35. Two can play that game
Thirty-Five
TWO CAN PLAY THAT GAME
Liv
It’s late afternoon when Viv and I make our way down the dock toward the pontoon boat. Josh is loading a cooler when we arrive.
“Hey, hotshot,” Viv waves toward Josh.
“My prayers have been answered! Two beautiful ladies on our boat? How’d I get so lucky?”
Viv shakes her head, laughing. Josh might prefer men, but he can charm the pants off a woman, no question.
“Where’s Luke?” I ask, trying to be as casual as possible.
It doesn’t work.
A knowing smirk crosses Josh’s face. “Don’t worry, he’ll be along. He just went to grab some towels.”
Two long, cushioned seats with a reclined back for sunbathing run along the sides at the front of the pontoon.
In the middle, where the steering wheel is, are two captain’s chairs.
The other end of the pontoon has three more chairs and another cushioned bench.
It’s both spacious and surprisingly comfortable.
I’ve spent very little time on boats, but if I were to spend more, I think I’d be happy with this.
Luke heads down the dock toward us, a pile of folded towels in his hands.
“Afternoon, ladies.” He hands the towels to Josh and climbs into the boat, taking his seat at the wheel.
I catch myself staring at his dark sunglasses and his hair, that perfect mix of styled mess.
I try to look away with little success. The sight of him heats my blood.
He’s in slate gray swim trunks that double as shorts and a button-down tan linen shirt.
The first few buttons have been left undone, showing off deliciously tanned skin and hard ridges of muscle, while his rolled-up sleeves expose corded forearms. He’s effortlessly sexy.
Maybe it’s been a long time for me, maybe he’s just sinfully gorgeous, but if I stare at him much longer my clothes might fall off.
To avoid gawking like a lovesick teenager any longer, I busy myself with tucking my bag filled with a change of clothes into the compartment under the seat.
Josh pulls out a speaker. Moments later, Jimmy Buffett is playing, and the boat is chugging out of the cove into the open lake. Josh is in the captain's seat next to Luke, and Viv and I are laid out on the benches in the front catching the late afternoon sun.
Luke points off to the right toward a tiny house on the edge of the lake.
“That’s mine. Josh’s is a little further down.
” I twist to see where he’s pointing. An A-frame cottage with an expansive raised porch sits on the edge of the lake, its large windows making up the entire front of the house.
To the right is a patio with a firepit surrounded by a circle of chairs, set back among the trees.
No neighbors. It appears so secluded—a perfect little sanctuary.
“That’s where you live?” I ask, double-checking I heard correctly.
“Yup. We’ll dock there later.” Luke points to a long wooden dock that protrudes out into the water with a pair of chairs sitting at the end.
He points out Josh’s cottage next. It’s quite similar, with the same exterior design as Luke’s, except without the fire pit and patio. Instead, a hot tub sits under the raised porch.
We cruise around the lake for a while, both Josh and Luke pointing out notable places and sharing memories of a time when they jumped off this rock or when that rope swing broke. It sounds like it was a really fun childhood growing up around here.
Enormous houses and marinas housing boats line the shore. There are docks with slides facing the water, jet skis, and endless amounts of trees. It’s an entire lifestyle out here, and the more I witness it, the more I wish I could be a part of it.
We drop anchor and open a bottle of wine, snacking on crackers and cheese.
“Ladies.” Josh holds his plastic cup filled with a deep pink rosé, “I think I can speak for both of us when I say, I love that you two chose our little B&B for your vacation from the city. I also love that you’re so damn cool and that we actually made some friends out of this trip of yours.”
We all raise our glasses.
“Cheers to that!” Viv says.
Luke nods, but his fervent stare focuses on me. My cheeks burn.
“Cheers,” I say, adding my cup to the mix so we can all clink them together.
It’s not long before Josh checks the thermometer hanging off the side of the boat and announces the temperature is a solid eighty-something.
He takes off his shirt and dives off the side of the boat.
Viv is quick to follow suit, shrugging off her clothes and following Josh in while Luke tosses inner tubes their way.
“What do you say? Wanna go in?” Luke asks, unbuttoning his shirt. I watch his fingers adeptly separate one button from the next until his shirt falls open, exposing his chiseled stomach rippling with rows of muscles. He slips the shirt off his round shoulders, muscles flexing with the motion.
This is a new level of seduction I’m struggling to comprehend. Involuntarily, my teeth drag across my bottom lip as I watch him, engrossed in every move he makes.
“Hey, Trip.” Luke's voice dips low, and he takes a step closer to me. My eyes snap to his face. “You look distracted. Something on your mind?” His lips curve up in the corner.
Oh, I see.
Fine. Two can play that game.
I take a deep breath, steadying my nerves, and reach for the button of my shorts. His eyes flick to my hands.
“Nope. I have nothing on my mind. But, yes, I think I will go for a swim.” I unzip and slip my pointer finger into the waist of my shorts, sliding them down the length of my legs as I stare into Luke’s eyes.
Luke’s heated gaze watches every move with rapt attention. I step out of the shorts, now discarded on the floor, and reach for the hem of my tank top. He watches as I lift and pull it over my head, dropping it to the floor.
My heart beats wildly, nerves and adrenaline coursing through my veins.
I’ve never undressed this way in front of a guy while he watched as if I were the only person on earth.
My ex-boyfriend was always quick to get to the point, often leaving most of my clothes on.
I was lucky if we engaged in foreplay, though I desperately wanted to.
Luke rakes his hand across his scalp, his chest expanding as he sucks in a deep lungful of air, releasing it slowly, eyes roaming my body.
“Everything okay, Luke? You seem… distracted,” I say, feigning innocence and pulling my hair into a messy bun.
He nods, and his throat bobs before his mouth forms any words.
“More than okay, Trip. You’re…” He swallows, then clears his throat. “Your bathing suit is really nice.”
“Yeah? Thanks. It’s new.” I look down at the suit, fiddling with the strings at the sides of my bottoms—to be sexy—but my finger catches in the tie, almost pulling the whole thing undone. I flick my finger out of the loop and glance up at Luke, but he doesn’t appear to have noticed. Thank God.
He stares at me like nothing in the world can force him to look away, and the feeling is exhilarating.
“Hey, lovebirds, get your asses in the water already!” Josh yells from the lime green inner tube. Viv is in the pink one, holding the handle to his so they don’t float apart. “And bring the rosé!”