6. Harper
Chapter 6
Harper
Jude watches me from the pool house with an unreadable expression on the hard planes of his face. Why does he always look so…growly? There’s no way his life sucks, living in a place like this. He’s got it easy. I could tell him shit that would turn his black hair white as snow. But he probably already thinks I’m nothing more than trailer-park trash, so I wouldn’t dare.
For the first time since we’ve met, we’re actually having a semi-good time. He looks somber as always, but I don’t get the feeling he wants to throttle me with his bare hands anymore. That’s got to count for something, right?
I almost think he won’t join me. That he’ll chicken out and go upstairs to his room. It’s probably what he should do. Although I’m wearing the same amount of fabric as I would in a bikini, this feels…improper. Which is fucked up, because we’d be complete strangers but for our parents’ marriage certificate.
But Jude doesn’t go inside. He pulls off his shirt and pants and stalks onto the patio like a tiger.
I’ve never seen his bare chest before and I can’t help but stare at his abs and his thick, muscular thighs. He plays football, but that’s as much as I know. I couldn’t care less about sports but it seems like you have to spend hours a day in the gym if you want to compete, even at high school level.
I’ve never seen a guy with a pelvic V. Jude’s disappears behind his boxers and makes me wonder how the rest of him looks.
The sight of him makes me feel all squirmy inside, and the dreams I’ve been having of him flood my mind. I spin around in the water, forcing myself to break eye contact, desperate to regain control of my thoughts.
There’s barely a splash when he hits the water. Thank God they heat the water a little, so at least it’s not freezing as I’d expected, but I still shiver as I paddle toward the side, intent on getting out now that I’ve made my point.
Strong arms wrap around my middle and haul me under the water. I manage a scream, the sound cutting off when water fills my mouth. I kick and claw, but there’s too much resistance in the water for me to hit Jude. The arms that were hauling me down are pushing me up, and I explode from the water, fountaining water.
My scream becomes a squeal as I realize he wasn’t trying to drown me, and then I splash back into the water. “What the fuck!” I yell as I surface, pushing wet hair out of my face.
Jude moves to the shallower end of the pool and stands, everything below his belly button under the water. With the pool’s dark blue paint and the overcast sky, everything below his waist is obscured. If I squint, it looks like he’s naked.
“Got something in your eye?” Jude asks.
I hurriedly stop squinting and kick my legs up, floating on the water as I study him.He drags both hands through his hair, squeezing out water while making all the muscles on his arms and torso cord.God, he’s such a show-off. I bet he jerks off in front of a mirror every morning?—
Oh, hell no! I should not be thinking like that. Bad Harper!
I smirk. “I never thought I’d see you having fun.”
He cocks a dark eyebrow at me and wades into the deep end. The way his hips move through the water does terrible things to my insides.
“You’re not setting the bar very high.”He ducks into the water, swimming around me in a smooth circle. God, watching him move makes me want to start exercising just so I can do things as effortlessly as him.
I think back to the question I asked earlier. I guess that was a low blow, asking after his mom like that. But even my mother doesn’t know what happened to Wayne’s wife, the first Mrs. Dearth. I just know she’s dead...and if neither Wayne nor Jude want to talk about it, it must mean something tragic happened.
Which obviously just makes me more curious.
“Truth or dare,” I call out.
Jude stops swimming, ducks under the water, and comes up with a toss of his head. “Truth.”
He makes it too easy.
I cock my head, paddling with my arms and legs to keep myself afloat. As much as I’d want to ask him about his mom again, I know he won’t answer me. The alcohol we downed is starting to take effect, and my mouth slides into a smug smile as I study my stepbrother.
“What’s the worst thing you’ve ever done?”
There’s a moment, just a fraction of a second, where a shadow crosses his face. But it’s gone so fast, I’m not sure if I imagined it.
“I cheated on a test in junior high.”
I roll my eyes and start swimming for the side of the pool. “If you didn’t want to play, you should have just said so.”
He snags my ankle. I twist around and try to tug myself free, but he’s too strong. “Let go!”
“Where are you going?”
“I have better things to do than being lied to.” I narrow my eyes at him. “Now let go.”
Jude drags me closer. When I’m in arms-reach, he lets go of my leg and grabs my wrist instead. “The worst thing?” he murmurs.
I study him for a second, shrug. “Yeah.”
“Why would I willingly give you dirt on me?” He cocks his head. “You could just use it against me.”
“See, this is why I was leaving. You don’t even know me, but you immediately assume that I’m out to get you. Paranoid much?”
He watches me for a long moment. “I videotaped a couple having sex.”
I expected another lie, maybe him trying to figure out my motives. But this...?
I stop swimming in surprise, and flounder as my chin and mouth bob under the surface. Jude slides his hand up my arm, supporting me, holding my weight in the water. Moving closer. His gaze is intent, completely fixated on me. It feels too intense, but I can’t seem to look away.
“That’s...”
“They asked me to,” he says.
There’s a tiny flutter inside me. I really hope it’s relief...but I’m pretty sure it’s disappointment.
For a moment...just a second...I’d thought my dream was coming true. That Jude was telling me exactly what I wanted to hear.
That he was a freak...just like me.