“One time, in the bathroom of a bar, I stole a man’s wallet. I was at the lowest point of my life. My mom relied on me to help bring in money for the family and I couldn’t ever seem to earn enough for us to make ends meet. The car needed repairs and my sister needed her prescription and we had bills and…well, I felt like I had no other choice. So, I took his wallet, but I didn’t take his money. I chickened out and gave it back to the bartender so that when the man came back looking for it, he’d just assume he’d accidentally dropped it.”
“Taylor—”
I shake my head against his chest. “I swear I didn’t take your money. I just confessed to you the bad things I’ve done in my life and I’m sure if you gave me time, I’d think of a dozen more. Like—oh! I just remembered I smeared the frosting on McKenna’s birthday cake when she was five because I was so jealous of the Barbie my mom gave her.”
He laughs and then his hand comes up to cup my cheek. Our eyes meet and there’s such tender affection in his gaze, it gives me hope.
“I’m not perfect, Ethan, but I’m not a bad person either. The truth is, I thought you were the most handsome man I’d ever seen before I thought of my harebrained idea. I wanted you, and not as some potential target. You have to know that. I don’t blame you if you never forgive me or if you never fully trust me, but at least now you’ve heard my side.”
“I forgive you,” he says, his brows furrowed angrily. “Taylor, of course I forgive you.”
“And you don’t think I took your money, right? You believe me about that as well?” I ask, knowing this is my chance to clear this up.
“The money was gone when I got my wallet back.”
I go rigid in his arms. “I didn’t take it! I swear to—”
He silences me with a kiss.
“I believe you. It was probably the bartender.”
“Of course!” I say, slapping his chest with the realization.
That jerk!
“Take me back to shore and give me your keys. I have a bone to pick with that guy.”
“It’s the middle of the night,” he says, wading back. “We’re going to sleep.”
My eyes go wide. “Together?”
“Together,” he confirms, carrying me up and out of the lake. “I have Isla’s tent. There’s even an air mattress.”
“Sounds like the Four Seasons. What the hell are we waiting for?”Chapter 27EthanTaylor and I race back to that tent with the blanket wrapped around us and her t-shirt and underwear clutched to her chest. We could have gotten dressed back at the lake, but I wouldn’t let us. I want her again, and as soon as that zipper hits the ground, I toss her back onto the air mattress and climb on top of her.
She laughs and then immediately covers her mouth, realizing we’re surrounded by my friends on all sides.
“Be as quiet as you can,” I taunt, yanking her t-shirt away and throwing it behind us. Her full breasts beg to be licked, so I lean down and take one in my mouth, stifling a groan.
Her hands wrap around my neck and this time, in the tent, it’s rough and fast and I come in my swim trunks because I still don’t have a condom, but that doesn’t stop us. We sneak off to the bathroom to clean up as best we can, but we weren’t fooling anyone. Our whispered laughter is not whispered at all.
“Will you two keep it down?! We’re trying to sleep!” Jace shouts sometime near dawn.
It’s no surprise that Taylor tries to slink out of the tent as soon as the sun starts to rise.
I catch her arm, my eyes still closed. “Where are you going?”
“To the cabin, so I can pretend I was there all night.”
“No.”
“But I should be there before Isla wakes up, that way—”
“No,” I say, dragging her back against me and snaking my hand up under her t-shirt. Fuck. She feels good. Her curves are ridiculous. Unending. Heavy in my palm. I’m hard again and it’s getting a little embarrassing at this point. I had more control as a horny fourteen-year-old than I do now around a bra-less Taylor.
“Ethan,” she groans, but it’s halfhearted and tinged with lust.
She’s putty in my hands, and it’s not shocking that we’re the last ones to breakfast in the mess hall.
When we walk in after showering back at the cabin, everyone stares at us expectantly.
“Where have y’all been!? We all went out on a hike this morning,” Isla says, frowning.
“Oh, uh…” Taylor’s voice dwindles as she realizes she has no good excuse.
“And Taylor,” Isla continues, sounding eerily similar to our mother, “I woke up in the middle of the night and you weren’t in the cabin—where’d you sleep?”