“Don’t make me angry and I won’t,” she presses with a joking expression.
“You’re scary, you know that?”
“Don’t you forget it, either.”
I pretend to shiver. “I won’t.”
Then, to my surprise, she grabs my hand and leads us through the darkened woods by using the flashlight on her phone. We take our time, making our way down the worn path,and when we reach the pond, the moon is so bright reflecting off the water that it almost acts as its own night lamp.
“Why does that still water make me think I’m going to freeze my balls off?”
“You didn’t last night, so you shouldn’t tonight.” She heads toward the rope and then pauses, looking over her shoulder at me in that skimpy-as-fuck swimming costume. “Unless you did lose them and you haven’t told me.”
I pop open the front of my swim trunks and look past the waistband at my junk. “Still bloody there.” She laughs. “But if I did lose them, do you really think that’s something that I’d tell you?”
“I think it would be the first thing you told me, and then you would have gone into hysterics, asking, begging, pleading with me to help you grow them back somehow, as if I have the cure to grow balls back.”
“You don’t?” I ask, jokingly perplexed.
She shakes her head. “I don’t.” Then she grabs the rope and flings herself into the pond, doing another one of her flips.
Jesus, I find that so hot.
I take the rope next and perform a cannonball right next to her, splashing water all over. When I surface and wipe my eyes, she’s right next to me, swimming around like a shark.
“Truth or dare?” I ask, wanting to continue the game from last night.
“Truth,” she says, still circling me.
I could ask her about the toilet situation earlier and what she was truly upset about, but I feel like I handled it well and don’t want to press her. I want this to be fun. I want her to enjoy the pond with me, not dread it.
And most importantly, I want her to escape from the obvious stress she deals with daily.
“When did you know you were attracted to me?”
She scoffs. “Who’s to say I’m attracted to you?”
“Your hungry eyes every time I take my shirt off, that’s who.”
She treads water, thinking over her answer.
“You can’t skip, those are the rules. So come on, Gossy, hand it over.”
“Fine.” She rolls her eyes. “Day one, when I first met you. It was immediate attraction, but that’s all it was. You’re a handsome man; I can’t lie about it.”
Well, if that doesn’t make me puff my chest.
I’m a handsome man.
She can’t lie about it.
Don’t mind if I?—
Water splashes my face and goes right into my eyes.
“Hey,” I complain as I gather myself. “That wasn’t very nice.”
“Had to bring you back down to reality, because you were starting to puff your chest too much.”
