Daring the Bad Boy (Endless Summer)(25)

“Why are you here, Annie?” I asked softly, going for a different tactic. I didn’t want to fight with this girl. I didn’t want her hating me, either. Why, I didn’t know, but I sensed she needed an ally. And I needed one, too. I was tired of spending this summer alone. I hung out with Brian on occasion, but he was mostly too busy trying to hook up with Hannah. And I couldn’t hook up with anyone. I couldn’t take the risk.

This girl was absolutely, 100 percent off-limits. And…nice. When she wasn’t mad at me.

“Um, I was wondering when we could start the swimming lessons.” She smiled sweetly, her cheeks turning pink, like they were prone to do. I wondered if her skin was hot to the touch.

I wondered what she might do if I reached out and touched her to see.

“When do you want to start them?”

“I don’t know. I was thinking—”

“Watch out!” The Frisbee came out of nowhere, and I grabbed Annie’s arm, pulling her close. She ducked her head just as I dodged right, the bright yellow Frisbee flying by us, and I glared at the guilty-looking kid down on the beach. He held his hands up in the air, his friends laughing. “Sorry, man!”

“You all right?” I asked Annie, softening my voice so I didn’t sound as hostile as I felt. That Frisbee almost nailed her right in the back of the head. Assholes.

“I-I’m fine,” she said shakily, shifting away from me, her eyes wide. “Isn’t that the second time you saved me?”

“Guess so.” I still hadn’t let go of her arm. Her skin was soft and warm. She smelled good. Her hair was wavy, and it blew into her face, irritating her, so she brushed it away again and again. I swore she was wearing eye makeup—her eyes looked a little darker. Why? Did she do it so she could impress Kyle? That jackass wouldn’t notice shit.

“Well, thanks.” She smiled, looking away from me like she couldn’t handle it or something. I don’t know. Every time I talked to Annie I was left feeling confused. Like I didn’t know what she wanted from me. “I didn’t see it coming.”

“You wouldn’t have, considering it was flying straight toward the back of your head.” I smiled and let go of her arm, my fingers sliding across her smooth skin. Little sparks of heat seemed to ignite wherever we made contact, leaving me unsettled.

Yet also wanting…more?

She returned the smile, her cheeks still a little pink, the wind sending her hair everywhere, though she’d given up trying to tame it. We didn’t say anything and it was…okay.

And weird. So weird because I couldn’t get a read on this girl and I wanted to.

“I’m off shift at five,” I told her. “Want to get together then? Before dinner?”

Annie shook her head. “I can’t. That’s usually when I…when we get ready.”

Oh. Right. Guys took a ten-minute shower and they were good to go. Girls needed hours to shower, do their hair, do their makeup, pick out their clothes, and whatever else.

“I really don’t want to have the lessons in the middle of the day, when everyone could, uh, see us together,” she admitted, making a little face.

“Not like I could give you lessons in the middle of the day, since I’m usually out here.” I waved a hand toward the lake. Figuring I’d better keep my head on the job and not on this girl who made me feel weird, I faced the lake fully, my gaze locked on the expanse of shimmering blue water, the multiple canoes and kayaks that were floating everywhere.

Plus, if my uncle caught me with Annie, he’d ask too many questions. Questions I didn’t really want to answer.

“Oh.” She hesitated. “True.” She said nothing more and neither did I, so we sat there in silence for long, slightly uncomfortable minutes. I shoved my sunglasses back over my eyes so she couldn’t get a read on them. On me. I didn’t know why she remained up on the stand with me. I sort of wanted her gone. Yet another part of me wanted her to stay. Not because I was hoping to score with her, which was how I’d felt about Lacey at one point.

But this girl…I don’t know. There was something about her that made me want to keep her around. I wanted to talk to her. Learn more about her. Maybe even give her grief in the hope that she’d dish some back out at me.

Weird, right? Totally weird. This girl was so far off my radar that she shouldn’t even compute. She wasn’t what I would call hot. She wasn’t what I would call street-smart, either. She definitely wasn’t looking for something casual with me. Annie would expect romance and flowers and moonlit walks and holding hands and cuddling on movie night and long, soft kisses that we both would never want to end…

I shook my head once, extra hard, to get the Disney fantasy out of my still-sleep-fogged brain. That was the only explanation for me thinking of actually kissing Annie.

“Don’t you have an activity to go to? Like a Popsicle house to make or something?” I finally asked, swiveling my head to glare at her. I was being an ass on purpose so hopefully I could get rid of her. She made me think strange thoughts. Made me want even stranger things.

I didn’t like it.

Annie stood, wobbling a little on her feet, and for a brief, terrifying moment I had the image of her falling from the lifeguard tower and plummeting to the ground. I almost reached out to grab her.

“Why are you being such a jerk?” she asked, clearly confused. “I could tell your uncle about your little nap time out here. He’d probably be real mad at you.”