Bennett — Age 16
Rowdy laughter in the distance had Tate and me picking up the pace along the pathway to Leeland’s pond.
It was nearly four, but it was still uncomfortably hot thanks to the summer humidity and the fact it had hit ninety-five today.
And considering I hadn’t stopped since waking up before dawn to help Dad with the hay, spending the rest of the morning at football camp, and then heading straight to the workshop to assist Wally, I was desperate to get in the water.
“Finally decided to join us?” Carson called from the dock.
“Some of us had to work today,” I called back, pulling off my shirt and tossing it at the base of the sycamore. Tate did likewise.
The sound of giggling sent me searching the water near the dock, and only then did I realize that among the usual faces—Will, Dominic, James, and Ryan—there were a few I’d never seen before. All of them girls.
Tate and I shared an eager glance, then headed toward the group.
Carson introduced us to four girls about our age—a group of cousins whose family had rented a place up the road for a family reunion through the end of the week—and we were soon all swimming and laughing and chatting.
After a while, I swam out to the small floating island, and Alana, a strawberry blond with insane blue eyes and a pretty smile, followed. She sat next to me, and we talked about the upcoming school year and where she planned to go to school when she graduated at the end of the year.
“How about you?” she asked. “What colleges are you going to apply to next year?”
I shook my head. “Twelve years is enough school for me.”
She looked slightly surprised by my response, but then she smiled. “My parents would freak if I told them I wasn’t going to college.”
“My dad’s a farmer, so he gets it.”
Her gaze roved down my torso and settled on my arms briefly before her blue eyes returned to mine. Then she leaned in toward me, her shoulder brushing mine. “I should have guessed you were a farm boy with that physique.”
I gave a hard swallow, not exactly sure how to respond.
“Carson!” Maven’s voice pulled my gaze toward the dock. She stood at the end of it, her hands cupped around her mouth, trying to get her brother’s attention.
Carson and another of the girls—maybe Zoe?—had swum across the pond and were taking their sweet time heading back. The rest of the group sat along the dock, talking and soaking up the last rays of sunlight.
“Carson!” Maven tried again, then shook her head, clearly agitated.
“I don’t think he can hear you,” I called. “Want me to swim out and get him?”
She crossed her arms and didn’t look at me.
Tate glanced at me, then back at Maven. “Want one of us to go get him?” he repeated.
“Could you?” Maven asked Tate.
Tate shot me another brief look, but then he nodded and dove into the water.
Maven waited with her arms folded across her chest, her gaze fixed on the opposite side of the pond.
She was wearing a white tank top over a swimsuit, and her pair of cutoff shorts made it difficult to look away.
Ever since Keith had mentioned her being hot, I couldn’t unsee it.
Which had made things feel a little weird between us. Or maybe it was in my head.
“Who’s that?” Alana asked.
“Carson’s sister.”
“Do you need to go talk to her?”
I shook my head but kept my gaze on Maven. She was clearly avoiding looking at me. “Actually, I’d better. Sorry.”
Alana gave a small smile. “That’s okay.”
I swam toward where Maven stood and lifted myself onto the dock. “Hey.”
Maven’s gaze flicked upward, her lips pursing. “Hey,” she muttered, still refusing to look at me.
“What’s up?”
She shook her head. “Nothing. I just need to talk to Carson.”
I glanced at her outfit, pushing my dripping hair off my forehead. “Aren’t you going to swim?”
She shook her head.
“At football this morning, Carson said you were planning to join us once you were done with your violin lesson.”
“I changed my mind.”
“Why?”
Her gaze finally fixed on me. “Because I’m allowed to change my mind, Bennett.”
Bennett? What had I done to deserve her calling me that?
I mean, it was my name and most people called me that, including my mom and dad, but she’d called me Ben for years now.
“Well, you’re missing out.” I gave a small shrug, trying to act unaffected by her current state of irritation.
“The water is nice and cool, and you look hot.”
The moment the words came out, I realized the last phrase sounded different from how I’d intended. I’d meant hot—temperature-wise. Not hot, like a sun-kissed blond with a gorgeous smile and big green eyes. Not that she was smiling now.
Maybe she hadn’t noticed my Freudian slip.
A blush filled her cheeks.
Or she had.
Not that it mattered. Her gaze was fixed forward again. “Carson’s taking forever. Will you just tell him I headed home?”
She started back down the dock, and a strange urge overtook me. I jogged to catch up, stepping in front of her just after she’d passed the rest of the group. “Come on, Maven. Just stay.”
With an annoyed huff, she moved to step around me, but I blocked her again. “Bennett, move.”
“If you call me Bennett one more time, you’re going to regret it.”
She lifted her chin and looked me directly in the eye. “Bennett.”
I grinned and took a step closer, dropping my voice. “I warned you.”
Her eyes narrowed defiantly, but she took a hesitant step back.
I dove toward her before she could retreat any farther and threw her over my shoulder. “I hope you’re ready for that swim you came for.”
She wriggled and squirmed, but I held her tight. “Bennett, put me down!”
“Man. There’s that name again.”
We passed the group of laughing onlookers, including Alana, who had joined them, though she looked less amused. “Ready?” I asked, making it to the end of the dock.
“At least let me take off my clothes first.”
I stilled, unable to fight my smile. “Hmm. That is a pretty solid negotiating tactic.”
She smacked my back with her palm, which only made me laugh harder.
“Fine.” I gently set her down in front of me. “But don’t think about running.” Folding my arms across my chest, I planted myself between her and her only escape.
I got my second eye roll of the day, but she crossed her arms, took hold of the bottom of her tank-top, and pulled it over her head, revealing a yellow swimsuit that showed a strip of her stomach.
My heart rate increased, and I forced myself to look away while she unbuttoned her shorts and stepped out of them.
It didn’t matter that she was exceptionally hot.
We were just friends.
And she was Carson’s little sister.
I glanced back at her to see if she’d finished, right as she attempted to dart around me. I took hold of her arm, pulling her against me. “That’s what I get for being a gentleman?” I shook my head and walked toward the edge of the dock with her in a bear hug. “Big mistake.”
“Wait! Wait!” Maven was now giggling so hard she could hardly speak. “I’ll make a deal with you.”
I paused, tightening my grip so she couldn’t squirm away. I didn’t trust her one bit. “What sort of deal?”
“You don’t throw me in, and I’ll…” She bit her lip, contemplating, and my gaze settled on the spot.
I swallowed, forcing my gaze upward and my thoughts away from the strange, momentary lapse in judgment that seemed to consume me.
She smiled, knowingly. “What do you want?”
Without permission, my gaze dropped to her lips again. Friends certainly didn’t kiss. And that’s all we were—friends. But my brain had gone blank, and I couldn’t think of anything else.
“What are you two doing?”
My gaze flew to Carson in the water. He had apparently just arrived at the dock with Tate, both out of breath as if the two of them had been racing.
Zoe was a ways behind them, clearly taking her time.
“Nothing, we were just…” I looked at Maven, still wrapped in my arms, as though she might help me out of this situation.
She wore a satisfied little smirk. “What are we doing, Ben?”
Reluctantly, I released her. “She said she was going to head home, so I was trying to get her to stay.”
Carson’s eyebrows rose and his gaze flicked to his sister. “I can see why you thought that method would work.”
Maven’s chin dropped and she glared at her brother.
My gaze shifted between them. Did Carson mean what I thought he did? I turned toward Maven, my smile growing. “Wait. Do you have a crush on—”
Before I could get another word out, she bounded forward, shoving her hands into my chest and sending me backward off the edge of the dock.
When I breached the water, everyone was laughing. Besides Maven, that is. She stood on the dock with her hands on her hips, wearing a victorious look. “I always thought you were quicker than that, Ben.”
Was she referring to the shove, or was she confirming that she had a crush on me?
Before I had time to figure it out, she grabbed her discarded tank-top and shorts and took a backward step. “I’m headed home, Carson.”
That girl was the most infuriatingly stubborn thing I had ever met.
And I was pretty sure she had a thing for me.