosexual Rating Scale of Other Men", I'd give him a four.

"Yeah," I say to Abby, "Why don't you go give him a backrub or something." Abby
looks stunned again but then collects herself.

"You know what, I will. I'm sure he'd appreciate it, and maybe I can get a date
out of it." She stands up and smoothes her clothing and hair. She turns and
starts to walk away, but I grab her wrist and pull down on top of me.

"You didn't really think that I'd pass up an opportunity to fondle you, did
you?" I ask, whispering into her ear. She smiles at me and I melt right there.
She's so beautiful right now.

"You're gorgeous, you know that?" I whisper, running my hands up and down her
back. Abby merely shakes her head at me and continues to smile. Her eyes are
sparkling like fireflies and her smile is so genuine. She nuzzles her face close to mine.

"Did you ever think that you could be so happy?" she whispers into my ear, her
warm breath rushing over me. I can feel her smile against my neck, because she
already knows my answer. She knows that the feeling of being truly happy had
evaded me for so long, but in meeting her, I have become the happiest man
alive. I reach up and pull the elastic band out of her hair, allowing the
silky, brown locks to cascade down over her shoulders, spilling onto my chest.

"What did you do that for?" she whines, "It's too hot to wear my hair down." I
smile at her and ruffle her hair.

"I love your hair down, it's sexy," I answer. She gives me her classic eye roll
and follows it with a goofy smile. "I really do like your hair down," I say,
"But do you know what I find to be even more sexy?" She smiles, but shakes her
head. I lean in close to her and whisper, "When you're completely naked." With
that said, I reach down and start to lift her shirt up. Abby erupts into a fit
of laughter and starts slapping at my hands.

"Ray cut it out!" she exclaims, "At least wait until it's dark! Please!" I
release Abby's shirt and run my hands up over her breasts. She flashes a wicked
smile and climbs on top of me. I know she's just playing with me right now, but
I love it anyway. I don't think she will ever know the extent of what she does
to me. We are interrupted from our rendezvous on the blanket by a small child's
voice.

"Mommy, that's what I saw you and daddy doing on the couch and then-," Abby and
I both look up at a woman who is frantically trying to quiet her son, her
cheeks growing a deep shade of crimson. The boy reminds me of myself as a
little rug rat. That's probably what my kids are going to be like one day. I
look up at Abby… our kids would be beautiful. I'm about to tell her about what
I'm thinking when she leans down and catches my lips in her own. Who needs
fireworks when I've got Abby? She pulls back and smiles. I can see the sky
slowly getting darker, like a deep blue sheet being pulled over us. Abby looks
up.

"Not much longer," she murmurs.

"Not much longer for me either," I add, "I'm just about ready to-." Abby looks
down at me and rolls her eyes.

"Very funny," she says, "Can't you ever behave?" I smirk at her.

"Why behave when being naughty is so much more fun?" I ask while rolling her
onto her back, "Hey, after we have sex beneath the fireworks, let's go skinny
dipping." She rolls her eyes again.

"God, Ray you're like a frickin' horny teenager!" Abby exclaims. Is that meant
to be an insult? I personally think she's complimenting my very healthy sex
drive. "Don't you ever stop?" she asks. I don't have to answer that either, she
knows exactly what I would say. Who would blame me though? Abby is gorgeous.

I can feel her damp skin pressing against my own skin. The heat between us is
growing, among other things. I pull my shirt off and watch Abby's eyes grow
wide. She loves it when I do that. She runs her soft hands over my chest and my
muscles ripple beneath her touch.

"Abby, let's ditch the fireworks and go home to our bed," I groan, my voice is
husky with desire, "We can make our own fireworks." I lean down and kiss her
neck; her skin is salty with sweat. I pull back and look at her. She looks
peaceful, almost lost. Her brown eyes are fixated on the sky and she doesn't blink
just to make sure that she doesn't miss a second of what is going on in front of her. Her face is illuminated by purple light and a loud boom follows shortly after. The
fireworks have started and there's no tearing Abby away. The bursts of color
reflect off her eyes and the sounds of the fireworks cause her to flinch. She
reminds me of a child who has never seen fireworks before and is amazed by
every aspect of them. I roll over onto my back and gaze up at the sky. During
the sparkles and fizzles, I feel Abby's fingers slowly creep across my hand. I
look over at her and see myself in her eyes.

It's like she's floating right now, and her smooth skin glides across my own. She wraps her naked legs around my waist and I press my lips against hers.

"Now, aren't you glad that you agreed to go skinny dipping?" I mumble against her lips. Abby nods, her eyes are closed… she looks as if she could fall asleep right now. She rests her head on my shoulder.

"Ray?" she asks, "Are you sure that the people who own this pool aren't home?"

"Yes, Abby," I answer for the hundredth time, "I'm positive. You know Mark from the Empty Bottle, well this is his parents house and right now they are in sunny Spain." She smiles and kisses me. We're getting into the kiss; I slide my tongue past her lips and rub my hands up and down the outsides of her thighs. I want to feel every inch of her soft body right now. My hands wander up her thighs to her hips and I find myself at her chest. She gives me such a high. A flood of light interrupts our passionate embrace. I turn toward to source of the light.

"Mark!" I exclaim. Abby quickly ducks behind me to hide.

"Ray? What the hell are you doing here?" Mark asks, "Wait a minute are you naked?" I nod. "Dude, that's not right," he says walking up to the edge of the pool. "Hey, who are you hiding in there? Abby, is that you?" Abby peeks around my shoulder.

"Uh, yeah… hi Mark," she says. I can almost feel her cheeks burning red.

"I can't believe it," Mark says, "My parents aren't even gone for two days, and you're already screwing in their pool. That's disrespectful, man"

I look down at the water, I feel like such an asshole right now. I've totally embarrassed Abby, fucked up any friendship that I had had with Mark, and his parents will probably find out about this and hate me forever.

"Tell me one thing," he says, "Please tell me that the sex was good."

There's nothing like wrestling in our bed, I wouldn't trade it for anything in the world right now. I love how Abby thinks she's actually going to beat me; I like to humor her. There are random ass slaps and bra snaps before this fight goes too far. She gives me a wedgie. That's it; nobody does that to Ray Barnett. I push Abby down onto the bed.

"You know how much I hate wedgies," I say. She bites her lip, trying not to smile. "Well I know something that you hate about as much as I hate wedgies…" She looks at my quizzically, so I start tickling her just below her ribcage. She immediately squirms beneath my touch. I am relentless even when she begs for me to stop. Then, she bites me. God, it hurts. I pull back and rub the sore spot on my arm.

"Sorry," she whispers, "I didn't mean to bite so hard… it just happened. You wouldn't stop." I smile at her. I'm not bleeding or anything, so no harm done. A smile creeps onto Abby's face when she sees that I don't care about the bite. She pounces on me and tries to pin me down, and so begins another round of wrestling. I can tell she's starting to tire; her breaths are becoming ragged and her strength is slowly diminishing. Finally, I pin her down.

"Getting tired?" I ask. She nods, trying to stifle a yawn. Her eyes are glassy and her eyelids are beginning to droop. I lean in and place my lips on hers. I let my lips wander up her jaw line, her soft breath warming my ear as I do. I roll off of her and look into her beautiful face. She smiles with her full lips and her gorgeous eyes. And in this moment of pure bliss that I don't think could ever get any better Abby changes my life forever.

"I love you, Ray."