Fool Me Once
“That was…” I trail off, unable to even begin to describe what that was: amazing, incredible, remarkable… None of those adjectives properly convey what I just experienced with Keegan.
“Mind-blowing,” Keegan says, finishing my sentence. “That was fucking mind-blowing, and I have half a mind to tie you to this bed and never let you go, so we can do it over and over again in every goddamn position.”
I know he’s only joking, but the thought of Keegan never letting me go makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. It’s been a long time since I’ve felt wanted or needed. Even if what he’s feeling is strictly sexual, my body and mind and heart don’t seem to know the difference. Which means it’s time to get up and put some distance between us. The last thing I need is to fall for a guy I can’t possibly ever have a future with. My future is five hundred miles away in South Carolina.
Placing my palms against his chest, I push him back slightly. When he backs up, he slides out of me, taking his warmth with him. My body craves it, and I almost pull him back to me, but instead I stay strong and push the craving away. I can’t afford to be sidetracked.
“Hey,” he says, picking up on my sudden mood shift. “It…” He clears his throat. “It was good for you too, wasn’t it?” His brows furrow, and he stares into my eyes, waiting for my answer.
“Yes, it was really good.”
“Then what’s wrong?”
I barely know this man, but I can hear the vulnerability in his every word, and the last thing I want to do is make him feel like he did something wrong, when the fact is, how I’m feeling is because he did everything right. But I also can’t tell him that, because if I do, I’m putting him in the awkward position of making him think I want more, which even if I did, can’t happen. We’re both at a crossroads in our lives. Keegan said he has an important decision to make, and I need to graduate and head off to college. We’re not at a place in our lives to even consider something more than what we’re doing right here, right now.
“Nothing is wrong, I promise,” I tell him, keeping it vague. Sitting up, I swing my feet over the side of the bed. “What’s on the agenda for today?” I ask, trying to sound as nonchalant as possible.
Keegan studies me for a brief moment, then says, “I was thinking we could do some snorkeling, then get some lunch down by the pier. Maybe hang out by the pool. There’s a pretty sweet lazy river that circles around the back of the hotel.” He shrugs. “What do you think?”
I situate my top so my breasts are no longer exposed, then grab my bottoms from the floor and put them back on. “I think that sounds absolutely perfect.”
Blakely
Keegan and I have spent the entire day together, following his itinerary to a T. After renting snorkeling gear, we met Mitch and Holly, and spent the morning experiencing the ocean from under the water. Once we all agreed we needed a break from the sun, we went to lunch down at the pier. And after Keegan and Mitch paid the bill, Mitch and Holly insisted they were exhausted and needed to take a nap. By the look in Holly’s eyes, I think it’s safe to assume the last thing they’ll be doing in their bed is sleeping.
While I wouldn’t mind taking a nap with Keegan, I don’t want to waste a single moment I have with him. I can’t remember the last time I had as much fun as I’ve had these past few days. Everything we do feels like an adventure, an experience, and I’m afraid once the metaphorical clock strikes midnight—and Keegan and I go our separate ways—my fun will cease. Actually, I know it will. Because I’ll make sure it does. I’ll focus on school and working at the bookstore, and come May, I’ll graduate and go to college and do the same thing I’ve been doing—focus on my future.
“C’mere!” Keegan grants me a flirty smirk, both of his dimples popping out in the corners of his cheeks. He’s lying across the neon yellow inner tube, his tanned, chiseled body on display for everyone to see. We’ve spent the afternoon and well into the evening between the pool, hot tub, and lazy river, only leaving once for dinner.
When I shake my head at his request, he laughs good-naturedly and reaches for my tube. Raising my hands above me, I drop down the center of the inner tube and swim out from under it in an attempt to get away from him. The last time I fell for that shit, he flipped my inner tube over and knocked me into the water. Sure, I’m still in the water this way, but at least it’s not his doing.