“I like you,” he replies. It’s something Michael still says, even though they’ve been trading I-love-yous for months. It means something different to him, and it’s just as important. Lee’s easy acceptance reminds him of that.
He slides a hand around the back of her neck and pulls her down to be kissed again. It’s a longer kiss this time: slow, appreciative, a bit possessive. His other knee comes up so that she’s lying between his legs, and he holds her there with a light pressure. He’s in shorts today (as he has been most days out here), so from a couple inches above his knees all the way down to his feet, his skin is bare. It hasn’t tanned at all.