I moved around to track his movements and spotted himswimming below the hammock as I felt his hand deliberately trail over the backs of my thighs. I squealed and covered my mouth, glancing up nervously at the top deck. But Seb turned in the water and returned. This time, when he mounted the hammock, he held himself above me, breathing heavy and laughing.
“Hey,” he said, face glistening. “Maybe we should just go try the time capsule by ourselves tonight. More people attract more attention.”
“Maybe,” I said, a little overwhelmed to have him so close. “You’ve been ignoring me today, so I don’t know.”
“Funny, because earlier, when we were stripping down for the river, I could’ve sworn you caught menotignoringyou when I wasnot ignoringyou.”
I chuckled. Seb chuckled. And just like that, all my anxieties from the afternoon floated away. I liked seeing Seb happy. The dimples, the white teeth of his big smile. Slits for eyes. His blond hair glittering in the sun. Miles and miles of bronzed skin.
“So,” he said, as his legs floated against mine. “I’ve been thinking about your indecent proposal.”
“Staying at the cottage? It wasn’t indecent, and—”And I take it back!Why was he torturing me? I had a moment of weakness last night, and that’s all there was to it.
“You mentioned the possibility of house rules. What kind of rules?”
Oh wow. Okay, so he was actually considering moving in?
“Um, not sure,” I hadn’t thought it through. “I guess I was thinking about rules to ensure we’re both satisfied with the arrangement. Division of labor, that kind of thing.”
“Sleeping arrangements.”
“And that.” My pulse picked up speed.
He shifted his arm above my head, leaning on it for support while his other hand reached out to touch the chain around my neck, shifting my vintage Blackbeard decoder ring around. “You still have it,” he said softly.
“So do you. I saw it on your keys.”
“Nana Malone said they were magic. Who am I to disagree?” He bit his bottom lip, staring at my ring for a moment longer before he glanced at the top dock. “So, this division of labor in the cottage... what did you have in mind? You need me to give you like twenty orgasms a day or you’ll find another roommate?”
Hearing the word “orgasm” come from Seb’s mouth threw my brain off-balance, but I recovered quickly, laughing. “I doubt I’d find any roommate who could keep that up. Obviously we need to address this... topic. I mean, if you were really considering my offer. Probably easiest for us to just to say no and avoid it altogether.”
“No sex,” he said, a dark, teasing humor behind his eyes.
“No sex,” I agreed.
“Is that rule just for me, or did you have it with your roomie back at Harvard?”
“It was pretty much understood,” I said, smiling up at him.
He sighed, smiling back at me as he let his head drop next to mine. “So, no sex. I take out the garbage, and neither of us bring home hookups,” he said near my ear.
“It’ll be a struggle, but sure.”
“The no-sex, or the no-bringing-home-hookups?” he asked.
“The garbage part.”
His laugh reverberated through me. I looked up at the dock again. Still safe.
“What else do I need to know about this potential living situation?” he asked, nuzzling the column of my neck under my ear.
I shivered. Hedefinitelynoticed. The weight of his hips slowly sank against mine. “Do I need to pay rent? Cover half the utilities?”
It was hard to think when he was basically lying on top of me. I gave up trying to hold myself away from him and dared to slide my hand around his back, feeling his warm, wet skin. “No rent. Yes to utilities. Pitch in for food.”
“Seems fair,” he said, opening his mouth like a vampire on my neck. But he didn’t bite me. He just breathed me in deeply and sighed against me. “You smell so good.”
“SPF sixty sunblock.”
