by A. J. Wynter
“Nice belly flop,” she laughed.
“I’d call that more of a back flop.” My back stung from its slap on the water.
Our fingers tapped as we treaded water facing each other, the swirls of water from our strokes meeting between us.
“Faith…”
“Yeah?” Her breath was a little raspy from keeping herself afloat.
“I don’t want to be friends anymore.”
She slowed her stroke and her body dipped deeper in the water, her jawbone resting just above the surface.
“You don’t?” It was a whisper.
“No.”
Even in the darkness, I could see the furrow in her brow. “What—”
I didn’t let her finish her question. “I’m shitty with words.” I looped my arm around her waist and pulled her close. A gasp escaped from her lips just before I pressed mine to them. My body sparked, firing on all cylinders. I kept us afloat with one arm and squeezed Faith’s body close to mine with the other. I knew she’d be able to feel my hard-on tenting out my soaked boxer briefs, and I didn’t care.
She continued treading water with one arm and draped the other around my neck. Her feet gently kicked between my legs as she let me kiss her. I pulled back, and when I opened my eyes hers were still closed. “You are beautiful.”
She opened her eyes and then squeezed closer and this time it was her lips that found mine.
Kissing in deep water is not as easy as it looks in the movies and even with my best efforts, we started to sink. But neither of us wanted to stop.
I paused, but didn’t take my lips from hers. “We’re probably going to drown.”
She smiled and kissed me again but stopped any attempt at flotation. We slipped beneath the surface. I opened my eyes under the water, and she was looking at me, air bubbles floating between us and attaching to her eyelashes. She blew out a big burst of air, kissed me under the water, and surfaced.
“I always wondered what it would feel like to kiss a mermaid,” I said when I surfaced. Her long blond hair was slicked down to her head but fanned out around her shoulders in the water.
“I love you, Leo.” Her fingertips brushed mine and she squeezed my hand, before returning to treading water.
It should’ve caught me off guard, but it didn’t.
“I love you too, Faith.” I cupped her face with my hand and kissed her again. “Your lips are turning blue.”
“I don’t feel cold,” she whispered through shaking lips.
“Come on. I’ve got some sweats and a blanket in the truck. Let’s get you warmed up.”
I tugged at her hand and swam to the shore.
The last purple of twilight had disappeared, and the first stars of the evening had come out to join the full moon. I made it to shore first, and I waded onto the sandy beach. I didn’t care if she could see the outline of my very excited body. “I’ll be back with a towel or a blanket or something.”
Even though we had kissed, I didn’t know what was next. Was it okay to see her in her bra and panties? I had already stolen a glimpse and knew that I could see her pink nipples through the lace of her white bra. “I’ll get a blanket or a towel from the truck.” I sprinted down the path, not wanting to leave Faith alone, but wanting her to be comfortable – both warm and not exposed.
When I returned to the beach, instead of waiting in the water, she was standing on the beach with her bra looped over her fingers. I slowed and almost stopped right in the middle of the path. Her breasts glowed in the moonlight. There were faint tan lines visible above her nipples. I wrapped the blanket around her shoulders and pulled her goosebump-covered body in tightly to me. Together, we warmed each other, and if my boner had calmed down at all, feeling the hardness of her nipples on my chest woke it up with a vengeance. I shifted my hips away from hers, but she slipped her hands over the wet cotton of my underwear and pressed my hips against hers. Wrapped in the blanket, under the moonlight, the water lapping against the shoreline, I knew there was nowhere in the world – and no one else I’d rather be with.
“Come on, let’s get by the fire,” I whispered.
She nodded and slipped her arm around my waist. I held the blanket around us as we made our way back to the fire. I threw on a couple more logs and we stood close to the fire.
“What have we done?” Faith asked.
I slipped behind her and squeezed her body tightly against mine. “Almost skinny dip?”
“You know what I mean.” She leaned her head back and I wondered how I’d missed the smell of vanilla in her hair all of these years.
I sighed. “We did something we promised not to do.”
She leaned heavily against me and I felt the expansion of her ribs as she inhaled deeply. “I never promised not to love you.”
“Same.” I smiled and rested my chin on her head.
She turned to face me, and I adjusted the blanket around her back. “If you were staying, this might make sense.”
“I could say the same thing.” She rested her head on my shoulder and I could feel the warmth of her breath on my neck. “I know that you’ve always wanted to get out of here – make it big in the city; design some glass stuff.”
Her shoulder shook as she laughed. “I love your interpretation of design, but I might not go anywhere.”
I pulled back so I could look at her face. “What? We always talked about what we’d do when we left Laketown. I thought for sure that you were going to help your mom for a bit and then get the hell out here.”
“That was the plan.” Her eyes searched mine. “But plans can change. I’m just starting to get settled here. My mom needs me. And I mean, the thing with my dad – I just feel like I need to be in Laketown.” She paused. “And you, Leo. You feel like home.” She rested her head back on my shoulder and I squeezed her tightly. Was she just grasping at familiarity? Was I a remnant from her past that she was trying to hold onto? I didn’t want to be the reason she gave up her dreams and stayed in Laketown. I kissed her hair and inhaled the vanilla, knowing that I’d never be able to pass a bakery again without thinking of Faith.
“But what about your dreams of starting your own firm?” When she was a teenager, she’d had vision boards all over her room of her new building and a corner office, completely designed from top to bottom.
“What about you and hockey?”
I didn’t know whether she was avoiding the conversation about herself, and I wasn’t ready to admit that the dream to go to the National League had been fading. “What about it?”
This time she pulled away. “What do you mean? What about it? I’ve heard the rumors around town. The scouts have been looking at you.”
“You’ve heard rumors, have you?” I wondered where she could have heard these rumors because they were news to me. As far as I knew, Gunnar Lockwood was the only player on anyone’s radar at the moment.
“I shouldn’t have said anything,” she whispered. It didn’t take a detective to figure out that Coach’s girlfriend, Faith’s Laketown BFF, was the one who had said something.
“What if I didn’t go?” I was only joking, but when the words came out, I was surprised at how good they felt.
“Oh, fuck off.” She swatted at my chest. “You’re going.”
“You’re probably right.” I grabbed her hand to stop another swat and kissed her fingers. “So, what do we do?”
Her bottom lip started to tremble and I thought she was going to cry. “Did you say that you had a sweater?”
“Oh, God. Right.” I had set down the sweatshirt and sweatpants when I got the blanket. “They’re right here, somewhere.” I extracted myself from the blanket and wrapped it around Faith like a burrito. She stepped closer to the fire while I searched in the dark for the clothes. “Here.” I handed her the sweatshirt and sweatpants.
“T-t-thanks.” She put on the sweatshirt and held the blanket around her waist. Instead of stepping right into my Otters sweatpants, she tucked the blanket in like a skirt and very ski
llfully reached underneath it to roll her panties down her thighs.
I turned away out of respect and horniness.
“I’m decent.”
I turned back and Faith was standing next to the fire, swathed in my sweats. “They look great on you.”
“Thanks.” She laughed and shook the extra-long sleeves like one of those wavy armed balloon things outside of a car dealership.
“You’re one of a kind, Faith Dawson.” I smiled.
“And you’re freezing.” She picked up the blanket and draped it around my shoulders. “Don’t you have any more clothes in your truck?”
“I only travel with one spare set of sweats.”
“Stay here,” Faith ordered and disappeared down the trail. She returned with our T-shirts and shorts. “It’s not much, but it’s better than nothing.”
I took my clothes from her. “We should get going. There’s a bucket down by the water for putting the fire out.”
“Okay.” Her voice was quiet. “But Leo?” She grabbed onto my wrist. “Can we just stay a little while longer?”
“Sure, Faye… I mean, Faith.”
“Leo.” Her voice was stern. “You can call me Faye.” She stood on her tiptoes and kissed me gently. “Now is this the time when you tell me that we should go back to being friends?”
I hated that feeling. Knowing that she was right, but wishing things could be different. “I always want you in my life, Faye. You know that now, right?”
“I do.” She smiled, but her eyes looked sad. “And you, Leo. When you’re a big star and come back to Laketown to buy a summer cottage, will you hire me to design it?”
“Only if it’s all glass.” I wanted to laugh but couldn’t bring myself to pretend that this wasn’t one of the worst conversations I’d ever had in my life.
“Deal.” She held out her hand.
I shook it. “Deal.”
She looked down at her feet and I didn’t know what to do with my hands after we released our handshake.
“Faith.”
“Leo.”
We both spoke and looked at each other at the same time. The spring peepers were getting louder and somewhere in the distance, one loon called to another. The smell of the campfire had turned smokier as it burned down to embers. I had a feeling this might be the last time I’d ever have the opportunity, so I kissed her again.
Faith melted into me and reached her arms around my neck.
“Tomorrow?” she asked.
I knew exactly what she meant. I smiled and nodded. “Friends. Starting tomorrow.”
Fourteen
Faith
The fire had burned to a sole ember when Leo and I finally gave in to the fact that we had to face the truth. We were going to walk away from Tawny Rock as friends. We were two humans who loved and respected each other and wanted to keep each other in their lives forever.
Two humans who were wildly attracted to each other, not just physically either. Leo was the only man I’d ever been emotionally connected to. I didn’t ask him, but I knew he felt the same way too.
We listened to the loons call and watched the stars start to sparkle one at a time until the sky was full. Neither of us knew astronomy, but as he stood behind me, keeping me warm, we pointed out cool clusters and what we thought might be planets – or satellites.
“Alright, Faye,” he whispered into my ear. “It’s time to get you home.”
He had given me his warm clothes and was standing in a T-shirt and wet underwear, but he didn’t show any signs of being cold. I don’t know how long he held me; the concept of time seemed to have disappeared, and I just wanted to stay there in his arms until the sun came up, but I agreed. “Okay,” I whispered, and turned and kissed his stubbly jawbone, letting my fingertips rest on the damp curl at the nape of his neck.
Leo put out the fire and handed me my shoes. But before I could put them on, he scooped me up in his arms. I held onto his neck and let my head rest against his chest. When we got to the truck, he set me down gently, opened the door, and kissed me one more time before I got in.
Leo got in the truck but before he could turn the key, I stopped him. “Leo. What if the truck doesn’t start?”
He looked at me with a furrowed brow. “Don’t worry, it will start.”
“No,” I said a little more forcefully. “I mean, what if it doesn’t start until the morning?”
“Oh.” He held onto the steering wheel. “Won’t your mom be worried?”
He was right. I hadn’t thought about how my mom might feel if I just didn’t come home. “I’m a grown woman,” I rationalized. “I’ll tell her I’m sleeping at Amber’s house.” I couldn’t help but laugh. “A grown woman lying about a sleepover at her friend’s house.”
“Then Faith… I have bad news.” He turned the key so that the radio came on and Dave Matthews started to sing to us. “The truck won’t start. The battery is dead.”
“Oh no.” I clutched my hands to my chest, a huge grin on my face. “Whatever shall we do?”
“Well, m’lady. I have a sleeping bag, but we’ll have to keep each other warm to stay alive. It’ll be a little cramped back there, but I think we’ll survive.” His old-timey western accent was terrible.
I reverted from my damsel in distress voice to my normal speaking voice. “You’ve got a charger, right?”
“No, miss. I’m afraid we’re stuck here.” He put on a serious face, but as he spoke, he nodded his head, and in case I didn’t pick up on the gesture, he whispered in my ear. “Of course I have a charger.”
I turned up the music. “I haven’t heard this song in years.” It was one of those songs that always reminded me of summer.
Leo crawled into the back seat and I heard the unmistakable sound of a sleeping bag being zipped open.
“If you want to live, you’re going to have to get back here.” He growled, but it was hard to take him seriously.
With the combination of our damp hair and our warm bodies, the windows were already covered in condensation. I crawled over the console and snuggled into the sleeping bag next to Leo. He looped his arm around my waist, holding me so I didn’t fall off the seat. “There’s no way we’re getting any sleep tonight.” I giggled and shimmied into him, trying to get more room.
“Who said anything about sleeping?” His lips were right next to my ear and when he spoke, his words sent a shiver through my body. The kind that ended between my legs. It was awkward, but I turned to face him.
“If you want to avoid hypothermia, I’d suggest getting out of these.” I gave his ass a light spank, the damp cotton making it sound a lot harder.
He looked at me, this time his eyes serious. “Are you sure?”
“I’m sure.”
Would sleeping with your best friend be a mistake? Probably for most people, but if this were our moment – our one night to be together – then I wanted all of Leo the Lion.
With my help, Leo managed to shimmy out of his boxer briefs, and I pushed them down his legs into the depths of the sleeping bag with my toes. He pulled the sweatshirt over my head and then I reached my fingers under the hem of his T-shirt, letting my hands run over each defined ab in his effortless six-pack, as I slid the shirt up his body.
Skin to skin, chest to chest, his body warmed mine. I slid my fingers into his damp hair and held onto his neck. Leo shifted so that he was straddling my body, his hair tickling my skin in the best way as he kissed down my jawbone, making his way down my chest, his lips meeting each of my very hard nipples. I gasped at the warmth from his mouth; first just the tease of his breath, and then when he took my breast in his mouth, my body arched involuntarily. “Oh, Leo.” I moaned.
He continued kissing down my body, past my belly button. Goosebumps erupted on my body as he kissed along the waistline of the sweatpants while his fingers slid into the band. The moment he fully grabbed the pants and yanked them down was easily the most turned on I’d ever been in my life, and all I wanted was to feel him inside of me.
He hovered above me, his manhood between us as he whispered in my ear. “I forgot you were commando.”
I smiled and nipped at his ear. Dragging my feet up along his legs, I arched my body into his, finally feeling his hardness against my body. This time it was his turn to moan. He brushed a strand of hair off my forehead and tucked it behind my ear.
He was trembling and so was I.
I bit my lip and nodded at him, urging him again with my heels. This time he didn’t resist. I gasped and arched my head back as he pushed inside me.
It wasn’t smart, or responsible, but at that moment I didn’t fucking care. I didn’t want either of those things, all I wanted was Leo.
I gripped his back, feeling the movement of his strong muscles as we rocked together in the sleeping bag. He kissed my neck, and the sound of his breath as it started to come faster and raspier, and the way his body was moving against mine, brought me to the brink. “Leo,” I gasped. “I’m going to come.”
His body didn’t stop moving, but his lips did. He looked at me, a glint in his eye. “Baby, I’m right there with you.”
His voice, his body, the buildup from the entire night had gotten to both of us. As Leo started to rock harder, I reached to grab his ass while his muscles flexed impressively in my hands. His thrusts grew more aggressive, and he groaned as he thrust hard into me, my body shifting on the sleeping bag as I writhed beneath him. I threw my head back as the wave of my orgasm crested and crashed through my body. “Oh, Leo,” I moaned. “Leo, Leo.”
Pressing up onto his hands, Leo’s thrusts came even faster and harder, in the sexiest way possible. As I moved with him, he groaned. “Faith. Oh my God. Faye.” He arched, throwing his head back, leaving me a front-row view of his abs as they shuddered along with his entire body.
The rest of the night was both the most uncomfortable sleep I’d ever had, and the best night of my life. The uncomfortable part was obvious – the two of us barely fit on the back seat, and since both of us were tall, the only option was to stick our feet out the window or sleep curled up together. We’d tried both, but when the mosquitoes finally overpowered us we curled up together. Leo’s arm was flexed the entire night, holding me from slipping to the floor. There was no way the sleeping bag was going to zip up with the two of us in it.
