Chapter 8
Nate
I watched her swim away and was grateful for the distance. The woman could kill me. She was as hot as hell and just as stubborn. When we’d tied the boat up and decided a swim was in order to cool off, we’d spotted the women and immediately headed in their direction. As we got closer, I noticed that they were all so different, yet their incessant chatter and giggling seemed like it worked for them. One of them, one I’d never met, paraded herself up and down the shallows, her rack on display. And when she looked up and licked her lips, I wanted to find a hole and crawl in until it was safe to come out. She was hunting. On the prowl. Looking like she was about to throw herself at the first guy who smiled in her direction. That guy would definitely not be me. Fuck no! Some high maintenance chick was definitely not what I needed in my life.
When Derek and I spotted Josie sitting alone on the sand, I felt my chest tighten. There was something going on there. Something sad. She had this look of longing and desire on her face but she wasn’t moving. She watched as the others played in the water with reckless abandon. When Derek scooped her up and carried her towards the water, the pain inside my chest almost crushed me. Yet the moment he put her down, I couldn’t stop myself from moving behind her.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw her toss her clothes on the beach before diving back in. The woman was like a damn fish. She looked like she belonged in the water. Her long, dark hair was tied back in two braids hanging halfway down her back, and the urge to tug on them like an idiotic ten-year old was almost too much. Her wide eyes seemed to reflect the water. She was fucking stunning. And so bad for me.
Shaking off the thought, I dove under the water and swam away from the group, thankful for the space and my powerful stroke. When I was far enough away that their chatter was just garbled sounds, I lifted my legs to the top of the water and let my body float. Damn, it felt good. Why hadn’t I gone swimming earlier? All of my bone-weary muscles seemed to soften and ease. It felt damn good. Above my head, birds circled and chirped, but it didn’t worry me. In that moment, nothing could.
When we’d been out in the boat racing up and down, I’d been nervous. And I didn’t do nervous. I don’t know what it was or why, but I didn’t like it. Not one bit. The only thing I could put it down to was the lack of control. I wasn’t licensed to drive the boat, so I hadn’t. But if I was staying around, then I was getting a license ASAP. I wasn’t going to put up with that shit for very long. Being a backseat driver didn’t suit me at all.
The water around me rippled and I didn’t think anything of it. Probably some fish or something. So when the hands settled on my shoulders and pushed down, my whole body sunk like a lead balloon.
Finding the surface, I spluttered and coughed when I spun around to see which asshole had dunked me. The moment I met those sapphire eyes though, I knew I was completely fucked.
“Payback’s a bitch, Nate.”
“So it is,” I coughed, wiping the water from my face with my free hand while I continued to tread water to keep my head above the water line.
“And I’m worse.”
“Really?”
“Definitely.” Josie was so adamant in her words that I wanted to laugh. She was trying to play the tough bitch, a role that didn’t suit her. Not one little bit. She may like to think that, she may even need to believe that, but one look at her face revealed the truth. She wasn’t a bitch. Not at all. She was just someone who’d been hurt, and the only way she knew to cope and make sure it didn’t happen again was to pretend to be a tough as nails hard ass. I knew. I mastered that same role.
She duck dived under the water and I caught a glimpse of that rounded ass. If I thought her ass looked biteable in jeans, well, when wet and clad in only a black lycra, she was fucking delicious.
“You might want to remember that,” she added as she surfaced and swam away from me.
I don’t know how long I stayed exactly where I was, treading water and praying for the blood to flow back to my brain again. One look at Josie in her swimmers had sent all of the blood in my body flowing one way. South.
“Nate!” A voice called out my name from what seemed like really far away. Glancing around, I didn’t realise how far I’d drifted. I was more than two hundred metres downstream from them. “We’re going to eat. You coming?”
Wondering how the hell I was supposed to get out of the water and face Josie now, I knew I couldn’t stay here forever. “Yeah. On my way,” I replied. Reluctantly, I took long, lazy strokes as I made my way back, in no rush at all.
It was a pretty good day. I met a bunch of people, some I was in absolute no hurry to talk to again, especially Jackson. That guy was a grade A douchenozzle. Sure, we were all checking out the girls while they splashed about, some more than others, but we kept the X-rated comments to ourselves. Especially those comments concerning Mia. For God’s sake, she was Derek’s fiancée. But not Jackson. He thought he was God’s gift to women and could say whatever he liked. And the moment he remarked about Mia’s ass, I thought for sure he was going to be left floating in the river, care of some mysterious accident. Or run into Derek’s fist. I can’t say he wouldn’t have deserved it, either.
After we dragged ourselves from the water, we’d sat down to eat what the girls had organised. And I’d be damned if I wasn’t going anywhere without them again. It was the most delicious spread I’d ever had. It had everything. Fresh salads, bread, fruit, cured meats, barbeque chicken, cheeses, all topped off with a couple of cold beers. I really don’t think it would have mattered though if they’d served up cold sausages and stale bread. After spending the morning trying to stay upright on those damn water-skis and then swimming, I was famished. The only thing restraining me from making myself look like a complete pig was the fact I was the new guy. I had to at least pretend I had manners, until they got to know me a bit better.
“That the last of it?” Derek called as he pushed the empty cooler into the tray of his truck.
“I think so,” Mia replied as she slipped under his arm.
I turned away, not needing to see that.
I was jealous.
It was as simple and as complicated as that. I wasn’t jealous of Derek because I wanted Mia, I was jealous because I wanted what they had. That companionship. That closeness with someone. Someone to talk to. Someone to help fight the demons. Someone to make smile. But I knew myself and I knew my heart. I’d had my chance. It was gone. All I could do was make the best of what was left. Have some fun and try not to get hurt.
Walking away from the lovey-dovey couple, I spied Josie standing on the hill looking out over the water. She looked beautiful. The sun reflected off her hair, making it shine, and her shoulders peeked out from under the towel she had wrapped around her tightly.
Without realising what was happening, I wandered towards her. “It’s really beautiful out here, isn’t it?” I heard the words fall from my mouth and I wasn’t sure where they came from. It didn’t sound like something I’d typically say.
“Yeah. Untouched, I think is the word you’re looking for.”
Although she replied, I don’t think she was necessarily talking to me. Not once did her gaze waver from the expanse in front of her, and for a long time she didn’t make a sound. The part that surprised me the most however, was the fact that the silence wasn’t uncomfortable. Not at all.
