Chapter Thirteen Cash #2
“Come on, big, tough, football star. Don’t tell me you’re afraid of a little cold water,” Saylor said with a grin as she joined me.
“Hey, Saylor! I didn’t know you were coming out tonight,” a pretty brunette called out as she and some guys joined us at the launch.
“Saylor, I didn’t see your name on the list. Did I miss it?” one of the guys asked with a frown.
“Hi, Rubes,” Saylor said to the girl before turning to the confused guy beside her. “I’m not part of the SCR outing this evening.”
“You’re not?” Then the girl, “Rubes,” flicked her eyes at me, and realization dawned. “Ooh,” she said with a giggle. “You’re on a date. Romantic.”
Saylor gave a long-suffering shake of her head, which did not bode well for my plans for the next couple of hours.
“It will be,” I said as I reached a hand toward Saylor. “Your carriage awaits, milady.” I deepened my voice deliberately in a caricature of a footman out of some cheesy Cinderella remake.
As she set her hand in mine, she rolled her gorgeous eyes, yet I caught the hint of a smile tipping up the corner of her generous mouth and grinned back as I steadied the raft for her.
Once she was settled on one end of the bench seat, I wasted zero time scrambling in after her on the other end.
Using the oar I’d thrown in, I pushed us away from the launch area and her SCR buddies.
It was unfortunate the frat boys had planned some sort of mixer with their little sisters on the same night as our first date, but I was determined not to let us get sucked into their party.
I paddled us out into the middle of the wide stream, marveling at the stillness of the surface. After I’d put some distance between us and the fraternity outing, I slid the oar into the loops along the side of the raft and reached into the cooler.
Handing Saylor a beer, I said, “Confession. I’ve never floated this river before. Judging by the group of your frat buddies, you have.”
She tipped back a swig of the porter I’d bought after grilling Piper on Saylor’s favorite drink. This time of year, most people didn’t drink dark beer, but Saylor’s friend had assured me that my date preferred dark beer year-round, which only added to her attractiveness.
“Floating the Madison is almost a requirement for attending Mountain State. That and skiing, but as a football player, I doubt skiing is on the list of approved extracurricular activities.” She smirked behind the rim of the can and took another drink.
“I grew up in SoCal where surfing is almost a religion. It translates well to snowboarding, which I did as much of as I could get away with when I was in Washington.” I cracked open a beer and swigged back a long drink.
I was only allowing myself two for the evening since I was driving, but that first pull settled my nerves.
Because, yeah, I had some butterflies tugging at my abs now that I was finally alone with the girl who’d been haunting my dreams for months.
Her pretty eyes widened. “You snowboard?”
“Yeah, but don’t let that slip around my teammates.” I winked. “After transferring here between seasons, I’m still trying to fit in. Don’t need to give them something extra to worry about.”
Her brows went up. “What else are they worried about?”
“Me taking Patty’s spot. Though after Dally asked me to room with him, I guess maybe they’ve moved past that.” I dragged my hand through the water. “How ’bout you? Do you snowboard?”
“Ski.” She sipped thoughtfully from her beer. “Much as he loves playing football, my brother is going to hate giving up skiing.”
“If some Southern school picks him up, that won’t be a problem. If he ends up somewhere like Mountain State…” I shrugged. “As long as he’s careful, he could sneak off to the mountain once or twice, I bet.”
She made a noncommittal sound. “Do you have siblings?”
“An older brother Hayden. He’s in the farm system for the Rays—plays second base.”
“You’re proud of him.” It wasn’t a question.
“Picked up on that, did you?” I smiled. “They drafted him when he was a freshman in college. He played his first pro season last year in triple A. This past winter he spent in a batting cage.” My smile widened. “At some point this season, he’s going to get called up to the big leagues. You watch.”
Her eyes twinkled. “You’re cute when you’re fanboying over your brother.”
“You like me cute.” I sent her my smoldering eyes as I stretched my legs and “accidentally” ran a toe down the side of her calf. The way her nipples puckered behind her bikini top at that move gave me a semi, so I did it again.
Clearing her throat, she leaned over to the cooler. “Is there anything else in here besides beer? I didn’t have a chance to grab a snack before class.”
Showing both of us a hint of mercy, I pulled my foot back and opened the cooler.
“Didn’t I mention this was a dinner cruise?
” With a flourish, I presented her with a choice of sub sandwiches I’d picked up from the Pickle Barrel.
After Danny and his girl introduced me to the place, it had become one of my go-tos, and I hoped Saylor liked it too.
Having no idea what she might enjoy, I’d gone with a half of Taryn’s favorite beachcomber turkey sub and a half chicken salad sub since most women I knew liked those.
Saylor chose Taryn’s fave, and I set the other sandwich in the cooler before grabbing my favorite: the dragon slayer, with ham, salami, and provolone.
I opened a bag of chips and set them on top of the cooler between our beers, appreciating the fact that Taco’s loaner had cupholders in the lid.
For a few minutes, we ate in silence, the soft lapping of the water against the shore and the distant shouts and laughter of other rafters creating a relaxing atmosphere.
When we both went for the chips at the same time and our fingers brushed, the hairs on my arms stood to attention.
Saylor’s breathy, “Sorry,” told me she felt it too.
With a chivalrous gesture, I said, “You’re my guest.”
She blinked, her eyes turning an interesting shade of golden-honey that had me shifting restlessly on my bench seat.
A scream followed by a splash drew our attention to the flotilla of rafts the SCRs had put in the river behind us.
As we watched, one of the girls climbed back into the raft, water streaming down her body.
With the river running barely chest-high in the deepest points, her full ducking had to have been intentional.
“You said something about not signing up for the SCR outing when we launched. Why was that?” I asked as I finished off my sub.
“It’s a spring rush party, and I wasn’t in the mood for freshmen.” She shot me a look from beneath her brows and I grinned.
“Can’t blame you. Especially when you had a better offer.”
“Yeah?” she challenged. “How’s that?”
“For starters, I might splash you, but I won’t dump you in the drink.” I tipped back the last of my beer. “That’s immature flirting.”
“Splashing me isn’t immature?”
“’Course not. If I do it right”—I reached down and flicked a handful of water over her bare thigh—“you’ll gasp and squeal.”
On cue, Saylor did exactly that.
“And you’ll splash me back.”
Two handfuls of cold water hit my chest right on time.
“The next thing you know, here you are in my lap, which is a much better place for you than in the river.” I tightened my arm around her waist and rested my other hand on her thigh, smoothing it up and down her silky skin as I grinned at her.
“Well, that escalated quickly,” she said a little breathlessly.
Drawing lazy patterns on her skin, I said, “As flirting techniques go, you’ll discover mine are flawless.”
“Cocky, much?” she asked, but her tone lacked heat.
“Stating facts.” At her raised brows, I clarified.
“A few minutes ago you were sitting way over there.” I nodded to the bench seat the length of my legs across the raft.
“Then I teased you with a couple of splashes, and a minute later, here you are, exactly where my flirting drew you.” Taking a chance, I stole a quick kiss. “See? Flawless.”
At my self-satisfied grin, her eyes flashed fire—my only warning before she wrapped both arms around my shoulders and set her lips on mine.
Time stopped as Saylor’s mouth moved over mine in a kiss so hot, it probably turned the river to steam around our raft.
Not that I would have noticed with my full attention on the erotic caress of her tongue stroking mine and the pounding beat of my heart through the length of my rock-hard dick.
Without breaking the kiss, she shifted in my lap, straddling me.
With nothing but the thin barriers of our swimsuits between us, I couldn’t help but grind against her heat.
The tight buds of her erect nipples pressed into the planes of my chest, dragging a groan from my throat that she matched with a soft moan.
I squeezed the firm globes of her ass in my hands and held her still as she tried to take over the rhythm of what had morphed into an inferno of dry-humping.
“Cash,” came out on a tortured moan as she tore her mouth from mine. “Please.”
“Get a room!” someone yelled from somewhere close by, followed by masculine laughter and feminine giggles. “This is a family float.”
I pressed my forehead to Saylor’s as a sigh gusted out of me. Then a shot of cold water blasted along our sides, and I jerked my head to see her frat brothers floating past us, their oars doing double duty as splash paddles.
“Jerks!” Saylor yelled, but she was laughing.