My eyes flit around, searching for someone watching, but we’re the only ones out here. My arms wrap my midsection to cover my clothed body.
“I’m not looking, okay?” he assures me. “I just promised you fun, and that’s what I’m trying to give you.”
He rotates so his back faces me while treading water. I gulp down all the air my lungs can handle as my sweatshirt lifts from my shoulders first. The more articles of clothing I remove, the more of a thrill I feel. Until there’s nothing left, and I’m jumping off the back of the boat into the water.
When my head crests the surface, Reed faces me.
“And?” He grins like he’s waiting for me to tell him a secret I might have to take to my grave.
“Let’s do it again!”
From the marina, the inky sky makes the cabins seem brighter and other boats less visible. Reed parallel parks the boat against the dock, and then hops over the edge and ties a fancy knot, tethering us in place.
“The restaurant’s closed,” I notice, scanning the empty parking lot.
“Make her lose track of time, check,” Reed says.
His head tilts to the side, a sea of wild curls framing his eyes as he extends his hand, helping me onto the dock. When his fingers slip into my palm, my brain registers how thankful I am that the skin there healed from the rope swing burn without anyone noticing.
“What else is on this list of yours?”
“I guess we’re going to have to hang out again for you to find out.”
I shake my head. “You and your secrets.”
“I’d rather call them surprises.” He winks at me. “I have a lot of surprises up my sleeve when it comes to you.”
Reed unlocks the truck, lifting me onto the seat in a brisk fashion but less dizzying than the one in my driveway. I try to tame my smile as he races around the truck bed.
We’re drifting down my driveway a few minutes later, our evening coming to an end. The truck’s headlights cut a path in the dark to someone sitting at the edge of the dock. He doesn’tlook over his shoulder, but I know it’s Miles, and when I look over at Reed, he’s watching him too.
“I should go,” I say, reaching for the handle, “but thank you, Reed. I had a fun time.”
Reed grins. “So did I.”
I’m worried things will get awkward if I make this good night last any longer than it needs to be, but as I turn away from him to push on the door handle, I stop. I can’t get out of this car without asking him the one question that’s been haunting me ever since I left the restaurant that first day.
“Reed?”
“Yeah?”
“When Miles came to the restaurant, it looked like…”
Reed’s eyes focus on the steering wheel instead of at me. I can’t finish my thought. I’m confused. Are Miles and Reed friends? Did they used to be friends? Enemies?
Before I can find the right way to phrase it, he responds. “I had fun with you tonight, Teddy. I want to keep having fun with you. So please, don’t ask me about him, okay?”
The awkward goodbye I was trying to avoid erupts between us.
“Okay,” I accept.
I don’t want to pry, but I feel as though he already finished my sentence without saying anything at all. Something happened between them, and I have an eerie feeling it has everything to do with me.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
SUMMER, FOUR YEARS AGO
“Do you need to stay the whole summer? Last year was dreadful without you,” Cozy whines from where she’s lounging next to me on my hot pink bedspread.
