Rival (Fall Away, #2)(27)

I didn’t handle it well.

She and I might have lived in the same house, but we had never seen each other as stepsiblings. We had never even spent much time together, so I never felt like what we were doing was wrong. I loved all of it and wanted more of it. But over the past two years my hatred toward her grew.

Every girl paled in comparison, and the only time I’d felt right was when I had been with Fallon. And then last night, she tells me that she never lied to the parents. Never told them anything. I was overjoyed and pissed off at the same time. My heart pumped fire again, knowing she wanted me, but I’d spent the whole night thinking about all the time we lost—what they took from us—and I wanted shit to hit the fan.

And it would. Soon.

If I confronted my dad now, he’d come home and Fallon would be out. So if I couldn’t convince her to stay longer, then I only had a few more days with her until she left for Chicago. I’d deal with my dad after that.

? ? ?

We parked in the lot right next to Jared’s car. Grabbing Lucas’s backpack, I handed that and some towels from the trunk to Fallon while I retrieved the cooler and picnic blanket.

“Tate, stop!”

I jerked my head up out of the trunk, hearing Jared’s voice.

“Tate!” He stomped after his pissed-off girlfriend.

Great.

I’d started to think my best friends looked for reasons to fight. Seriously. It always ended in makeup sex, after all.

“Leave me alone. I mean it, Jared!” she yelled over her shoulder, and I stood shocked and pretty damn amused when she took off her black flip-flop and threw it at him.

He threw up his hands, deflecting it from his head and scowling at her, his lips tight.

“I was going to tell you,” he barked. “But you’re overreacting as usual.”

“Ugh.” She halted in the middle of the parking lot, ripped off the other shoe, and whipped it at him, damn near flinging her whole body into the movement.

“What’s going on?” Fallon whispered.

I sighed, running my hand through my hair. “Foreplay.”

I slammed the trunk shut and started walking for the beach, leaving my friends to it.

“Should we help?” Fallon stumbled over some rocks, looking behind her to the lot where we could still hear Jared and Tate’s muffled shouting.

“Not if you want to be in the sandwich. They’ll be making out in ten minutes,” I promised. And that’s exactly what I wanted to be doing with her right now.

I loved Lucas, but I wished I’d known that Fallon was coming back. I’d have preferred to have her alone right now. To fight. To torment. To whatever.

Hell, I’d pick a damn fight if it meant getting her naked again.

At least until I got her out of my system.

But I couldn’t change the plans for the day at this point, so I set the cooler down and laid out a blanket on the small beach. Kicking off my shoes, I followed Lucas with my eyes as he ran into the water.

“Wait, aren’t you going to make him wear a life jacket?” Fallon asked as she stopped to pull off her shirt.

I smiled, knowing exactly where she was coming from. There was always a pang of fear, watching him go and do things that could hurt him. Lakes were dangerous, and I had tried making him wear a life jacket the first time we came out here last summer. Yep, I tried the first time, and I never tried again. He fought me on it, and I soon found out that he knew what he was doing.

I pulled off my shirt. “His father was in the Coast Guard when they lived in Washington, and he made sure that Lucas knew how to swim. After he died, his mother brought them both back here to be near family, but he doesn’t really have a lot of men in his life or chances to keep practicing. He loves it. I try to bring him as much as possible during the warmer months.”

Her eyes narrowed, and she looked lost in thought as she stared out at the water.

“Come on,” I nudged, walking past her.

Trudging through the chilly water, I walked forward as it covered my feet, then my calves and my thighs, and then my stomach. Kicking my feet up, I shot up and dove back down headfirst into the cool depths.

I f*cking hated the lake. It’s dirty and muddy. And cold! You’re swimming around not being able to see what’s happening underneath you.

Freaks. Me. Out.

But it’s one of the only things to do in this boring-as-hell town, and I’ve been here too many times with too many drinks and too many girls around. There was a time when that was fun. Hanging out, getting drunk—when you had nothing better to do.

But now I was only here for Lucas, and for some reason I had wanted Fallon along today. We were probably going to get in a fight in front of the poor kid. And with Jared and Tate doing their thing by—surprise, surprise—fighting again, there would be no buffer zone if Fallon brought out her claws.

I should’ve left her at home, I guess.

I popped my head up out of the water and looked to the beach, seeing her in her bathing suit.

Or maybe not.

Holy hell. Son of a bitch.

My dick jerked and instantly hardened—seriously?—even in the cold water.

Her white bikini was just that. A bikini. In every possible definition of the word, it was evil and temptation in its worst form.

The bottom piece covered all the important parts, but the top part had strings that tied in the front instead of the back. All you had to do was pull. Not reach around. Not fumble as you try to find the correct string blindly. Nope. You just had to pull and everything would come spilling out.