Chasing Red (Chasing Red 1)

Kicking my legs to stay afloat, I blinked the water out of my eyes and saw Caleb’s face wild with incredulity.

“Yes!” I shouted.

I felt euphoric, exhilarated. My chest felt full, like it was about to burst.

“Again!” I yelled.

He laughed, the kind of laugh that was carefree and reckless, and I felt…happy. It took me a moment to recognize the feeling. It had been so long since I’d felt it.

In one night, this boy had brought me out of the shadows and into the bright light.

Dangerous. He was dangerous.

“Does anything hurt?” he asked. He stroked my arms with his palms, up and down, up and down, gently, slowly, until tingles zipped down my arms. They shot straight to my stomach, bursting into butterflies. It was the way he looked at me, I realized. The way he held me. Caught in the moment, I could only shake my head.

“What a wild girl you are, Red.”

Water trickled down his forehead, sliding down his nose to his top lip. His tongue slipped out to taste it. “Show me more.”

I shivered, but surely only because I was getting cold.

I could admit to myself that Caleb excited me. He was like a trip to the jungle: mysterious, adventurous, and dangerous…uncharted territory. If I wasn’t careful, I could get lost and never find my way out again.

We climbed up to the bridge for another round, and another, and another until I lost count of how many times Caleb and I jumped off. He never left my side.

He was doing somersaults and other crazy moves that had my heart leaping in my chest. When I resurfaced one last time, I expected him to swim beside me, but he was nowhere in sight. I went down again, opening my eyes underwater to search for him, but it was too dark.

“Caleb?”

Tiny prickles of fear climbed up my spine. I went under again, searching.

Nothing.

The scream was trapped in my throat as I felt something grab my waist and pull me further under. I twisted around and found Caleb laughing, water bubbles escaping his mouth. My eyes narrowed as he swam away.

Oh, it’s on! I surfaced, then raced after him, intending to dunk him, but instead of swimming away, he turned around. I squeaked, swimming away from him as fast as I could, but he was faster. I felt his hand grab for me under the water, but instead of my leg, his fingers grasped the fabric of my panties, then moved up as he cupped my hips with both palms and dragged me underwater before he swam away. I was about to chase after him again when I felt the band on my panties snap apart. What the hell? My eyes widened in shock as I felt the band break and the material float away from my hips.

Oh God.

My hands automatically covered my front and back, trying to pull the pieces of the panties back in place. The fabric was thin lace and not exactly brand new. It had just torn apart when Caleb had grabbed it. Now I was running out of air and had to resurface.

Oh God, oh God, oh God.

I broke the surface and spotted Caleb ten feet away. If he pulled me underwater again, he would see…

“Caleb!”

My alarmed tone caught his attention. He paused, his eyes scanning around me. “What’s wrong? Are you hurt?”

I tightened my grip on the torn garment, treading water as he swam closer.

Rubbing the water from his eyes, he studied my face with concern. “Red?”

I bit my lip. “Could you…could you get my jeans?”

He frowned. “Okay?”

“Right now.”