Fool Me Once
“You… you…” I splutter.
“You’re no longer sandy.” He winks.
I back out of his reach and then swim toward him. I don’t even know what I’m thinking when my hands land on his shoulders, and I attempt to dunk him under the water. The guy is all muscle and doesn’t even move under my touch. But he does laugh, and that pisses me off.
“Screw you!” I hiss, giving up and swimming away.
“Oh, c’mon!” he yells through a laugh. “Don’t be mad.”
When my feet can finally reach, I wade through the water toward the steps, but before I make it out, hands land on my hips and spin me around.
“I’m sorry. It was all in good fun.” He smiles apologetically, and my anger immediately subsides. “You’re at the beach, for what I’m assuming is spring break. It’s okay to have a little fun.” His words don’t seem to be said out of malice, but they still rub me the wrong way. I spent most of my life having fun. Being carefree. Before my parents died, Sierra and I had the world at our fingertips. To do with as we pleased. But everything is different now, and having fun isn’t going to help me graduate from high school or college, create a future for myself.
“And who said I wasn’t having fun?” Even I can hear how defensive my tone is, but he’s struck a nerve. “Because I’m choosing to lounge around and read a good book that means I’m not having fun? Does having fun have to be getting drunk and high? Hooking up at parties?” Holy word vomit…
His eyes go wide in shock. Bet he wishes he’d picked another girl to hit on, someone not as emotionally tainted as me. Then he speaks, and with every word, I feel like the biggest piece of shit. “Actually, getting high is the last thing I find fun. Being as my brother nearly overdosed last year. And getting drunk? Sorry, my grandfather was an alcoholic. Died from liver failure. So nope, I don’t exactly find that fun either. Don’t get me wrong, I’m down for the occasional beer when hanging out, but I’m not really looking to get drunk. And as far as hooking up goes, I’m a man with a working dick. Do I like sex? Sure…” He lifts a single shoulder and quirks one side of his mouth up into a sexy smirk. “But I prefer to know who I’m fucking.”
He steps closer to me, until he’s so close I can almost feel the heat radiating off him, and in a voice so smooth it drips like the sweetest honey, he says, “Hooking up is a one-time thing. It’s fast and over way too quickly. It’s simply about getting off. And most times, unless the guy cares enough, the woman doesn’t even get off. I’d rather get to know the woman I’m fucking. Find out what turns her on…” His eyes drag down my body, and even though I’m in a somewhat modest bikini—one I’ve worn several times—I’ve never felt as exposed as I feel in this moment. It’s as if he’s stripping me bare without even touching me. “I prefer to get to know every inch of her body, find all the areas that will work her up until she’s wound so tightly, she’s squirming in pleasure and screaming out my name.” The apex of my thighs clench at his words, my chest rising and falling a little faster. Who the hell is this guy? Nope! Not going there…
“Well, I’m sorry about your grandfather and brother, but I have no desire to allow you to… get to know me in that way. So, while this”—I flick my hand between us—“has been fun, I need to get going.”
Keegan nods once. “All right. If you change your mind…”
“About what?”
“Having fun,” he replies. “If you change your mind about having fun, I’ll be here until the end of the week.”
Our conversation is clearly over, yet neither of us moves, facing each other in the water. I’m the one who said I need to go, so why aren’t I leaving? Because you’re attracted to him and it’s been almost a year since you’ve had any type of fun.
“You could be a rapist or a murderer,” I point out. “You could be luring me in and plotting how to rape and kill me. This is the shit Lifetime makes movies about.”
Keegan doesn’t laugh. Instead he says, “You’re right, I could be, and good for you for even thinking like that. Most women don’t. I’m staying at this hotel with some friends of mine for spring break. I’ve never been to jail or even been given a speeding ticket.” He smirks playfully. “I live and go to school in Carterville.” Carterville is the city next to ours, only about thirty minutes from here.