Page 54

“Levitating” blasted through the speakers of the boat. Riley took a seat on Austin’s lap as they made their way to Silverstone Lagoon. She held up her arms, her sunglasses gleaming under the sun. “Just like old times!”

Archer sneaked a glace at Tea. She already had a beer popped open and was moving to the music, a smile on her face.

He turned back to the water, allowing his mind to drift to what his life could look like five years from now. In every version he envisioned, he couldn’t deny the truth: Tea was a part of them all.

The lagoon was quiet when they arrived, but that was to be expected. Silverstone Lagoon was usually where boats congregated during the summer, but no one was out the day after the Fourth.

He cut the ignition, then walked to the back of the boat and let down the ladder.

Austin already stripped off his T-shirt and hat before stepping up the edge of the boat and cannonballing in. Riley squealed and did the same, stripping down to a black bikini he heard Austin make inappropriate sounds over earlier.

He turned away from his brother and sister-in-law, now attached at the mouth in the water, and looked toward Tea. She was in the process of shimmying out of her shorts.

His face flushed, unable to keep his eyes from her creamy-white freckled legs. When her face lifted he jerked his head in a different direction.

“Are you going to swim in that T-shirt?” she teased.

“Yes, I actually think I might.”

She tossed her hat on the seat, then stepped right up to him, her body practically flush with his.

His cheeks burned. “What are you doing?”

“Um, you’re kind of in the way of the ladder?”

“Oh, right.” He sidestepped. “Sorry.”

Tea smirked as she stepped around him, then climbed her way down, letting out small breathy gasps with each step into the cold water.

He was in way over his head.

“Take it off, Vincent!” Austin screamed from the water.

Archer shook his head as he reached for his back collar, grabbing a fistful and tearing it off in one motion. Before Tea could get a proper look at the tattoos on his chest, he stepped up and jumped, somersaulting into the cold water he prayed would cool him off from the heat crawling up his thighs.

The afternoon went by as it usually did—dips in the lake, beers in hand, music blasting as they lay out in the sun.

At one point Austin and Riley were back in the water, leaving him and Tea alone on the boat.

She was reclined in the helm seat beside him, her face to the sun, her cheeks even more pink.

Archer dotted sunscreen on his pointer finger, then reached out and swiped it on her nose. “You’ll thank me later.”

She smiled. “Or I’ll just thank you now.”

He lay back in his chair, ignoring the squeezing feeling in his chest from her smile. Another book about loons was open and face-down on her belly. Her arm was outstretched beside her, her hand dangling off the chair. He felt the aggressive urge to touch it.

Archer reached his arm out, his fingers practically brushing hers. But he didn’t move further. He stared at their hands, imagining what it would be like to lace his fingers with hers.

She blinked her eyes open and turned to face him. A knowing expression crossed her face, like she could read his mind. She closed her eyes again, and after a beat, her arm moved an inch, her knuckles bumping into his.

Damn the consequences. Archer brushed his fingers inside her palm. Her skin felt dry and warm and soft. He turned his palm, and sealed their hands.

The smile on her lips widened. Her face was back to the sky as she let out a satisfied sigh.

He brushed his thumb against her hand, giving himself only a moment to rake his gaze over her body. God, she was stunning. Her curves, her red hair dried from the sun, those pink lips and the freckles he wanted to bite into. She hadn’t flinched from his touch, and it filled his chest with hope.

Maybe. The word hammered in his mind. Maybe. Maybe. Maybe.