“I am not!”
“Then prove it.”
I hesitate before taking off my boots and squeezing my arms tighter around myself. “I didn’t bring extra clothes.”
“Then take them off.”
I arch a brow. “You just want to see me naked again.”
“I neverstoppedwanting to see you naked.”
The audacity.
Still, I peel off the hoodie and toss it into the truck. Myfingers tremble as I slide my leggings down over my hips, slowly teasing him. His eyes track every inch of skin I reveal. When I get to the edge of the dock, I pause with my hands on my hips.
“I swear, if I die from this?—”
“You won’t,” he says, smiling like he already knows he’s won.
I dive in without another thought.
The water is agony, sharp and biting, but also exhilarating. I surface, gasping and laughing. Alex is inches away from me. Reaching out, he wraps an arm around my waist and pulls me into his chest.
“I hate you,” I say, trembling.
“No, you don’t.”
He’s right. I don’t, and that’s the problem.
He tucks my wet hair behind my ear. “You’re shaking.”
“No shit.”
“I got you.”
Our bodies press together, cold and bare and alive. I look up at him and he kisses me, the most gentle he ever has, one hand cupping the sides of my face as the other still keeps me afloat.
There is no coming back from what we’ve done. We can’t go back to pretending that what we have isn’t real. It is real, it always has been.
When we finally drag ourselves out of the water, we’re breathless and soaked, covered head to toe in goosebumps as our bodies try to regulate our temperature again. Alex grabs a thick blanket from the backseat of the truck. We both wrap ourselves in it and climb into the truck bed. There’s a blow up, camping mattress back there that I hadn’t noticed before. He must’ve had this whole trip planned out. It’s soft and slightly worn at the edges but comfortable enough that we immediately collapse onto it.
After a few minutes, I get up and straddle him. My hair drips onto his chest, as I trace the lines of the tattoos that adorn him there. Now that it’s daylight, I can make them out better thanbefore. His body is an actual masterpiece, covered in works of art from head to toe and I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything more beautiful.
For the first time ever in my life, I don’t think, I just let myselffeel.
I kiss him and he kisses back like he’s drowning in me. I push him down onto the mattress, grinning as I settle above him.
“You’re trouble.” He murmurs.
“Don’t pretend like you don’t love it.”
I take my time trailing kisses down his neck and chest. When I finally rise above him again, my name escapes him in a desperate plea as his mouth crashes into mine. I roll my hips, rubbing my center against this bulge. I can feel how hard he is beneath me, straining against the fabric of his briefs. He grips my hips, nails digging into my sides with force, like he’s been dying to touch me again all day.
“Fuck, Em,” he groans, thick and low as he kisses down my neck. “You’re gonna be the death of me.”
I give an innocent smirk, even as the pulse hammers in my ears. I rock my hips against him deliberately. “You’re the one who dragged me out to the middle of nowhere and dared me to strip down.”
“You didn’t exactly need that much convincing,” he mutters against my skin, biting down gently, but hard enough to make me gasp. “And you knew exactly what you were doing on that dock when you were undressing.”
