Chapter 31 #2
It’s just after the first cold wind whips up a wall of crisp red and brown leaves that Lorenzo stands, his smile a little looser than usual, and declares, “It’s about that time.”
Everyone stomps and cheers except for me, because I’m clueless. “What time?”
“Cold plunge, baby!” Lorenzo says.
“Time for the boys to get buck-ass naked and risk hypothermia for the sake of trying to impress girls who couldn’t care less,” Maisy explains cheerfully.
“I don’t take you for a prude, Jade, but just in case, nudity is not required,” Lorenzo says.
Cash stands up and pulls his sweatshirt over his head. “But it is encouraged.”
“Ugh.” Maisy groans. “Give me a second to grab the eyeball bleach, would you?” She shields her eyes. “Now hurry up and get the fuck in the water so I can get on with my night.”
“Gladly.” Cash looks at me. “Jade, I can’t believe we never asked you.
Who has better tattoos? Chicks always refuse to take a side, but I feel like you can be trusted to not hold back.
” He pulls a shirtless Lorenzo toward him so they’re shoulder to shoulder.
Lorenzo rolls his eyes but straightens up, clearly proud of his ink collection and confident in his superiority.
“What an honor,” I say. “Does every girl Reeve brings out here get a chance to vote?”
“Yeah, but your vote actually means something.”
“Why’s that?”
Cash glances over at Reeve, then leans close and murmurs into my ear, “Because we all know that after tonight, he’s never bringing any girl but you here.”
Pleasure blossoms inside me. Reeve, meanwhile, has just noticed his friends standing shirtless in front of me and stomps over. “Fuck off.” He smirks and shoves them out of the way. “She hates both of you and your tattoos.”
“Oops, someone’s jealous,” Lorenzo yells.
Meanwhile, with the rest of them distracted, Cam is hurrying to get his clothes off. “Looks like I’m gonna be the first one in.”
“The fuck you are!” Cash shouts and suddenly all the boys are scrambling to strip their clothes off, grinning as they shove each other out of the way. Clearly there are bragging rights at stake.
Led off by Ruby, the girls and I cheer them on, laughing and wolf-whistling as the boys strip down, even though I have eyes only for Reeve.
Even Maisy gets in on it, cheering while keeping her gaze averted.
Then the guys are off, tearing down the sloped lawn into the darkness, clattering on the wooden deck and then, with a series of splashes, throwing themselves into the darkness of the lake.
“Is it safe?” Maisy asks as the boys whoop and holler in the cold water.
“It’s safe,” I say.
She uncovers her eyes. “You know, it’s not that I’ve never seen my brother’s ass; it’s that every time I do, it takes another year off my life.”
“Are we really jumping in?” I ask. “Naked?”
“It is tradition,” Ruby says.
“Really?” I look at my best friend. “Lenni, even you? Skinny-dipping? I don’t believe it!”
“Well, naked is loosely defined around here,” Lenni says. “Bra and underwear works too.”
“Hey!” one of the guys shouts from the water. “Where are you ladies? Get your asses in here before we die!”
Ruby claps her hands together, her eyes dancing with mischief. “I’ll run and get towels. Get naked, girls!”
In the end, Ruby and I are the only ones willing to go naked, but in the spirit of solidarity—and because I’m not sure whether Reeve would have feelings about my public nudity—all four of us leave our bras and underwear on.
Then we’re racing through a thick blanket of crisp leaves, screeching and giggling as the boys cheer, and then we’re plunging into water so cold I come up gasping.
Reeve is right there when I surface, ready to wrap his arms around me, his smile so wide, I don’t know if I’ve ever seen him happier.
The heat of his body isn’t much in the icy water, but his touch is everything.
I lock my legs around him, shivering and exhilarated and happy, listening to the guys argue over who hit the water first until Lorenzo, the voice of reason, insists everybody get out and warm up.
Once we’re dry and bundled in sweats and thick blankets, someone turns up the music and we settle in around the fire, each girl in the strong arms of her man, and even Maisy and Cash sitting close enough to share a blanket.
Bottles of beer are passed around, and talk turns to football again.
Everyone makes predictions about what life will be like next year, which of the guys will end up playing pro, and whether we’ll keep up this annual tradition here on the lake.
When things get a little too sentimental and Ruby’s eyes glitter with tears, Cash grabs the opportunity to take off his shirt—again—and dance on the lawn, making everyone laugh.
But Reeve quickly forgets Cash and pulls me close, nuzzling my neck and making me shiver with pleasure. It’s a perfect moment on a perfect night, the first night in so long that I want not a single detail changed.
Long after midnight, the girls leave the boys around the fire and head for bed.
Lenni, Cam, Reeve, and I are sharing a guest bedroom with two beds, but since the guys are out doing their guy thing, Ruby and Maisy throw on pajamas and join us so we can do our girl thing and chat under the warm glow of a tiny bedside lamp.
“Lenni, doesn’t this remind you of freshman year?” I ask after we’ve grilled Maisy—the only single girl present—about her love life and any potential prospects.
“Oh god.” Lenni chuckles. “You mean when we shared a tiny dorm room and you kept me awake talking until two in the morning every single night? I still don’t know how I aced my seven a.m. English lit class.”
“That was the best. I can’t believe you and I will never be roommates again.”
“Never say never,” Ruby tells us. “Maybe when we’re all old widows we’ll end up sharing some big, crumbling, cat-filled mansion and reliving our single days together.”
I feel wistful at the thought, silly as it is. “That’s too long to wait.”
“You’re the one who wants to live among strangers, my friend,” Lenni says.
“Maybe.” Or maybe not. “I want a lot of things.”
She allows for a dramatic pause. “Like Reeve?”
I pull a pillow over my face to hide my smile.
“Oh my god, are you . . . embarrassed? Alert the press!”
“Shut up!” I yell from under my pillow.
“Aww,” she coos, raising her voice to an irritatingly high pitch while Maisy and Ruby laugh. “Do you love him?”
I throw my pillow aside. “Will you shut up? I don’t even know what love is. I look back at me and Sam and I can’t believe I thought that was happiness. That was dysfunction junction. Girls, one of these days I can’t wait to tell you the story.”
Ruby smiles. “Maybe you only see that now because of what you have with Reeve.”
“Oh god, don’t do it, Jade!” Maisy says. “You end up with Reeve, that means your future children will have an Uncle Cash.”
Ruby shakes her head as Lenni and I laugh. “Don’t believe this girl. She’s the most loyal sister on the planet.”
Maisy shrugs. “It’s a twin thing. We have no choice but to have each other’s backs.”
“See, that’s it. That loyalty?” I shake my head. “I don’t know if Reeve could ever give his all to a relationship as long as football is in his life.”
“Man cannot live by football alone.” Lenni raises her eyebrows, waiting to see how this little nugget of wisdom will land.
“Oh, good one,” I say. “Let me write that down; maybe Lorenzo will get it for his next tattoo.”
Ruby chuckles. “Fuck football and all that noise in your head. Just let yourself fall in love. We need you.” She reaches over and squeezes my arm.
I smile. I can’t believe I’m baring my soul to two girls I barely know the same way I do to Lenni, as ready to admit to them my feelings for Reeve as I’m ready to admit them to myself. I wonder whether the boys would consider making this a quarterly tradition.
“Besides,” Ruby adds. “Reeve’s a different person since you came along. I always thought he was funny but . . .”
“Shallow, unintelligent, and disgustingly arrogant?” I supply.
“Pretty much,” she says. “But I was wrong. He just didn’t have you.”
I look over at Lenni. Her eyes are dancing, and I know what she’s thinking—that Ruby just put into words everything Lenni’s thought but hasn’t let herself say out loud. Everything I’ve felt but haven’t let myself believe.
I don’t hear the boys come into the bedroom.
It’s not until the earliest tinge of morning light has infiltrated the room that I wake up and realize Reeve’s shirtless body is curled around mine.
Slowly so I don’t wake him, I extract myself and tiptoe across the hardwood floor and down the hall to use the bathroom.
Afterward, I slip back into the bedroom.
In the other bed, Cam lies sleeping on his back, one arm curled protectively around Lenni, who sleeps with her head on his chest. God, they’re cute.
Reeve’s eyes crack open as I make for our bed, and he throws back the covers, inviting me in.
“Get back in here where you belong,” he says, his voice low and raspy.
He’s wearing only gray boxer briefs, and the sight of his ripped body under a mountain of covers and surrounded by plush pillows is the most inviting scene I’ve ever laid eyes on.
He gives me a sleepy smile in the dawn light as I slip under the well-worn flannel sheets, then throws the blankets back over me and pulls me against his body with one strong arm, my back to his bare chest.
I rest my cheek on the soft skin on the inside of his arm and close my eyes. Absolute bliss settles over me. The heat of his body flows into me, warming our cozy nest as cool, lake-scented air seeps into the room from the cracked window.
I’ve never felt safer, warmer, happier.
It’s the feeling I’ve been wanting. The feeling I hoped I’d find in Spain, of escaping everything that hurt so much this past year, of finding the people and places that would make me feel like me.
They’re here: the best friend I’ve ever had, a group of friends who feel like family after one night together, and the man whom just months ago I loathed. They were here all along.
Maybe I know exactly what love is after all.