I smacked his butt. “I willbiteyou—”
He dumped me in the water.
It closed over my head, suspending me in a silent, isolated world. My limbs stretched out and my hair drifted slowly away.
Then I burst up and jumped on him.
“You’re wet!” he yelped. “And cold!”
“You deserve it.” I tried to off-balance him and knock him into the water by kicking at his legs. He caught one of mine and pinned it to his side. Then, for some reason, hoisting my other leg around his waist seemed like a good idea, and then I had both legs wrapped around him, his arms holding me in place, and we were grinning wildly and staring into each other’s eyes.
Then we were kissing and laughing and back in the water, swimming and playing, until we tired ourselves out. Slowly, the glowing green-and-blue jellyfish we’d scared off surrounded us once more. We floated on our backs, suspended by water and salt, drifting in between water and sky.
Here was the thing.
His family didn’t like me, or the idea of the two of us together. But I did. I liked Noah so much I thought my entire body might break if I went more than a day without seeing him. I liked him so much I pictured him every time I closed my eyes. I craved his touch, his laughter, his gaze. Maybe other people didn’t think we were a good idea, and I’d given their opinion due consideration. But wewerea good idea, the two of us.
We might be the best idea in the world.
Twenty-Five
“How do you feel,” Noah asked a few days later, as we lay on the beach after I’d finished work and he’d finished crew practice, “about garden parties thrown by obscenely wealthy people?”
I propped myself up on my elbows so I could gaze down at him. He was so beautiful, this boy, with his curly hair and his dark eyes and his smile, which came so easily and often when we were together. “Like, say, the one I served drinks at?”
“Swap out summer-beginning for summer-ending. My grandparents throw one every year.”
“I amslightlyskeptical of going to a party with your family.”
“They’ll get over themselves the more they see you. Exposure therapy.”
“Hm.”
“My mom likes you. My dad’s just salty because of botany, but he’ll chill out. Especially if he realizes we’re serious.”
Serious.There was something tantalizing about how he said it, so matter-of-factly. He had no doubt about us. He wanted his family to know me. He was serious.
Still. “And your grandparents?”
“We’ll avoid them.” He tugged me closer, his tone imploring. “Please. I have to go. And it’s my last night on the island before I leave for Boston. I want to spend it with you.”
A pang shot through me at the idea of him leaving so soon. I’d leave a scant week after, and then we wouldn’t see each other for who knew how long. I forced my lips up. “How very full circle.”
“Please. We can even break in to the study again if you like.”
This time my smile was more genuine. “If you’re lucky.”
He grinned up at me. “You can serve me champagne, too.”
I smacked his chest lightly. “I’ll pour itonyou.”
“Oh, I think I’d like that, too,” he murmured. When my mouth fell open he laughed and pulled me down for a kiss.
“You’re bad.”
He rolled us over and pressed his lips to the underside of my jaw. “Only ifyou’relucky.”
So we went to the party.
