Chapter 20 #2
He dropped down onto the towel beside me without another word, his bare knee brushing against my thigh. The sudden physical proximity made my skin prickle with instant, intense goosebumps despite the blazing heat.
“You’re going to burn, Ains,” he said, turning the yellow sunscreen bottle in his hands. “Your shoulders are already turning pink.”
“I put some on an hour ago,” I protested, squinting up at him through my sunglasses.
“Not enough,” he said firmly. He squirted a thick dollop of white lotion onto his broad palms, rubbing them together before reaching over. “Turn around.”
My mouth went dry. I swallowed hard, turning my back to him and pulling my brown hair over one shoulder.
Rhys moved closer, his bare chest practically brushing my back. Then, his broad, warm hands touched the exposed skin of my shoulders.
I gasped softly, a sharp, involuntary shiver running straight down my spine.
His hands were large, firm, and surprisingly gentle as he spread the cool cream across my collarbones, his thumbs smoothing slow, circular motions over the tops of my shoulders.
Every slide of his palm sent a wave of electric goosebumps racing across my arms, making my breath hitch in my chest.
“Cold?” he murmured near the base of my neck, his fingers tracing down the line of my spine to the tie of my bikini top.
“No,” I whispered, my eyes fluttering shut as his hands moved down to my upper back, his knuckles lightly grazing my ribs. “Just ticklish.”
The moment broke when Leah came running down the steps to the dock, demanding that somebody take her tubing.
Carolyn followed behind her, looking exhausted, and told us that if we all went together and gave her quiet time on the dock, she would give us two hundred dollars to spend next time we went into town.
We were gone in minutes.
For the next two hours, the bay was ours.
Even being out there with Kelcey wasn’t enough to ruin it.
The boat tore through the sparkling water, creating massive white wakes.
Justin went on the tube first, clinging for dear life as Rhys whipped the boat into sharp, agonizing donuts until Justin was launched airborne, crashing into the lake with a massive splash that had all of us on the boat screaming with laughter.
Then it was Leah’s turn, her high-pitched shrieks echoing over the water as Rhys took over the wheel, deliberately driving over the choppy boat wakes to give her the ride of her life.
When it was my turn to get in the water, I balked at the edge of the swim platform, looking down at the deep water.
“It’s cold!” I yelled over the idle of the engine after I tentatively stuck a toe in.
“It’s not cold once you’re in!” Rhys called out from the back seat, holding a lifejacket out to me.
Before I could protest, Rhys stepped onto the platform behind me, wrapped his arms tightly around my waist, and yelled, “Three, two, one—”
“Rhys, no—!”
We hit the lake together in an explosive spray of water.
Like I’d said, the water was freezing, shocking my lungs as we sank under before popping back up to the surface.
I came up sputtering, wiping wet hair out of my eyes, only to find Rhys bobbing right beside me, his wet hair slicked back, laughing wildly.
“You are evil!” I gasped, splashing a wave of freezing lake water straight into his face.
Rhys wiped his eyes, his laugh booming across the water as he swam closer, pulling me into a loose embrace to keep us afloat. Our legs tangled together beneath the dark surface, his wet, cool skin pressing against mine as the lifejackets kept us buoyant.
“Revenge for the pool!” he laughed, his face inches from mine. “And admit it, you loved it!”
I looked at him—at the water droplets clinging to his eyelashes, the wet grin on his lips, the absolute freedom in his voice—and I couldn’t even pretend to be mad.
“I hate you,” I laughed, wrapping my wet arms around his neck as the boat circled back toward us.
“No you don’t,” he whispered softly, his hand resting on the back of my wet head, his fingers tangling in my hair.
My eyes bored into his for a beat, my breath coming out in short gasps that had nothing to do with the shock of the cold water. “You’re right,” I whispered. “I don’t.”
Something shifted on his face, something softening in his eyes. Rhys tightened his arms around me even further. He opened his mouth to say something else, but Leah’s sharp demands for another turn had him blowing out a breath instead.
Another hour later, we finally climbed back onto the main dock, utterly exhausted, waterlogged, and happier than I had been in months.
Rhys and I dragged two lounge chairs together near the edge of the wooden ledge, wrapped ourselves in dry towels, and lay side-by-side in the warm late-afternoon sun.
He reached across the small gap between our chairs, his long fingers finding mine under the edge of my towel.
I didn’t pull away. I closed my eyes, listening to the gentle lap-lap of the lake water, feeling the hot sun on my face and the firm, steady weight of Rhys’s hand holding mine.
There was no school, no rivalries, no fake dating rules, no past heartbreaks. There was only the sun, the forest, the water, and him.