Chapter Nine
Aaron
Iput a plate of hot dogs on the table along with buns and all the fixings. “Eat, you’ll feel better.”
“You don’t have to feed me,” Skye protested, but when I slid the plate closer to her she relented and took two.
Good girl.
I grabbed three and started spreading ketchup on the bun.
After she had taken a few bites and fed a little piece to the menace, she turned her attention to me. “You really don’t have to feed and house me.”
I did though. Otherwise she would leave, and as much as I had wanted that yesterday, today the idea had my mood plummeting.
I shrugged, trying not to give away how important it was to me. “It’s not a big deal, Skye. Stay, finish your article. I have plenty of food.”
I did.
It was space that was the problem. As in, there was only one bed in my cabin and nowhere else to sleep but the hard ground. Or her van, but there was no way that was happening on my watch.
I needed her close in case the bear came back…sure that was a good excuse.
We’d figure that out later. For now I needed her to accept what I was offering.
She sighed. “I know you came here to relax…alone.”
I took a drink of water and swallowed. “I did, but now I’m invested in your article. Besides, clearly Kyle needs some stern discipline.”
She smirked and looked down at where Kyle was tangled in his leash at her feet. “Maybe that’s true.”
“Good. It’s settled.”
Skye worked on her laptop at the picnic table for the rest of the afternoon.
Photo editing took a hell of a lot longer than I thought.
I busied myself cutting firewood and, okay, maybe I took a little extra time preparing dinner. Not that I wanted it to be special or anything. I just had some time to kill.
Once we’d eaten, Skye stood from the picnic table. “Let’s go for a swim. I feel gross from the hike.”
“Yeah, good idea.”
We went to our respective cabins to get ready. By the time I got to the dock, Kyle was already in his life jacket and Skye was back in her little red bikini.
“You trust the menace near the water?”
“Can’t punish the boy for his whole life just for a little misadventure.”
I nodded. The sun was still hot despite the late hour, and now that I was standing here in nothing but a pair of shorts I realized how thick the layer of dust was on my skin.
“You wearing sunscreen?” I asked as I dropped my towel on the dock.
“I’m going swimming, I don’t need it.”
“Actually—” I started, but I didn’t finish my sentence. She was already jumping off the dock cleanly into the water.
She surfaced and the sun reflected off the lake with such force I had to squint and almost lost sight of her. “Get your butt in here, the water is fantastic.”
Skye leaned her head back to get all of her hair into the water. My eyes caught on the long line of her throat. I was worried my interest was going to become very obvious in my shorts, so I planted my feet and took a running leap into the water, creating as big a splash as possible.
The cool water enveloped my entire body and the tension left with it. I surfaced and shook my head. Not that I had much hair to get wet. I kept mine buzzed short, an old habit from when I’d been into MMA.
“You splashed Kyle!” Skye said, gesturing toward the dock.
I glanced over and couldn’t help but laugh. The cat was standing in a puddle, soaked from head to toe. The little mohawk was back and he was aggressively licking his back.
“He was fine with the water before,” I said defensively.
“I’m sure he’ll get over it. Besides, splashing is part of the fun.”
She laid on her back, her chest just peeking out above the surface, distracting me before she kicked her feet and sent a wall of water at me.
I sputtered as it hit my face and she laughed hard.
“Oh, so you want a splash fight, huh?”
She smirked in response.
She took off swimming fast in the opposite direction and I ducked under. The lake wasn’t crystal clear, but it wasn’t full of seaweed and algae either. I easily spotted her foot as she swam away.
She was fast, but I was faster. I grabbed her ankle and yanked her under for a moment before letting go.
We both surfaced at the same time, only inches apart, laughing and catching our breath.
“You’re more of a menace than Kyle,” she teased.
“You started it.”
Skye rolled her eyes.
I wanted to keep up the banter, but I was too close to her not to have my heart rate kick up.
Little drops of water slid down her forehead from her hair, catching in her lashes or dropping off her chin.
She’d gotten more sun today, and extra freckles had bloomed across her cheeks.
I started mentally connecting them into shapes as I watched her face.
“You’re staring,” she said, her voice lower now. She moved closer and our hands brushed.
“Sorry.”
She shook her head. “It’s okay. I was just wondering what you were thinking.”
“I was thinking I could spend all day just looking at your freckles and connecting them together,” I said honestly, then immediately regretted how that sounded.
What kind of seventh-grade poetry attempt was that?
Her face softened and she moved closer still. “Are you flirting with me?”
“I’m not sure what I’m doing,” I admitted. My honestly had me mildly horrified at myself.
Her hand slid over my side and she pulled me closer. I went willingly, my palm meeting warm skin through cool water.
“Your brother is my best friend,” I murmured, but I didn’t pull away.
She nodded. “I know. But he’s not here. It’s only you and me.”
Guilt flickered, but didn’t take hold.
Her legs brushed mine as we both treaded water. I wasn’t sure if it was me pulling her closer or the opposite. Maybe it was both. Either way, our knees brushed with every movement.
A lazy breeze rolled over the water carrying the coconut scent of sunscreen.
We stared at each other for a long, lingering moment. Then she slid her hands up from my hips to my shoulders and pulled me down until she could press her lips against mine.
This was a bad idea.
That was what I should have been thinking.
Instead, all I could think about was her.
The vanilla taste of her lip balm. The clean smell of her hair. The contrast of cool water and warm skin had something sharp and alive in my chest.
Her lips were soft …until they weren’t.
She kicked at the water to pull herself closer, her arms tightening around my shoulders, pressing herself more firmly against me. I held her close, our bodies fitting together until not even a drop of water felt like it could slip between us.
I kissed her properly then, tasting her bottom lip, then her top, but I didn’t go further. I stopped myself there.
A kiss, even one this good, was still just a kiss.
If tongues got involved, then hands would roam, and clothes would disappear, and all bets would be off.
With more willpower than I thought I possessed, I loosened my grip.
She slid down my body until she was treading water in front of me again.
The moment was over, but I worried the effect might never go away.