He looked out at the lake and back at me. “Yes, ma’am.” He stood up suddenly.
I waved my hands. “I was just kidding!”
“Too late!” He announced as he tore his shirt off.
It was hard not to stare at the bruises, they seemed to scream at me; a long cascade of purple and blue splotches on his ribs stretching up to his chest.
But I wasn’t sad to see the abs on his stomach and the muscles bulging out of his arms.
Then, to my surprise, he stripped off his Wranglers and was now only in boxers.
“Colton, I was kidding!” I shouted.
He was already backing down the dock, jumping up and down. He reached the start of the wooden planks, took a breath, and started running.
“Colton, I was kidding!” I yelled one last time.
It was too late.
He was sprinting back towards the lake, not hesitating a second before jumping wildly and landing with a big splash in the water. I raised my hands as buckets of water rained down on me.
By the time he poked his head out of the lake, I was laughing so hard I could barely breathe. “I cannot believe you did that!”
He was treading water right below me, using one hand topush his soaking hair out of his face. “Ah, Ally, you gottaget in here. It feels great.”
I shook my head. “Absolutely not!”
He grabbed the side of the dock to hang onto. “I dare you,” he said in a sing-song voice.
The idea of floating next to him in the water was growing on me, but I shook my head stubbornly, just to see how much he would beg.
He threw a hand up, the other still hanging on the dock.
Gosh, he looked so attractive in the water. His hair was soaked and slicked back away from his face, so I could admire it in its entirety. His strong eyebrows made his bright green eyes shine even brighter when they were damp. His chiseled cheeks, sharp jaw, ugh, all of it was enough to make me want to melt.
“Alright,” Colton said, defeated. “I think I hear the guys back with some food. Will you give me a hand?” He reached his hand higher out of the water.
I folded my arms. “I am not stupid!”
Colton looked a little appalled. “Ally, what are you assumin’?”
I raised an eyebrow.
“Fine, fine,” he gave up. He put both hands on the deck to push himself up and immediately winced hard. He released and lowered himself down, clutching his ribs.
I leaned down low, fear flooding my body. “Colton? Are you okay? Do you want-”
His arms wrapped around me. I barely had time to squeal before I splashed into the water. I was only completely submerged for a second or two before he helped me back to thesurface and guided me to the dock.
As soon as I was hanging on the dock, I splashed him, laughing. “Jerk,” I teased.
He was treading beside me. “Ally, you fell for the oldest trick in the book,” he groaned. “I thought you were runnin’ your own company!”
I chuckled and splashed him again. “I was worried about you!”
This time, his face fell into a twinge of regret, and he pushed himself closer to me.
Just as he was reaching for me, probably to apologize, I turned and pushed his shoulders below the water. Honestly, he was a million times stronger than me and could’ve resisted my push without even batting an eye, but he was nice enough to let himself get completely submerged.
