There were a couple of amens and laughs that followed before Highland’s rough tone came out low but I heard him loud and clear.
“No need to rent a room, we have a house close by.” I snapped my head up and turned to see him still staring at me, which I had to admit I was starting to love.
Especially the way he looked at me. His deep brown smoldering eyes had me feeling weak in my knees which could’ve given out if I weren’t already on them. Even the sly grin now plastered on his face as if he knew I was publicly lusting after him. My mouth opened slightly when he got up, walking toward me with his massive print in direct eye contact. He kept going though, headed for the water with a bucket in hand.
Liv, stop being weird.
I cleared my throat as I swiped the nonexistent sweat from my forehead.
God, it’s me again.
The sound of a voice near my ear had me cutting my selfish prayer short. I looked over to see the same chaperone who’d caught Highland staring before.
Why do y’all keep getting caught! Are they looking that hard?
No, you and Highland are just making everything blatantly obvious.
“Now for me, I’m game for the show between you and mister man, but the kids present will make this very grown, very hot scene a hell no mamas. I can see why you need the drink though; the man is fine as hell.” That was the same mom who extended the drink offer at The Hut. She whispered in my ear while we both admired Highland’s physique as he poured some of the water on himself, wetting his white T-shirt in the process.
He knows you’re watching him, Liv.
That part was obvious to me once he looked at me, giving me a wink that matched his sly smirk. I couldn’t believe Highland had me out here actually blushing like a girl who wasn’t used to having a crush.
To flirt back, I blew him a kiss without using my hands of course, since they were completely covered in sand.
“Damn, Liv, I don’t know who's worse, you or him. Y’all ain’t gotta do all that in front of the kids.” Tunk’s voice caught me off guard as I looked up to see him and the group of kids now hovering over me as he playfully attempted to cover all the kids’ eyes, making them burst into even more giggles.
How did you miss them walking from the shoreline, Liv.
I asked myself the question and immediately knew the answer when Highland was making his way back over to us.
Tunk’s chuckles had me looking up at him with my lips pressed together, trying my best to hide my amusement.
“Clearly, it’s him. I’m busy building this amazing sandcastle while he’s playing in the water, trying to set literal thirst traps. Somebody should remind him that it’s kids out here,” I said just as Highland reached us.
I knew he heard me by the raise in his eyebrows and the narrowing of his lips. He was missing half of the conversation so the hesitation in his body language made sense.
“You can play too, Liv.” I shook my head.
“Uh uhn, didn?—”
My sentence was cut short by Highland pouring some of the water down my back, causing me to gasp and my back to arch from the coolness. You would think my temperature would’ve dropped once he did that, but it only seemed to increase from his act. It was yet another innocent one between us, but my body had me thinking all kinds of nasty things.
“Oh my gosh, Highland, you’re going to pay for that.” I was up and moving quickly and so was Highland who had now backed up back toward the water. As soon as I reached Highland, he changed his stance, now moving forward, bending his knees before lifting me into the air, carrying me into the water. I wasn’t prepared for this as I was now fighting through my own uncontrollable giggles, begging him not to do what I thought he was going to do.
“Wait, Highland, I didn’t come prepared to get my hair wet.” Of course, he ignored me as he took us both under the water. Somehow, my legs wrapped around his waist while his hands did the same, making sure I was secure by holding my mine. Even though we were only under the water for a minute, I swear, in that split second, my heart beat in sync with Highland, blending us together so beautifully. I was sure the waves of the oceancould tell our love story from beginning to end as it anchored us together.
It seemed so easy, getting lost in time with Highland as we stayed connected, just staring at each other until Cece’s little cries caught my attention. I quickly tapped Highland to let me down, then looked around and caught more than just her gaze upon us, making me cringe as I remembered we were at a camp function and how wildly inappropriate we just were.
Great, Liv, now you’re going to have these people thinking you’re some type of hoe or something.
I did my best to ignore Highland’s eyes as I practically leapt from his arms and put as much distance as I could between us.
“Ms. Liv, can you take me to the bathroom, please?” Cece came wiggling over to us, doing a little dance, letting me know this was a rush emergency. I looked around for the nearest bathroom.
“Umm… of course, let’s go, pretty girl. Neela didn’t have to go?” I asked, not even looking back at Highland. I made my way over to the group and collected a couple of the other girls, including Neela too. The time plus the distance would be enough to cool me down and put my attention back on the kids, the reason why we were here.
Chapter
