by Claire Adams
“I’m good, Lily.”
“Can I help you in?” She just wanted to touch him again. I don’t like her.
“You know what? Since Daphne and I are both soaking wet, we should just take the same boat. The water will pool up in the bottom and there’s no sense in the two of you getting all wet, too. I’m not certain how many sets of extra clothes the volunteers collected to bring.”
I looked at Carla. She was trying to suppress a smile. I gave her a warning look. Then, I looked at the woman in Jace’s boat. She wasn’t smiling. That made me smile. I’m a terrible person. She was thinking Jace wanted to be with me. I was hoping for the same.
“That sounds like a smart idea,” Carla said. She stood up and while Jace held onto the other boat, she stepped into it.
He looked at his “friend” then and said, “We’ll see you ladies on the other side.”
She smiled, but it looked forced. Carla started paddling. She was still grinning. For a girl who told me I should give up on the priest, she sure was happy to give us room to be together. Jace helped me up into the canoe and then I grabbed his arm and helped pull him in, as well.
For a few seconds, we just sat there looking at each other. Finally I said, “Thank you for saving me.” My teeth were chattering together. I was cold, but I was also nervous.
Jace grinned. “You’re welcome. I’m sure you would have been okay. It’s hard to move around in these life jackets sometimes, but they’ll keep you bobbing down the harbor all day.”
“I appreciate it anyways,” I said, picking up the oars. “I didn’t really want to bob down the harbor all day.” He was giving me a strange look. I realized he was looking at the oars in my hands.
“I don’t think so.” He was grinning.
“You don’t think so, what?” He didn’t want me to row the boat. Man, you make one mistake...
“I’ll row, thanks. Not that I don’t trust you…”
I laughed. “Seriously?” He didn’t answer me with words. Instead, he reached over and plucked the oars out of my hands with a grin and began to row.
After a bit, just to break the awkward silence I said, “I’m sorry you got all soaking wet.”
“It’s really okay, Daphne. The church has a big wicker basket full of donated clothes that they told me we take to all of our functions, just in case. We can grab some of those and hang these up to dry while we have lunch. It’ll be fine.”
I was right on the verge of asking him about his friend. Thankfully, I caught myself. That would have been way too familiar. We had a one-night stand that really, really, never should have happened. I have to stop this and get him out of my head.
I shivered again as I watched him rowing the boat in his wet t-shirt and jeans. The t-shirt clung to his chest and abs, and his biceps flexed and tensed as he rowed us to shore and I was reminded of the way they’d tensed and flexed when he held himself up over me and…
Chapter Twenty-Five
Jace
“Jace!” Lily was waving at me from shore as we rowed in. Daphne’s friend Carla was standing next to her and looking at Lily like she was crazy. Lily was waving like she hadn’t seen me in weeks. It had literally only been minutes. I guessed that’s why she was getting the look from Carla.
I waved back as I waded out of the boat into the water and started to pull it the rest of the way up to shore. Suddenly, Daphne was beside me.
“You should have stayed in the boat. I would have done this.”
She smiled. She has a beautiful smile. I’d made myself keep my eyes trained on her face the whole time. They really wanted to go to her chest. That tight, little t-shirt was soaked and clinging to her body. The water was cold, so her nipples were hard and pressing hard against her bra and t-shirt so that if I looked right at them, I could almost visualize the entire outline.
Look at her face, Jace. That didn’t help a lot. Her pretty blonde hair was wet and stuck to her face in places. I was incredibly tempted to reach over and tuck one of those long strands behind her ear.
Temptation was killing me. I wished the Lord would tell me what He expected me to do already, so we could move on.
We got the canoe up out of the water and suddenly, Lily was also by my side. “Are you okay?” she asked me.
She was touching my arm again, rubbing her hand up and down. I took a step away. What part of “You’re hitting on a priest in front of the entire congregation” was hard for her?
I smiled as I stepped away to ease it a bit and I said, “I’m fine, Lily. I really am. Daphne and I need to go find some dry things and change. Can you do me a favor?”
“Of course.” She glanced at Daphne with a smug look. Can women sense competition or am I that obvious when I look at Daphne?
“The rest of the boats will be coming in one after the other here. Can you ask a few of the guys to stand by and help whoever needs it get their boats up to the shore and maybe two or three of the ladies to start lunch?”
“I can do that,” Lily said with a smile. Now I noticed that Daphne was looking at her with curiosity; I was willing to bet that she thought I was sleeping with her. Once a fallen priest…
I supposed I deserved whatever it was that she was thinking of me. I was still praying that she would choose to keep it between us. I knew that one day I’d have to answer for my sins, but I’d like for that to be in the face of God and Jesus Christ and not the faces of my entire congregation.
“Come on, Daphne, I’ll show you where the clothes are.” I tried calling myself a sick pervert and remembering my vows of chastity that I had taken, but God, she looked so hot in that wet t-shirt.
How am I not supposed to look at her? Yes, I’m a priest, but I’m also a man. If she was in a club right now and they were having a contest, she’d win it, hands down.
The cut-off jeans already looked hot. Her legs were long and lean and tanned…too much good stuff to look at and I shouldn’t have been looking at any of it. I especially shouldn’t have been sporting the erection that I was desperately trying to hide. But I was still a man, right?
“This wicker trunk has the ladies clothes in it. The men’s are on the other side. We can change in the bathroom and hang ours out somewhere to dry while we have lunch,” I told her.
She smiled. She was so pretty. “Okay, thank you,” she said. She lifted the lid on the basket. When she looked back up at me nervously a few seconds later, I realized that I was still standing there, staring at her beautiful backside. I felt my face go hot. She blushed, too.
“Okay, I’ll leave you to it,” I said. Shaking my head at myself internally, I went around to the other side of the little wooden building. I opened the men’s trunk and pulled out a pair of shorts and a t-shirt. I took them into the little building where the bathroom was. I stripped off my wet clothes with Daphne still on my mind.
My erection got larger and I felt guiltier. I wondered if God would hold my thoughts against me, as well as my actions. I wanted to touch myself, but at least I resisted that. I wanted to picture her in that wet t-shirt while I masturbated, but that in itself was another sin.
I physically shook myself and went over to the sink and grabbed a few paper towels to dry myself off. As I was dabbing under my arms, I heard a creaking sound. I turned around and me and my erection were staring at Daphne’s shocked face. Jesus, I’m glad I wasn’t touching myself. Her eyes automatically fell to my throbbing organ and seemed to stick there. That didn’t help the state I was in at all.
The whole thing only took seconds, but it seemed like hours before my brain kicked in and I grabbed the shirt and held it in front of me and Daphne’s wide eyes found my face.
“I’m so sorry! The door was unlocked…” Her face was bright red as she turned and raced out the door.
Jesus, could this mess get any worse? Cursing my luck, or wondering if it was luck or another test by God, I hurried and got dressed. This was only going to make things more uncomfortable between Daphne and me. The poor girl already acted
like she didn’t know what to say to me and she was a nervous wreck any time we were alone together. I need to talk to her.
When I got out to the picnic area, I saw that a lot of the boats were coming in and a few people were already walking over. Daphne was sitting alone at one of the tables. I took a deep breath and started towards her.
Just as I did, Lily called out my name. I turned and saw her and Daphne’s friend struggling to get one of the canoes in. It had been manned by an elderly couple who wanted their own boat, but the Mr. is almost 80 and his wife probably weighs about 90 pounds.
I looked back at Daphne. She was looking at me. I gave her a little smile and she smiled back, nervously. Our talk would have to wait until later, but I was convinced it had to happen. This…whatever it was that I felt for her, was getting out of hand. I turned and went back over to help pull the boat in.
“Nice shirt,” Lily said with a giggle as I walked up. I grabbed the canoe out of her hands and pulled on it. I heard Daphne’s friend giggle, too. I guessed the two made friends. After I got the boat in I looked down to see what they found so amusing.
My shirt, or the one I’d borrowed, was inside out and it stopped about a half an inch above the waist of my borrowed shorts. I looked like I was wearing a crop top. I had been so nervous after Daphne walked in on me that I didn’t even pay attention to how ridiculous I looked. Now, I couldn’t help but laugh at myself.
Shaking my head, I looked at Lily and said, “I think I’ll go pick out another shirt. Would you mind helping with the plates until I get over there?”
“Not at all,” she said. She touched my arm again as she went by and looked at me flirtatiously as she dragged her fingers seductively across my bicep.
Daphne’s friend Carla was watching us and then her eyes cut over towards where her friend sat. Son of a…she knows. Daphne had to have told her and now she was worried about her friend. Dear God, now I had to worry that another person is going to say something to someone.
Chapter Twenty-Six
Jace
Jace looked like he was about to come over and talk to me before that woman called out to him. She was awfully possessive of his time and I wondered if she annoyed him as much as she did me. I wondered how many times she’d seen him naked.
And, what was up with Carla being all giggly with her? Was it ridiculous that I felt betrayed by both of them? I sighed. Of course, it was. I was ridiculous…the entire situation was ridiculous.
I watched Jace help them pull the boat in. His t-shirt looked a little small. As he moved, it pulled up and from where I sat I could see a couple inches of his bare skin. It doesn’t matter. I’ve already seen plenty of his naked inches. I was still looking, anyway.
I watched his “friend” touch his arm with a smile and then head over to the table where the food was. Jace went back towards the bathrooms. I wondered if he was going to change his shirt. Carla came in my direction. Nice to know she still remembers me. I’m ridiculous, I know.
“Hey,” she said with a smile. “You feel better now that you’re all dried out?”
“Yeah,” I said. I tried not to act like a big baby. I tried not to be mad at her. My emotions were a wreck.
“The clothes fit you good. Better than the priest,” she giggled.
“Yeah, I guess.”
“Wow, what do you have shoved up your butt all of a sudden?”
I gave her a glare. “Nothing is up my butt, but thanks for asking.”
“Are you mad at me?”
I sighed, “No, I’m sorry; it’s this stupid jealousy again. You seemed so chummy with his girlfriend.”
“Oh, come on!”
“I know, I’m sorry. I’m an idiot.”
Carla smiled. She really was a good friend. That quickly, I was forgiven. “It’s fun arguing with you. I forgot how much I liked it. What’s really wrong, baby girl?”
I took a deep breath. “I’m sorry, you’re right. I do have something ‘up my butt.’ I just walked in on Jace in the bathroom when he was changing. He was completely nude.”
“Shut up!”
“No…I can’t. I just saw my priest naked…again.”
Carla grinned. “How was it?”
“Terrible.”
“What?” she looked confused.
“Not him. He’s like a sculpture or something; he’s so perfect that he makes everything in my body go crazy — everything. But, it was terrible because he had an erection and I stood there for God only knows how long, staring at it.”
Carla busted up laughing. “That’s hilarious.”
“No it’s not! Stop laughing. It’s horrible, Carla. This whole situation is horrible.” I was on the verge of tears. She finally stopped laughing and said,
“I’m sorry, Daph. You’re right, it’s not funny. It’s not funny because you’re so upset about it. Honey, God is going to forgive you for this…for all of it. You’ve been the best Catholic I know for as long as I’ve known you. My mother pushed me to be friends with you specifically for that reason.”
“Really? We’re friends because your mother wanted us to be?”
“Well, at first, but you know I grew to love you. My point is that you’re the kind of girl that mothers love and mothers don’t love just anyone.” I let my mind flit to my own mother and then I tamped it down again and said,
“Just because I was good in the past, doesn’t give me a free pass to keep sinning now.”
“Keep sinning? What other sins have you committed?”
“I dream about him every night and wake up all sweaty and…”
“Horny?”
“Shut up. But yeah, I guess.”
“Horny is not a sin. It’s an actual undeniable human emotion. He was obviously feeling it, too; he was sporting that big old erection because you turned him on.”
“That doesn’t help me knowing that. It makes me more so. I’ve never really felt it before that night. And now, I’m a raging pervert. Then, there’s the jealousy; I’m committing that sin all over the place. This chick that’s hanging all over him, I’m so jealous of her that I can’t see straight.”
“She’s his ex-” Carla started.
“I’m jealous that you know that,” I told her, honestly. I was. I hated that she knew so much about the woman. I’m pathetic. Carla cracked up again. When she stopped laughing she said,
“I thought you meant you were jealous of her and Jace.”
“I am, but like I said, I’m jealous that you bonded with her so fast. I feel paranoid like she’s trying to take you both from me.”
Still laughing, Carla said, “Oh, baby girl. She can’t take me from you. I was stuck in a boat with her, so naturally, we talked. Her name is Lily. They dated in high school. She broke up with him and just recently ran back into him.”
“Did it seem like they were sleeping together?”
Shaking her head at me, Carla said, “You know, it’s hard to tell just by looking at a person.”
“You know what I mean. Did she say anything that made you think they were doing the…”
“The horizontal mambo? The nasty?”
“Okay, never mind!”
She giggled. “I’m sorry. But no, honey, she didn’t say anything to indicate that; although I’m not sure what that would be other than, “Guess what? I’m doing a priest.”
“You can be so crude sometimes.”
“I’m just trying to lighten the mood. Come on, I’m only here for the weekend. Stop stressing and let’s have fun, okay?”
I suddenly felt bad. She was right. She was here to visit me and all I was doing was commiserating over my own issues. “I’m sorry. Yes, I’m going to drop it and we’re going to have fun.”
My eyes cut over to where Jace and Lily were serving lunch side by side. He’d changed into a black t-shirt that fit him better, but was tight across his big chest and arms. Nothing about him looked like a priest right then—not that it did most of the time. What is a priest doing taking that good of care o
f his body? Isn’t that a sin, too? Maybe not. Maybe God just wanted them to be healthy, I didn't know.
“Stop staring at him,” Carla scolded me. “At least be more subtle. All of these other churchy people are going to notice.” She lowered her voice and said, “And then, they’ll make up a story that the two of you are fucking…only it will be true.” She had a harsh way of putting it, but once again, she was right.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Jace
After we finished serving lunch, Lily and I fixed our own plates and sat down at one of the tables with them. Daphne’s friend had come up and got both hers and Daphne’s. The poor thing couldn’t look at me again.
Some of the parishioners were playing a volleyball game and some were throwing Frisbees around. Some had just gone off to explore. I scanned the park for Daphne and finally found her and her friend. They were kicking around a soccer ball with a couple of the teenage kids who had come along. Daphne had pulled her wet hair back into a ponytail again and was smiling and laughing as they played.
It was my first chance to watch her just be happy. It was nice. She was drop-dead gorgeous when she was nervous and antsy…or drunk…or angry…but happy was much nicer. Happy gave her face a softer look, and I couldn’t help but want to touch her.
I could pray over it 20 times a day, but I cannot control my thoughts or my body’s reactions. Maybe I needed to accept that. Maybe concentrating on controlling my actions would save me in the end. Or maybe I should stop looking at her…and stop putting myself in situations where I know she’ll be.
“Did you hear me? What are you looking at?” Lily started to look over her shoulder.
“Nothing. How’s your lunch?”
She looked down at her turkey sandwich and chips. With a little chuckle she said, “It’s okay. Are you?”
“I’m fine.”
“You seem a little distracted,” she said. Then she thought about it and said, “No, actually you seem a lot distracted, all day. What’s going on?”
