by Kristy Marie
But not anymore.
For the next eight weeks, nothing will prevent me from taking what I’ve wanted all these years. My mother was right, I’ve always wanted Aspen and this summer, I plan on taking her.
“What’s the rules?” she asks in short pants.
I lean up, admiring her swollen lips and glistening mouth. With my thumb, I swipe along the evidence of my attack. She watches in rapt fascination as I push my thumb through my lips. I’ll never get enough of her.
“The rules,” I tell her after a moment, “you’ll find out soon.”
She enjoys playing games, and me being the Bennett who bosses her around so she can rebel is exactly who she wants to play with.
“I assume if you’re able to create rules, the same applies to me.”
I’d rather she not, but to be fair… “Sure.”
She nods, her conniving grin telling me everything I need to know. She’s plotting and I’m sure I won’t survive what she has planned for me.
“Come on,” I say, holding out my hand to pull her up. “Fenn and Drew are probably waiting.”
Her nose wrinkles and she frowns. “I say we let Drew and Fenn play by themselves today.”
This woman. “We have all summer. A few hours won’t kill us.”
My chest clenches. Even I don’t believe myself. I want every second with her, but it isn’t just me she’s leaving. Fenn and Drew both deserve some time with her.
She nods, but it lacks the enthusiasm she had a few seconds ago. “Okay. Let’s go be responsible.”
“Bout time,” Fenn bites out. “The jet skis are all gassed up and ready to go.”
I nod. “We brought the cooler.”
I hand over the soft-shelled bag and Fenn straps it over his chest. “I suppose you’re riding with Bennett?” he asks, looking at Aspen.
“As long as he doesn’t wreck us like last time.”
I glare down at her. The “wreck” tossed us both off into the water. It was a failure to focus, but she caused it.
“You can ride with me,” Drew offers. “I would never wreck.”
“She only rides with me.” Aspen grins as I toss her a life jacket.
Drew never misses an opportunity to annoy me. “Maybe she should branch out more. I’ve always been more fun. Ain’t that right, Asp?”
Aspen chuckles and buckles her life jacket, taking a step off the dock and onto the back of my jet ski. “How ‘bout you lead the way to this unknown part of the island?”
Drew revs his engine, not even sitting down. “Just tell my brother to keep up. We’re taking a shortcut.”
Great. Shortcuts are typically bumpy.
Shaking my head, I climb onto the jet ski, securing the engine cut-off cord to my wrist. Aspen’s arms go around my waist, eager and tight.
“Let’s do this!” Drew yells, pulling away from the boat dock, Fenn right behind him. They violate the wake rules of the cove, but they don’t care, already speeding down the middle of the lake.
“Can I drive this time?” Aspen asks suddenly.
“No.”
She stands up, completely ignoring me. “The rule is you must hold on to me,” she states, boldly.
My stomach sinks. “Come on, Asp. It’ll be much worse than last time.”
A long leg comes over my shoulder—guess my pleas are going unheard today.
She holds onto me, coming over and sitting in my lap. “This is a terrible idea.”
I groan and she laughs. “Come on, BJ. It won’t be that bad. Least this way, you can just dive off if things get too intense. You won’t have to throw us both off.”
She’ll never let me live that day down. The day I got so hard just by the front of her body grinding on mine as we hit the waves. It was fucking torture, and now, with her back to my front, I realize I didn’t know what torture was.
Situating the strap onto her wrist, I slide as far back as I can manage.
“You’re gonna need to come closer, BJ.” She turns back, her hair blowing in my face. “I promise, I won’t bite hard.”
I groan, taking a deep breath and sliding up. I can handle a ride with her scrubbing up and down on my dick for a few minutes. I hope.
“Just drive,” I finally bite out.
And she does. Just like our brothers, she flies out of the boat dock, locating the guys who are currently bullshitting and doing all kinds of dangerous shit with the jet skis.
“You better keep up, pretty boy.” Aspen hollers, coming up next to Drew, who needs no other challenge. Both guys sit and increase their speed, darting in front of Aspen to lead the way.
We’ve been to this island before; it’s the one we’ve always hung out on as kids. But apparently Fenn and Drew found a more secluded section they want to show us. They claim it’s sandier and much more beach-like than the murky swimming area we usually frequent.
Aspen speeds off behind them and I tighten my hold on her hips as her body already finds a rhythm with the waves. Up and down, her tight ass creates friction.
I groan, pushing closer.
“You gonna make it, big guy?”
I can’t even think straight when I snap, “Don’t think I will forget this.”
Her body shakes with laughter. “I’m most definitely counting on it.”
She increases speed as her voice pitches over the wind. “Welcome to the summer of no rules, Jameson!”
No nip slips
Aspen
Convincing Bennett to let me drive was probably a bad idea. Honestly, I wanted to torture him, and I’m pretty sure I did. What I didn’t consider was how the feel of his length, grinding against me, would have me wound tight, resulting in a bitchy attitude by the end of our journey. Right now, the last thing I want to do is be stuck on an island for several hours, watching Bennett’s abs glisten in the sunlight.
“I’ll tie up the jet skis. You grab us a spot.”
I nod to Bennett who looks relaxed and gorgeous in his sunglasses, his hair windblown—totally not as pent up as I wanted him to be. I grab our beach bag and hop off the jet ski. Fenn follows, already having secured his. He points me in a different direction than where I was heading.
“We don’t have to sit together,” I tell him. “I don’t want tits and ass as my scenery if that’s your plan for the day.”
He rolls his eyes. “Shut up.”
My nose scrunches. “I also don’t want to sit in your little fuck nest.” I don’t know why I’m giving him such a hard time. Probably because he’s been a little more dickish than usual. Something is going on with him, but he won’t tell me what. He just acts like an ass and I return the sentiment.
“Aspen, would you just follow me and hush? Contrary to what you may think, Drew and I don’t come to the lake to fuck.”
He seems so serious that I might actually believe him. “So why do you come out here?” I mean, what else could exist for Fenn at the lake besides girls?
He shrugs. “Solitude. Peace.”
Huh. Who knew Fenn could even pronounce solitude, let alone enjoy it? “I thought you guys came out to party?”
He scoffs. “We party enough at home. Why would we bring it here?”
“Change of scenery?” I offer.
He holds a branch for me to duck under. “Is it so hard to believe I enjoy silence?”
I frown. “No, it’s easy to believe,” I tell him. “But it just seems odd you feel that way since you’re always ‘on’.”
He shoves some brush out of our way. “Sometimes I don’t have a choice but to be on. It’s expected of me.”
I suppose he’s right. The all-star pitcher and known troublemaker on campus would be constantly busy. But Fenn has always been that way. Even when he was little and wasn’t a star pitcher. “Is there something you need to talk about?” I try again.
I feel like a terrible big sister. All my life I’ve worried over Bennett. Not that I didn’t worry over Fenn and Drew, but it wasn’t the same. Fenn and Drew had each other, and I had Bennett.
They didn’t have the depth and concern Bennett required.
But maybe they did.
Maybe I’ve missed it in my pursuit of Bennett.
“Nah, I’m fine,” he says, pushing through the last bit of brush, revealing a vast space with nothing but sand and an entry point to the lake.
“Wow,” I tell him. “This is stunning.”
He nods like he’s a little embarrassed showing it to me. “It’s not as populated as the other side.”
No kidding. No one is out here.
“No one thinks to hike through the brush and trees,” he notes.
I laugh. “No one but my nosy ass brother.”
I’m not surprised at all that Fenn and Drew found this place. They are the two nosiest fools I know.
“Let’s get this party started,” Drew hollers, pushing through the entrance Fenn and I just left, with Bennett right behind him.
Bennett takes a minute to look around just as I did. “Crazy, right?”
Bennett’s brows furrow in confusion.
I wave at the serene landscape in front of us. “It’s crazy our brothers were actually sober enough to find this place and live to tell about it.”
Bennett busts out laughing and Fenn looks like he tasted something sour. “Come on, Fennius,” I tease. “Don’t be such a baby. You know it’s true.” I shake my head, walking over to a spot by the water. “I can’t remember a time when you weren’t drunk on this island.”
“Have a little faith,” Drew says. “Sometimes we were just tipsy.”
My eyes narrow. “I’d say that was a rare occurrence.”
“Fine,” Fenn snaps. “Some girl stole the boat last summer when we were passed out. We found this place because we were looking for help.”
“I knew it!”
Bennett shakes his head and spreads out the blanket. “You two are lucky to be alive.”
Fenn flips me off and makes his own pout station with his towel. “Did someone bring the football?”
Bennett nods. “Yeah, I have it.” He pulls it from the bag and holds it up as evidence.
“Throw it here,” calls Drew, dropping the cooler and running down the sand. They can’t even wait to open the beer before playing. Maybe Bennett was right; we should spend more time with these two idiots.
Leaving the bags and towels where we dropped them, I run down the sand and hip check my brother out of the way. He grunts and rights himself, picking up speed, but I can outrun his slow ass any day. Spending my days on the cross-country team provided all the endurance I need to beat a pitcher who works out the least on the baseball team.
“I’m open!” Drew hollers, and Bennett rocks onto his back foot looking for his mark. In a single breath, he decides, cocking his arm back and sending the ball soaring through the air and right toward Fenn. And like I’ve done all Fenn’s life, I jump in front of the ball and knock it down.
“Motherfucker, Aspen!”
I fall to the ground, the hot sand burning my chest and filling my bikini top with thousands of grains.
“Do you have to be such a dude?” My brother walks past me to the ball, scooping it up. “We’re literally just throwing it around, not playing a game.”
On the ground, I rest my head on my arm, feeling a little nip slip I need to handle. “Don’t be such a sore loser. You can’t win all the time.” Especially at football. Fenn sucks. Bennett merely humors him by tossing the ball around. I’ve always been the one he practiced with, not Fenn or Drew. Well, I take that back. Cade is a big football fan, and most days, he and Bennett would be outside throwing the ball. But when it was just us, Bennett always played with me.
“Do you need help up?” comes a gravelly voice with a hint of amusement.
I push up on my hands and glance down at my chest. “No, but I could use a shield.”
Bennett brows crease and I clarify. “My top isn’t exactly covering everything it should.”
His eyes widen. “I see.”
I shrug. “And so will our brothers if I don’t get it situated.”
That seems to snap him out of it. “Turn around,” he barks at the guys.
“Why?” It’s always Fenn who can never do as he’s told. I think it runs in our family.
“Your sister needs a moment.”
My brother looks at Bennett like he’s grown two heads. “Fenn!” I yell. “Do you want to see my boobs?”
Fenn jerks back and makes this face like he’s smelled something rotten. “What? No?”
“Then you better turn around because I’m about to stand up and flash you.”
He makes a gagging noise. “Gross.” He nods toward the water on the other side of the island, obscured by brush. “We’ll go for a swim so you can—” he waves a hand up and down my body, “—handle that.”
“You’re the best,” I tease as he walks off, Drew leading the way to the water’s edge.
When they’ve disappeared, I look back at Bennett. “Do you want to turn around?”
His eyes tighten, but his gaze remains firm. “Do you want me to turn around?”
It would be highly inappropriate to high five him, so I go with, “No,” instead.
He nods, his throat working as if he’s trying to keep calm or keep from running away. I can’t tell which. The fact is, this is foreign territory between us. Seeing me exposed has always been against the rules. We’ve always had barriers. Bras. Glass shower doors. Baggy t-shirts. Never has Bennett seen my breasts unobscured. It’s a change, and one he needs to get used to if we’re going to continue the rest of the summer without rules.
Bennett holds out his hand for me to take, and the moment seems like it’s stuck in slow motion.
I smile. “You’re not going to pass out, are you?” I tease, hoping to lighten the tension in his body.
He doesn’t answer, his gaze holding firm, directly on my eyes. Looks like he’s handling it Bennett’s way. Taking a deep breath, I lift my hand and clasp his. Without a word, only a brief hesitation, he hauls me up, keeping his eyes trained on my face the whole time.
I look down first, hoping I don’t have like half a nip or a ridiculous amount of tit bulging out and being completely unsexy. That’s not the first impression I want Bennett seeing.
Fortunately, though, the dive I took in the sand pulled my entire top below both boobs. The fabric is full of sand, bulging under my breasts, and is actually serving as a nice little lift.
Bennett, the gentleman he is, hasn’t looked down once. That’s about to change.
Releasing his hand, I bring my palm to his face. His eyes close at my touch. “Look at me, Bennett.” I stroke the overnight stubble, moving my finger to his lips. His breath hitches and with one inhale, he opens his eyes. “I want you to look at all of me.”
I don’t have to ask him twice. His eyes drift down my face, down my shoulders and stop on my chest. If I expected a round of applause, I would have been disappointed.
Instead, Bennett’s eyes burn my flesh with their heat, his words sending a million chills racing down my spine. “Rule,” he drawls, thick and rich. “I’m the only one who will ever see these.”
I nod, not caring that his rule is complete bullshit. Our deal was for the summer, not forever. Although, I wouldn’t be opposed to forever. But Bennett doesn’t go back on his word. He’s honest and loyal to a fault. He promised the summer, and I’m not fool enough to believe he meant any longer.
I nod, focusing on the clenching of his jaw. “Are you angry?” I ask.
I thought he would be happy seeing a pair of tits. What guy isn’t? So for him to stand here and look like he’s ready to punch someone seems odd. But then again, Bennett is far from ordinary.
I stroke his face once more before dropping my hand to my side. “Help me dust the sand off?”
I’m not crazy. No way am I doing it myself when a perfectly sexy man stands in front of me with nothing to do.
Bennett nods, his eyes staying firmly on my chest. Slowly, he lifts his hands, placing th
em on my shoulders. If he intends to torture me, then he’s doing a magnificent job. My body aches and jumps as he starts at my shoulders, lightly dusting the sand there. My back arches and I feel myself leaning into his touch.
Torturously slow, his palms graze along the dips of my collar bone, cleaning me with a slight sweeping motion. I’m anxious, wet, and completely needy. “Bennett,” I beg. “Touch me.”
I can hear the smugness in his voice. “I am touching you.”
“Now is not the time.” I moan. “The jet ski thing wasn’t that bad.”
He chuckles. “Says the one who was doing the grinding.”
“I wasn’t grinding,” I correct. “I can’t help the waves.”
He blows on my skin. “Sure.”
My back arches as my voice takes on a whiny quality. “I won’t forget this.” I repeat his words. He wants to torture me? I’ll see this tease and raise it. Bouncing on the jet ski will be the least tortuous thing I do to him this summer.
“I’m looking forward to it,” he rasps out as if he too is struggling with the slow pace of his cleaning.
I shiver at the promise of a next time. How long have I imagined his hands on me? Too damn long. And this summer will be a dream come true and a nightmare by the time it ends. We won’t be the same after this. I won’t be able to be his friend and watch another woman, who is not the daughter of his father’s best friend, take his ring and my forever.
I’m just being honest. I might be a strong woman, but I wouldn’t be able to stomach watching someone else take the man I’ve held in my arms since right after he took his first breath. He was mine before he could even recognize my face, and this summer, I’m finally getting all of him.
“Aspen?” His hands stop and I realize I’m crying.
I hurry and put my hands over his, holding him there. “Don’t stop, you understand?” I lock onto his eyes and hold his gaze. Deep within the depths of his emerald eyes, I know he understands why I’m tearful. “Keep going,” I beg. “I don’t want to waste a minute of the time we have.”
He nods curtly, his throat working and his eyes sad. I’m taking it back. I meant what I said. Our time is finite and if I have to live with a shattered heart for the rest of my life, then I will, holding onto these memories like a lifeline.
