Fool Me Once

When I don’t say anything, he adds, “This is where you either tell me a little about you, so I know you aren’t going to rape or murder me either, or you tell me to get lost.” His lips curl into a huge flirty grin, and my insides turn to mush.

I have less than two months until I graduate. My book for school is ruined, and I’m not about to hang out with Sierra and her loser friends for the rest of the week. I can either spend the rest of my trip alone, or I can take him up on his offer to have some fun, get it out of my system, and when I return home, I go back to focusing on my future. Four days of fun isn’t going to ruin everything I’ve busted my ass to accomplish.

“My name is Blakely, and I’m staying at the hotel next door.”

When he realizes that’s all I’m going to give him, he says, “At least confirm whether you’ve been to jail. I gotta know if I need to be worried for my life.”

A groan escapes me when I think about what I’m about to say. “Three times,” I admit, and he cackles.

“Seriously?”

“My sister and I got caught stealing.” Definitely not my finest moment. The sad thing is we got caught while our parents were alive, which means we had more than enough money to pay for the items we chose to steal.

“Damn, should I hide my wallet?” He teases.

“Ha-ha,” I say dryly. “It was clothes.”

“Keep any of my sexy clothes away from you. Noted.” He nods with an almost straight face. The only indication he’s joking is a slight twinge to the corner of his mouth. “The other times?”

“A house party gone bad. There were drugs and underage drinking. We all got arrested.” I shrug, embarrassed even though I shouldn’t be. I don’t even know this guy, and those days are behind me.

“Wow.” He crosses his arms over his chest. “Didn’t see that coming. The third time?”

“I was skipping school and a cop caught me. Brought me in for truancy.” I roll my eyes.

Keegan barks out a laugh. “Wow, you’ve been busy.”

“Hey, Keeg!” someone yells. “We’re going down to the pier. You wanna go?”

“Nah!” he yells back. “Go without me.” Then he says to me, “So, are you down to have some fun?”

“Fine,” I say, dragging out the word. “Bring on the fun.” I fake fist pump, and he laughs.

“On one condition.”

“Oh, now you’re giving me conditions? Really?” I scoff.

“One condition,” he repeats.

“What?” I huff.

“No negativity. I have three more days before I have to deal with life. I came here to have fun, escape reality.”

“Okay, agreed.”

We get out of the pool, and Keegan throws his arm over the back of my shoulders like we’re old friends. “C’mon, my little jailbird, let’s go have some fun… legally.”

Blakely

“When you said fun, you didn’t mention the possibility of death!” I yell over the sound of the waves crashing against each other as the jet ski flies across the deep blue ocean. My arms are wrapped around Keegan, my fingers threaded together so I don’t risk letting go. Between his life vest and mine, I can barely reach around him. The wind whips my hair every which way, and the warm air smacks me in the face.

“No negativity!” he yells through a laugh.

“I won’t be able to be positive if I die!” I yell back, humor laced in my words. I’ve never been jet skiing before, but I have to admit, it’s actually a lot of fun—when Keegan isn’t going a hundred miles an hour.

Keegan slows the jet ski down a bit as we get closer to the shore. The waves are still splashing around us, but the wind has calmed since he’s no longer going as fast. “That was so much fun,” he says, sounding like a little boy. “I’ve always wanted to do that.”

He glances over his shoulder. “Admit that was fun.” My lips twitch. “Admit it or I’ll throw you off.”

This time I laugh out loud. “Yes, it was fun!”

When we return to the shore and get off the jet ski, Keegan helps me unsnap my life vest and hands both over to the guy in charge.

“So, what’s next?” My body is drumming with adrenaline, and I’m excited to see what else Keegan has planned.

“I was thinking I could take you to dinner.”

“Oh.” I pout, and he chuckles.

“Hey now, my little jailbird, it won’t be anything as wild as a house party, but it will be fun, I promise.” He throws his arm around my shoulders with a light laugh and pulls me into his side.

“You’re not going to let it go, are you?”

“Nope.” His shoulders shake with laughter. “I can’t get over that underneath all that cuteness and innocence is a very naughty girl.”