The way she enjoyed herself on top of me the previous afternoon was fucking hot. I hadn't expected our make-out session to go as far as it did, but I wanted it again...wanted her. Emily and Clay had come and rescued her before I could turn her over and strip her out of her clothes, and much to their dismay, we were both pissy with them over it.
"It's for the better. Denial makes it sweeter." I stretched and glanced over at Daniel who was sitting on the boat beside me, watching me. "What?"
"Do you always talk to yourself when you think no one is watching?" A smirk lifted his lip as he reached up and adjusted his glasses.
"Do you always stare at your friends while they are sunbathing?" I smiled and lifted my hands to cover my face as he splashed me with cold lake water. The other two guys were somewhere on the island taking a piss, but there was no way in hell I was fighting the insane crowd that was gathered there that day. I'd pee off the side of the boat without a thought about it.
"What denial are you talking about? You're the least likely person to accept denial." He stood up and stretched before turning to look out toward the island.
"I've been denied a few times." I sat up and glanced down at my chest to make sure I wasn't getting too burnt.
"Yeah, right." He moved to the driver's seat and started the boat. "Clay and Derek are wading into the water now. We're going to be late picking up the girls, thanks to this insanity. There's no way in hell we'll make it in 10 minutes with the number of boats on the lake today."
"Let me drive. I'll make sure we make it." I turned around and gave him a cocky grin. The world almost seemed to be set right by the fact that I didn't have a doubt that Cora wanted me. There didn't need to be any more games between us. Now the only concern I had, and she seemed to share, was whether sleeping together would leave us wanting more of each other or being sated. Something told me that after our afternoon the day before, I'd always want more. It was a weird thought to entertain, and yet I couldn't help it.
"You guys should see how many people have packed themselves on that fucking beach." Clay grunted as he pulled himself up onto the boat.
"I can see from here. I'm not interested in checking it out for myself. It looks horrible." I leaned back and looked up at the sky. "We're gonna get burnt today."
"Seeing that there are no clouds in the sky, it's highly likely." Derek pulled himself up into the boat and walked over, shaking like a dog and covering me in cold water.
I jerked up and turned to give him a look. "Okay, cowboy. It's gonna be on later tonight."
"Oh, yeah? You gonna show me up in front of the girls?" He laughed and dropped down beside me. "Speaking of girls. I saw that pretty blonde you were with the other day. She was looking for you."
"He's not interested. Him and Cora are hooking up." Clay sat down in the other captain’s chair and gave me a glare my dad would be proud of. "Right?"
"Yep. I guess." I shrugged and turned away from them. "I'm not sure what's going on with us, but I know I'm ready to see which tiny bikini she wears today."
Derek laughed and patted my back. "You're not getting sweet on a girl, are you?"
"Me? Hell, no." I glanced over at him. "All you guys have been acting like pussies for the last week. I'm not soon to join you. It's almost concerning. All these hot girls walking around and you guys are hooking up like you're looking to offer up some chick a ring this summer."
"No, I just like Cindy a lot." Derek turned to face the water and ran his fingers through his hair. "It's just a fling, though. A fun summer thing. I'm headed up northern Arizona to take my place with Mom and Dad at the ranch, and she's probably going east."
"And you?" I turned around, yelling above the sound of the wind and waves.
Clay moved closer and yelled back. "Me what?"
"Are you thinking that this thing with Emily is going to go somewhere after the summer?" I pulled my sunshades of my head and put them on.
"I'm hoping so. We're both staying here in Arizona, so it shouldn’t be too hard. Have you decided if you're staying here or heading up to Seattle?"
I'd been offered a job in Seattle with my uncle's company that was appealing in some ways and not in others. It was a desk job, which sounded like absolute hell, but it would help me save up for a house and prove that I was capable of making good money and being a stable kinda guy to some woman.
A woman like Cora.
"I don't know." I looked out across the lake, grateful that Daniel took a turn driving. He was the most cautious out of all of us. "I have a lot to think about, obviously."
"Emily said that Cora just got out of a nasty relationship, so don't be offering something you can't come through on." Clay got my attention.
"Why are you so focused on me not hurting this girl? What if she hurts me?"
Everyone started laughing, even Daniel. I smirked to play it off, but the fact that they didn't seem to think I had real emotions under my cocky exterior was concerning.
"Anyways, just be careful with her. Be honest if you start to think you're gonna want to see her after today." Clay patted my shoulder and moved to the back of the boat. "The sun should be setting in the next 40 minutes. Let's get the girls and get to the center of the lake to drop our anchors. It's going to be packed, but they're saying that it's the best place to see the fireworks show from."
I ignored him and got up, walking to the back of the boat as we pulled up to the dock. All four girls were standing on the pier, laughing about something. Their arms were full of what looked like snacks and drinks, and I couldn't help but hope that one of them would have considered the fact that we were idiots and hadn't eaten lunch yet.