“Yeah, you better be sorry,” I say, turning toward the sunrise. “It’s half past early as fuck and we agreed to meet at the ass crack of dawn. Way to make me wait.”
She offers a sleepy smile and shrugs, dropping her board by mine and stripping off the tank top she’s wearing over her swim suit. Just as quickly, she shimmies the small shorts off her hips and lets them fall, kicking them to the side.
Well, that’s one way to start the morning.
She turns and catches me staring. Amused, she lifts a brow and bends over to grab her board. “You just going to stand there and ogle my boobs all day or are we doing this?”
“Can’t I do both?”
She shakes her head and starts toward the water without me. I quickly pull my shirt over my head and grab the new board, jogging a little to catch up.
“Do I need to wax this sucker or anything?”
Skyler laughs. “What? No, silly. Like I said, it’s completely different from surfing.” She walks into the water until it meets her knees before letting her board go, guiding it on top of the waves with her hands. I follow suit.
“Holy shit!” I scream when I hit the water. “It’s fucking cold!”
“Well it is February, genius.”
I shake my head. “It’s just weird. It’s not cold weather, but the water is cold.”
“It gets pretty cool during our winter months, usually doesn’t warm up until April or so.”
I watch as tiny goose bumps break out along Skyler’s skin, marching in a parade from her thighs to her ribs, making her nipples pebble under the thin bathing suit top she’s wearing.
Good God.
“We’re going to guide the boards out a ways, past the waves crashing, and then we’ll jump on. Start on your knees and then when you get out past the big waves, you can stand. Use the paddle to steady yourself.”
I nod. “Straight down to business, aye Ella Mae?”
She shoots me a death glare mixed with a smile. “I’m tired. Some stupid boy with a paper ring kept me out too late.”
“Ouch.” I feign offense and clutch my heart. “I saved up three months for that paper ring, thank you.”
Skyler just shakes her head again before jumping up onto her board, knees bent. I do the same and we paddle out a ways before both standing.
“I’m proud of you. You didn’t fall,” she says, eying me.
“Was I supposed to?”
“No, but beginners usually do when we paddle past the big waves. Or when they try to stand. You did good.”
“Thanks, coach.” I wink.
It takes a while for me to find my groove on the board. The arches of my feet sting from balancing against the waves and eventually my arms follow suit. Overall it isn’t bad, though, and I follow Skyler as she takes us along the shoreline. It’s a peaceful thing to glide along the top of the water, letting my body work and listening to the early sounds of the ocean – the birds swooping down for breakfast, the occasional fish jumping, the boats humming to life in the nearby port. The sun is bright in the sky now, slowly rising higher over the city. Skyler is just a little in front of me, which makes for a better view than the sunrise, honestly. After a while, she pulls back and we paddle side by side.
“Want to go to that sandbar?” she asks, pointing toward a small patch of water that looks a lighter shade of blue.
“Whatever you want to do, captain.”
“First I’m coach, now I’m captain?”
“Would you prefer I call you babe?”
Her nose scrunches up and she sticks out her tongue. “Ew, gross. Don’t ever call me babe.”
We paddle out to the sandbar and Skyler jumps off her board, grabbing a bottle of water from a bag she strapped to the front of her board. I’m salivating at the sight of it, realizing I didn’t bring anything at all with me. She shakes her head and grabs a second bottle, tossing it to me.
“Aw, you thought of me? So sweet.”
“Don’t get used to it.”
For a few minutes we just stand and wade in the water, taking small sips from our bottles. I pretend I’m looking out toward the ocean, watching as a few boats sail by, but I sneak glances at Skyler mostly. I watch as her hair blows down from her messy bun and into her face, try to see what’s reflected in her sunglasses as she stares the opposite direction back toward shore. It’s interesting how the morning light plays on Skyler. She looks more radiant, even more beautiful than she does at night. It’s strange, but amazing at the same time. I haven’t met a girl whom the morning light favored before.
“So what’s your story, Kip?” she asks, tucking her water bottle back in the bag. I hand her mine, too, and lean back with my elbows on the board.
“What do you mean? My story?”
She shrugs. “I mean why did you move out here? Why did you transfer to Palm South of all places? Where are you from? What do you like to do? You know, besides lick tequila off strange girls.”
“Hey, that was definitely not my fault. And who’s worse off here – me or the strange girl?”
She laughs softly. “I think I got the better end of the deal.”
“And I tend to disagree,” I say, letting my eyes fall to her stomach. I imagine trailing my tongue along her skin now, tasting the salt of the water mixed with the sweet taste of her skin.
Skyler smiles, but doesn’t say anything else, waiting for me to answer her questions. Which I can’t do without lying. Which makes me panic. I have answers prepared, of course, because I figured this would happen – but now that I’ve gotten to know her, now that I’ve kissed her, that I’ve felt her pressed against me – well, it’s a little harder to lie. Thank God she’s wearing sunglasses. Those baby blues of hers would melt my resolve in an instant.
“Let’s see,” I say, looking up at the sky. “I transferred to Palm South because I wanted to get out of the Midwest. And because Palm South has a pretty decent screenwriting program, which is what I want to do with my life. It’s not the last stop by any means, but it’s a good transition. It also helps that I could get away from my dad,” I add, a little surprised that those words found their way out.
“Uh oh, Daddy drama?”
I let out a short laugh. “Well, he’s an Army Major General, if that gives you any idea.”
Skyler’s eyes go wide. “Yeesh. Sounds fun.”
“Yeah, real fun.” If she only knew. “I mean I love him and everything. He’s my dad, he’s a good dad in the sense of the word, but he just wants to live his dream through me and I’m over trying to be what he wants. It’s nice to be out here away from his constant glare of disapproval.”
“What dream?”
“Huh?” I ask, a little distracted by the thought of my father.
“His dream? That he wants to live through you? What is it?”
Shit, did I say that? “Uh,” I stammer, panicking a little. I look around as if I’ll find words to speak somewhere in the water. “Being in a fraternity, college, the whole thing. He went straight into the service after high school and I guess he always wanted to go. So he’s had this big dream for me ever since I was little. Perfect school, perfect fraternity, you know.”
Whew.
Skyler chews on her lip for a minute before hopping back on her board. She lies back, sprawling out and letting the sun tan her skin. She reaches out her hand and like an idiot I just stare at it.
“Hold me so I won’t float away?” she asks, smiling.
I grab her outstretched hand in mine. The minute our skin touches, that same familiar spark generates, only this time it’s a dull electric current that keeps running between our interlaced fingers.
“So, if it were up to you, would you be in a fraternity?”
God, I hate lying to this girl. “Maybe, I guess I don’t really know. It’s just always been ingrained in me that I would go to college and be in a fraternity. I’ve never really had the chance to think if I’d actually like it. But, at least being here, I can do what he wants and still do what I
want, too. I don’t have to live under his scrutiny, his constant judging of whether I’m doing the right thing or not.”
“I think you’ve got life figured out, Kip Jackson,” she says, exhaling a long breath with her face still turned up toward the sky. “At least, you seem like you do. You know what you want to do in life, you’re not afraid to be who you want to be – I think your dad should be proud of you.”
Her words slam into me harder than they should, but I’ve never heard them in the same sentence before and the combination makes me dizzy. Dad. Proud of you.
“You know, I liked the you that came out last night,” I say, trying to move the conversation to her. “The care-free, I-don’t-give-a-shit Skyler.”
She shakes her head. “I still can’t believe I let you take me around town in my freaking sweat pants.”
“You looked hot in those sweat pants,” I say, running my thumb along the inside of her wrist. “And I dare you to tell me you didn’t have fun.”
She looks over at me, holding up her free hand to block the sun’s glare. “I did have fun.”
I lift my brows in a see? manner and hop onto my board, still keeping Skyler’s hand in mine. I lie the opposite way she does, my feet at the front of my board where her head lays on hers. We hold hands and float on our backs, letting the sun warm our skin from the coolness of the water. I stare at the sun through my shades until my eyes hurt, then I close them and let my brain focus on how Skyler’s hand feels in mine.
And how much I’d like to feel other parts of her body.
“It makes sense, you know,” Skyler finally says. “The screenwriting thing. I can tell you’re into Dr. O’Neal’s class.”
“Yeah, it’s not a bad class,” I say, which is half true. I like Dr. O’Neal and the assignments he’s given us for the semester, but I honestly feel like I’m ready for more advanced topics than what he’s serving us. I’m ready for UCLA.
“What do you want to write? Movies and stuff?”
“I’d rather write television shows, actually,” I say, adjusting myself on the board. I’m starting to sweat a little, the sun winning against the water’s attempt to keep us cool. “Not shitty sitcoms or anything, but like the dramas that people rave about. The kind of shows that draw you in more than a movie does and you can’t wait until next week’s episode. The kind that make you want to buy the seasons after they’re cancelled and watch re-runs your whole life.”
“Like Grey’s Anatomy?”
I smile. “Yeah, like Grey’s Anatomy. Except probably a little more R-rated. I picture myself writing for HBO maybe. Or Showtime.”
“Oh! I loved Dexter,” Skyler says, sitting up on her board and letting my hand drop. “My mom and I watched every season together. She even waited for me to come home after last spring semester before she watched the last season.”
My brows shoot up in response. “I never would have pegged you for liking Dexter.”
She scoffs. “What? I don’t seem like the blood and revenge type?”
Shit, I hope not.
“You did reference Grey’s Anatomy first.”
Skyler shrugs. “Well, I like both. I like romance and drama and cursing and blood.”
“My kind of girl.” I wink.
She hops up on her board. “Let’s go. I want to wear you out and sitting on this sandbar isn’t going to do it.”
“Well shit, Skyler, if you wanted to get me in bed that bad we could have skipped this altogether.”
“Shut up and grab your paddle,” she says, glaring. I pretend like I’m going to stand, but then jump off my board and bring her down into the water with me. When we emerge from the water, she shakes her head and spits salt water off her lips.
“What the hell, Kip?!” I laugh and she doesn’t even try to fight it this time, she just laughs with me, splashing water up into my face. “You’re such a jerk.”
Our laughter fades and my hand finds the small of her back as I pull her closer, bringing her chest to mine. I feel her heart beating hard against her rib cage as I lean in, bringing my mouth close to hers. She closes her eyes, her sunglasses lost during our tumble, and I let my lips barely touch hers before lifting my hand slightly and tugging the string of her top.
She jerks back, grabbing her chest as her top loosens and frees her breasts. I laugh, running away from her toward my board. “Oh my God! Kip!”
“Race you back!” I yell, jumping onto my board. Her face turns red but she’s still smiling as she frantically ties her top back on. I’m already twenty feet ahead when she finally jumps on her board and chases after me. She catches me quickly, though, and ends up beating me back to shore.
“You work pretty well with your clothes off,” I tease as we drag our boards up the sand. She shoves me with her shoulder and shakes her head.
“You know you’ll pay for that, right?”
I shrug. “We’ll see.”
And in a way, I’m kind of looking forward to her paying me back. My mind is racing with the possibilities.
We get to my apartment around noon and I throw together a couple of turkey sandwiches for us. By the time we finish eating, we’re both exhausted – both from paddleboarding and from not sleeping last night.
“Why don’t we take a shower and watch a movie?” I suggest as Skyler yawns.
“I don’t have any clothes here besides the ones I have on now and they’re all sandy.”
“You can borrow a pair of boxers and a shirt of mine.”
Skyler chews her lip, unsure. “I don’t know, I’m pretty tired.”
“So am I,” I say, standing and pulling her up with me. “So maybe we watch a movie and maybe we take a nap. Don’t leave yet. I barely see you during the week and I know there’s not many weekends where you don’t have sorority stuff going on.”
“I actually have a sisterhood event tonight.”
“See?” I pull her wrist and lead her toward my bedroom, which really is just my bed separated by hanging curtains on a rack. I rummage through my clothes until I find a clean shirt and pair of boxers, tossing them to her and pointing to the bathroom. “Towels are above the toilet in the cabinet, shampoo and shit’s in there.”
She still seems unsure, so I pull her into me and move the fallen strands of hair from her face. “Come on. Just for a few hours. You’ll feel better once you shower and I know you’re tired. You’re not going to get any sleep if you go home to your sorority house.”
At that she sighs and nods. “You’re probably right about that.”
I smile and nudge her toward the bathroom again.
“Fine,” she says. “But just for a little while. And no trying to ambush me in the shower, either.”
I hold up my hands in surrender. “I promise. You can shower in peace.”
“Mmm hmm,” she says, suspicious, but she walks to the bathroom and closes the door behind her.
I smile and start straightening my bed, turning on the TV to find something for us to watch. I’m flipping through the channels when I hear the shower turn on and the smile leaves my face. Suddenly, I’m completely aware of Skyler’s naked body in the other room.
Shaking my head, I focus on finding something to watch, willing my own body to behave. After a few minutes, I realize I’ve flipped through the channels three times now without stopping or even recognizing what I was seeing on the screen. I bite my lip hard, cross my arms, and pace.
Don’t do it. Don’t make this more complicated than it is. She trusts you, she’s opening up to you – that’s what you need from her. Poker. Poker. Poker.
That’s all.
I pace more. Back and forth. Back and forth. Before I know what I’m doing, my knuckles are knocking softly on the bathroom door. I have no idea what I’m going to say or what the fuck I’m doing, but I can’t stop my hands. The door opens slightly on the third knock, as if it wasn’t completely closed, and through the slit, I see Skyler.
She’s standing there shocked, her mouth open slightly as the water cont
inues to drip down her body, running in rivers down over her breasts and meeting between her thighs. I swallow hard, unsure of my decision. I have nothing to ask, no reason to be staring at her through this door – but Skyler doesn’t cover herself, she doesn’t scream, she doesn’t tell me to get out.
I open the door a little further, still wondering what the hell I’m doing. I consider asking if she needs anything else, if she found a towel, something – but we both know I didn’t come in here to give her a towel.
“I suck at keeping promises,” I admit, just above a whisper, and I wish I could tell her I’m not just talking about the promise to not interrupt her shower.
“And I suck at pretending like I don’t want you.”
My heartbeat quickens, the sound of it hard against my ears as her words settle around me. I move closer, slowly, my eyes still trained on hers as she stands perfectly still in my shower – legs parted slightly, arms to the side – confident and sexy as hell.
“You want me?” I ask, still moving in.
She swallows, but doesn’t lose her confident stance or her hold on my gaze. “Kip, I’ve wanted you since the first time I felt your mouth on my skin. Maybe even a little before that. I hate pretending like I don’t want you, but I don’t know how to do this. It’s dangerous, you and me. Being together. Like this.”
I’m close enough now to touch her, so I reach out and pull her face between my palms. “This is about Erin, isn’t it?”
Skyler’s eyes go wide and she inhales stiffly.
I knew it.
I shake my head. “Listen, Erin is in the past for me. I’m sure she’s telling you and everyone else to stay away from me, staking her claim – but she doesn’t have a claim over me. I am not hers.”
Skyler shakes her head, her lip trembling slightly. “You don’t understand.”
“I do,” I interrupt, lifting her chin toward me. “Are you going to let her dictate who you like? Who you touch? Just because she’s your Big, because she’s president of your sorority?”
She pulls her eyes away from me, looking down. “It’s so much more than that. It would be easier if you just let me go, if we just stopped this right now. We could save a lot of hurt, a lot of pain.”
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