Chapter 18 - Boone #2
She kept moving, gaze fixed on the steps like they were a safe harbor, hips rolling with a natural rhythm she wasn’t trying to sell.
That made it worse. Everything in me tightened, heat pooling low, shorts suddenly doing me no favors at all.
Memory piled in fast. Hot tub. Steam. Her hands.
The night she hadn’t come back to me but to my brother instead.
Henry splashed past me, oblivious, laughing as he paddled toward her. That snapped a thin thread of restraint into place, but my eyes didn’t get the memo.
Cold water smacked me full in the face.
I sputtered, wiping it away, blinking hard as Dawson’s glare cut through the glare of the sun.
“Keep it in your pants.”
“Keep it in your pants.”
I snorted, shook the water from my eyes, and lifted both hands in surrender. “No promises.”
Then I ducked under before Dawson could come back at me, pushed off the wall, and took the lane hard.
One full lap, arms burning, lungs working, eyes on the blue line at the bottom.
By the time I surfaced at the far end, the buzz had quieted to something manageable, heat burned off by motion instead of bad decisions.
Henry’s voice cut through the splash of Dawson lifting him onto his shoulders. “Remember I wanna go high.”
Dawson grinned. “Fine. But don’t break my back.”
Henry hoisted himself higher, and Dawson pivoted in place, letting him launch a few times into the water. Each landing made Gage wince a little, Henry laughing like he was being paid, Dawson’s arms steadying him perfectly.
I noticed Carissa at the edge of the pool, standing where the shallow end met the steps, arms crossed over her chest, laughing every time Henry flopped into the water. I kicked off, slicing through the surface toward her, water parting around my shoulders.
“You wanna try?” I offered her my hands. “I’ve been told I have strong shoulders.”
She slapped my arm playfully, and smiled. “Stop being an idiot.”
I didn’t. Instead, I slid closer and slipped an arm around her waist under the water.
Her skin was warm, the bikini barely a barrier, and the instant our bodies pressed together I felt it all—the tilt of her hip against mine, the way the curve of her side melted into my chest, the subtle heat radiating up her torso.
Her laughter dipped lower when she realized how close we were. Henry’s splashes and Dawson’s laughter faded into a hum somewhere behind us.
I glanced down to where her chest pressed against me, nipples as hard as stone. “Cold?”
“Are you offering to warm me up?”
She was flirting. Out loud. I hadn’t seen it coming. Heat spiked in my crotch, the twitch in my shorts reminding me I wasn’t noticing her with just my eyes.
Before I could decide whether to lean into this rare moment of open teasing or laugh it off, Gage’s voice cut across the water. “I’m wetter than any of you who are actually in the pool.”
He got up in a huff then stormed inside before anyone could answer. Dawson and I exchanged a glance. Carissa snorted, hand still at my chest for balance, eyes sparkling.
Henry splashed past us, oblivious to the tension, and asked, “Why didn’t he just swim with us?”
I pushed off, ruffling his wet hair as I passed. “Exactly what I was thinking.”
We played a little more, Henry tossing himself into shallow cannonballs, Dawson laughing at his timing. Eventually, Henry climbed out, cheeks red, bouncing on the deck.
“I want to do a super cannonball like Boone!”
He ran, full stride, arms pumping like crazy, but his foot slipped on the wet stone at the last second.
Everything went wrong at once. Arms shot out.
I kicked toward him, Dawson reached faster, Carissa swore under her breath.
Henry tumbled, legs flailing, and even though we all converged at pretty much the same time, Dawson was the one who caught him just before he hit the water.
He straightened, one arm steadying Henry. “Okay, I think we’ve had enough cooling off for today.”
“No way. I wanna swim some more.”
But Dawson was already leading him to the steps. “Let’s have lunch first and then we’ll see about another swim later.”
I watched them disappear into the house, then flashed a wink at Carissa. “And then there were two.”
My intentions were to fool around a little. Or maybe a lot. But a cheeky grin curled her lips as she twisted away from me.
“Race you.”
Before I could answer, she launched into the water, arms cutting through the surface in perfect freestyle strokes. The pool didn’t even have time to register her movement before she was streaking toward the far edge, hair plastered to her head, water spraying behind her.
I blinked, caught off guard for half a second.
But then determination kicked in, because no way was I losing this one.
I shoved off the wall and surged after her, legs churning, lungs burning.
The first one up, she lapped me without effort, her laughter carrying across the water.
My smirk returned as I powered back on the return lap, catching her just as we neared the edge together.
She came up arms raised, declaring victory, chest heaving, the water rivulets tracing across her shoulders. I grabbed her side, fingers digging just enough to tickle her ribs.
“No fair,” I said, laughing. “You gave yourself a head start.”
Her shriek turned into a fit of laughter, kicking and twisting just enough to wriggle against me in a dangerous way.
Bodies pressed together, slick with water, the fabric of our swimwear doing nothing to dull the heat.
I felt it immediately… My shorts tightened, the familiar thrum of arousal growing hard. Fast.
We scrambled across the pool edge in a tangle, my chest pressing into hers as she laughed against me, trying her best to break free. I had her pinned briefly against the wall, arms bracketing her, body close enough for her to feel what she was doing to me.
The bulge in my shorts pushed against her stomach, but she didn’t pull away; if anything, her hands clung to my shoulders, fingers digging into wet skin. The air between us stiffened, the laughter fading, replaced by a different, electric awareness.
I leaned in, breath playing on her mouth, the pool water sliding down our bodies. She parted her lips, eyes soft, and it looked for a moment like she might let me kiss her.
Then her hands pressed firmly against my chest. “I have to study.”
“That can wait,” I murmured, and went in for the kill.
She laughed, a short, playful burst, and pressed her lips to my cheek instead. Then she wiggled out from under my arms, and lifted out of the pool to wrap a towel around herself.
I sank back against the wall with my raging hard-on mocking me as I watched her retreat. She didn’t so much as throw a passing glance over her shoulder, and when that twisted the pit in my gut, I knew…
“Oh… fuck.”