I hadn't really consciously realized that we were standing in a river, nor did I care at this point. For the first time since I had spotted him, I looked away. I bit my lip, trying to mask the ridiculous smile that was attempting to copy his extraordinary one. Something soft and warm gently slid over the edges of my palms and fit itself in the space between my fingers. I looked down at my hand to see another lightly clutching it. Our other free hands copied this. I quickly, but smoothly darted my head back up so I could once again see his face. He was smiling, but not with his mouth. His eyes were soft and them my body began to feel the same. Those gorgeous eyes were melting me from the inside out. He leaned his face in closer to mine so that our foreheads lightly pressed together. I'm sure this would have looked rather obscure from another persons view, but I really didn't care if anyone else saw. We could have been in the middle of a busy street and I wouldn't care if anyone saw. I was happy here, euphoric, rather, that I was with this stranger that I could almost call a dear friend.
I was suddenly aware of his hands again as he stroked his thumb up and down the side of my hand. Then, as if together on a stage, performing our parts and getting our cues right, we each released the hold on one side of the tangle of fingers, he pulled his head back away from mine and we faced downstream. We slowly walked hand in hand down the river.
