Begin Again (Again #1)(24)

So I threw caution to the wind, pulling his sweatshirt over my head and tugging off my pants.

I glanced down at myself and was relieved to see that I’d worn presentable underwear. Matching, even. A bikini would have revealed just as much, I told myself.

I dipped my toes in the water—and squeaked. It was damn cold.

Of course Kaden had to turn around just at that moment. I stepped back a bit and hopped a few times in place, getting up the nerve.

“Don’t be a wuss,” he called out, encouraging. I decided to rethink my admiration for him.

I squeezed my eyes shut and jumped.

With a loud whoop I plunged into the water. Cold enveloped me, and the rushing sound disappeared. I made a few powerful strokes under the water, and as I broke the surface I turned up near the place where the waterfall hit. Here the spray was thicker, and the tumbling water shimmered over me in rainbow colors.

“Got you.”

Out of nowhere Kaden popped up behind me and encircled my waist with his strong arms. I gasped for air as a shiver—this time not from the cold—spread throughout my body.

Then Kaden lifted me up and tossed me a good three yards from him.

I hit the surface and sank below for a second. All the air escaped my lungs, mostly from shock. Furious, I struggled to stay afloat.

“You asshole!” I cried, panting.

“What?” Kaden was treading water, acting as if nothing had happened.

I pounced on him and pushed him under with both my arms. I could tell he hadn’t counted on that kind of counterattack. It was only after he was under water that he realized what had happened and shook me off. He grabbed me by the hips, lifted me up and threw me over his shoulder.

“Let me go right now!” I shrieked and struggled like a madwoman.

Kaden snorted. “Dream on.”

I pounded my fists on his back but that didn’t bother him. Instead, he began to swim, his one arm wrapped around me. We reached the waterfall.

It was only thanks to Kaden’s firm grip that I’d made it to the other side of the waterfall. He softened his hold on me, and as he let me slide over his shoulder and set me on my feet, I felt the entire length of his body against mine. I hardly noticed that my feet were on solid ground again. Despite the frigid air, I felt heat coursing through my veins.

Kaden gazed down at me with his dark eyes, their caramel color looking more like a rich bronze. Drops of water clung to his lips, to his skin. I don’t know how, but my hands had made their way to his chest, just as his had found my hips.

My nipples hardened, a tingling sensation spread from my stomach to between my legs.

This tension between us. I couldn’t blame it just on the fact that we were nearly naked. It came from another place, somewhere much deeper inside. And that scared me.

I couldn’t bear the closeness a second longer. I was afraid I would do something I’d regret.

I swallowed hard, and let my hands drop. “Rule three,” I said hoarsely, and drew back.

Kaden blinked several times before his eyes cleared again.

Now I felt self-conscious standing there in my underwear. It was way too intimate. I submerged under the water, so that only my head bobbed above the surface.

“It’s beautiful,” I said, trying to sound relaxed. I fished for a theme that would undo the tension between us. “Do you come here often?”

We were floating in a small cove just behind the waterfall. The rushing sound was softer, and I could even hear the light echo of my own voice.

“Yes, almost every day in the summer. I discovered the caves last year.”

My breathing was still jagged. I had to calm down.

“How did you find out about it in the first place?” I swam into the cove a bit. The more distance between Kaden and me, the better I felt. “I mean, how do you find caves behind waterfalls?” As usual, I was blabbing away.

I was pretty sure I’d heard a resigned sigh coming from Kaden’s direction and expected him to ignore my questions. But he started to tell me how he and Spencer and Ethan had come here often together. At first they stuck to a route on the map tacked to the wooden hut, but then they met too many tourists on the trails. At some point they started to make their own paths.

I didn’t look at him, but concentrated on his voice as I listened.

And that’s how the next hours passed—I asked him about Woodshill and his family, and he answered. The longer we talked, the less tension in my body.

I found out that Kaden’s mother lived in Portland, about an hour’s drive away. His parents were divorced, and he had an older brother who was more like their father, and with whom he didn’t get along.

I was surprised how much he revealed. I hung on his every word, and didn’t even notice that my teeth were chattering.

We decided to return to the shore.

Kaden pulled off his boxer shorts without hesitation. Startled, I averted my eyes and dug around for my cell phone in the sweater pocket. My need for nudity had been met for today.

Lost in thought, I unlocked my screen and stared.

My mother’s name stared back at me.

She’d tried to reach me twice. WTF?

In a panic, I erased the message and shoved the phone back into the sweater pocket. I didn’t want to know why she was calling me. It had probably taken her the entire month since I’d left Lincoln to figure out that I wasn’t coming home.