Rowdy Boy

With a racing heart, I swim off, not wanting to stick around until someone recognizes me or talks to me. I need to get the hell away from that crowd.

“Monica?” Mel’s voice makes me stop and turn around in the water. “Where are you going?”

I stutter, not wanting to tell her the truth. “I, uh … I’m just going for a swim.”

“You okay?” She frowns.

“Yeah, I’m fine,” I reply even though I’m not. If I don’t, I’m going to have to explain everything, and I don’t want to revisit those memories anytime soon. “I just wanna see the rest of the lake.”

“Want me to come?” she asks, but someone’s already calling out her name.

“No, you go back to the party.” I smile. “I’ll be fine, I won’t be gone for long.”

“Okay, but I’m sending out a search party if you’re gone for more than an hour.”

I laugh. “Thanks. Appreciate it.”

She smiles. “Just don’t get lost, okay? I have a ride to get us both back home tonight.”

“I won’t. See you later,” I reply. “Have fun!”

She swims back to the crowd while I flounder farther and farther away. No way I’m staying there after what I saw. Especially with some partiers from both schools, tapering off into the bushes while wildly kissing and touching. I’m sure more goes on here than just dancing and drinking, but I don’t wanna know or see, that’s for sure.

I swim off into the distance to try to calm my agitated heart and mind. Beyond the beach, the lake is so vast, and there are tons of tiny alcoves hidden by thick bushes and trees, as well as magnificent rock formations scattered all around. I just wanna admire the beauty of this place. And even though the music in the background makes it anything but serene, it’s peaceful to swim around nonetheless. I’ve found a new appreciation for being all by myself, and I don’t mind at all, considering where I am.

“Going somewhere?”

I almost gulp in some water. Fuck.

On a big rock that leans over the water to my right, Cole is casually sitting there with a smile on his face.

How long has he been spying on me?

“Didn’t mean to scare you,” he replies, his muscles flexing as he moves closer to the edge.

“I wasn’t scared,” I reply.

He snorts and stands up, towering over me. “Sure about that?”

“Definitely,” I lie, but I’m not about to let him have this petty victory.

He wants to make me feel small. Insignificant. Bullied.

“Is that why you almost drowned when you heard me?” he muses.

My jaw drops. “Drowned?” I scoff. “You wish. You’re pathetic, Cole.”

“That’s a word I don’t hear a lot.” He runs his fingers through his smooth, black hair, water dripping down the bird wings tattoo on his buff chest. It almost looks like he came walking right out of a photo shoot. That’s how handsome he is. And he knows, judging from that arrogant grin.

“You know what I do hear a lot?” he says. “That people think you’re a scaredy-cat.”

“A scaredy-cat?” I frown. Where the hell did he hear that? I shake my head. He’s just trying to get to me. “You’re just making stuff up now.”

“I’m not.” He approaches the edge even farther. “You think changing schools will stop gossip from reaching others? Girls talk. And they told me you’ve changed.”

Okay, enough. I don’t need to hear him talk about how other girls spill the beans to him because he’s so popular, and girls want to get close to him.

I try to swim on, but I can’t escape his voice.

“You can swim away, but you can’t run from the truth, Mo,” he says. “You’re running away from who you are.”

“You don’t know shit about me,” I retort.

“I know you used to love parties. And boys.”

That makes me stop.

I turn and look at him. He’s taunting me, tempting me to come to him. And I’m this close.

“I told you …” He cocks his head, strands of tousled black hair tumbling over his darkened eyes. “People talk.”

“Who?” I growl.

But then I realize … it must’ve been someone at the party. Someone who recognized me.

His brow rises, and a familiar smirk appears on his face. “I could tell you … or …”

“Or what?” I make a face. “I don’t negotiate with extortionists.”

“It’s not a negotiation,” he says, lowering his eyes at me.

I gulp. I don’t know what this guy is planning, but it can’t be good.

“Truth or dare,” he says, and he licks his lips in such a mischievous way that it makes my heart palpitate, and I don’t know if it’s in a good way or a bad way.

“Why would I?” I reply.

He grabs the tree branch hanging over his head and says, “Because you want to.”

His light green eyes flicker with passion, as though he relishes the game of tricking me.