Jackson folded his arms. “Because she listens to you.”
I blinked. “No she doesn’t.”
“Yes she does,” Diego said.
“Maria,” I yelled, “Sunscreen! Sunscreen!”
Nothing. No reaction. I gave the four of them a pointed look and then we all trudged after the pregnant woman about to yeet herself into a lake.
She went to step off the dock and it wobbled precariously, which meant she did too. Diego was there in an instant. “Easy,” he said softly, offering both hands like she was made of clouds.
She smiled at him, the kind that could melt a glacier. “Gracias, Diego.”
He turned bright red. “Yeah. Yeah, of course.”
I had to look away because it felt like intruding on something private. Something soft and new.
Dalton, on the other hand, was across the dock announcing at top volume, “Mac hit me with a noodle and I’m pressing charges!”
Mac smacked him with the neon pool noodle again. “It was an accident the first time. This time was because you’re annoying.”
Jackson was shirtless—of course he was—sitting at the edge of the dock with his feet in the water, pretending not to listen but smiling that crooked grin that was so him. His hair was brushed back. His shoulders were broad. His jaw was bruised. My chest tightened so fast I almost tripped on the last step. I caught myself, but not before my towel fell leaving in my bare skinnedglory. Jackson’s head snapped around, probably ready with some asshole remark, but the second his eyes landed on me—he froze. Actually froze. Like someone had unplugged his entire brain. His mouth opened slightly. Then shut. Then opened again like a fish desperately trying to survive on land. His eyes dragged over me once, then jerked away like the sun had slapped him.
Good. Suffer.
I tried to walk normally, like a girl who wasn’t painfully aware of every square inch of exposed skin. The wood was warm against my feet. The lake smelled like pine and sunscreen and summer.
Maria eased into the water with Diego, who kept one hand hovering near her back like he was ready to catch her if gravity betrayed her.
Dalton cannonballed off the end of the dock and came up screaming, “Fuck! That’s cold.”
Mac dunked him under the water with one hand. “Hush.”
Chaos. Pure chaos.
And Jackson. He stared at the water like it had personally wronged him, shoulders tight, jaw ticking. Every few seconds his gaze flicked toward me, then snapped away like touching a hot stove. I stopped beside him, arms crossed, voice low. “You planning to jump, or just brood dramatically?”
“I don’t brood.”
“You literallyarebrooding. Right now. In front of me.”
He cracked his neck, eyes still on the water. “Maybe I’m thinking.”
“You thinking usually looks like brooding.”
“Malibu.”
“Jackson.”
That earned me a sideways glance. Slow. Careful. Like he was afraid if he looked directly at me, something inside him wouldbreak. I sat down next to him, close enough to feel the heat from his skin. He sucked in a breath like the proximity hurt.
“Relax,” I muttered. “I’m not here to bite.”
“You don’t have to bite,” he said quietly. “You do plenty of damage with just your mouth.”
My heart stuttered. I tried very hard not to imagine any alternative meanings to that sentence.
“Are you trying to flirt with me or piss me off?” I asked.
