Daring the Bad Boy (Endless Summer)(32)

“See you at the pool.” She walked away before I could say anything else.

…

ANNIE

I was probably a complete idiot to agree with Jake to not go meet Kyle last night. I’d been nervous about it, afraid of who would be there, scared I’d say something stupid and ruin everything. I hadn’t wanted to drink. If I was going to do it, I didn’t want my first real drinking experience to be with me and a bunch of guys I didn’t really know. That was like every teen movie come to life.

This was the summer of being brave, not being stupid.

Plus, as mad at Jake as I was last night, his words had actually made sense. We always want what we can’t have. If I were always eager and saying yes to Kyle’s every request, he’d tire of me fast. If I played hard to get, he’d work that much harder to, ahem, get me.

So yeah. I was totally on board with Jake’s plan. More on board with him giving me pointers and helping me gain Kyle’s attention. I wasn’t exactly sure why he offered, but he’d seemed almost…concerned about me last night. Like he really hadn’t wanted me to go hang out with Kyle at all. Was he watching out for me? Worried about my safety?

That was sort of…touching. Even though I was still irritated over what he said to Kyle and all the other boys. And Kyle had been rude, too. I didn’t know what to think. Was it the alcohol talking? Or were they all just jerks?

It was game night tonight, and I didn’t care if I was a little late to that. They’d held game night the second night I was at camp, and it was nothing but chaos the entire time. No one would miss me, and besides, Kelsey was covering for me again.

As I pushed through the gate and approached the pool, I realized that I didn’t feel as apprehensive when I saw the water. Last night I could barely look at the pool, I was so nervous.

Maybe I was already making progress.

“You’re late.”

I whirled around to find Jake kicked back on one of the loungers, shirtless and wearing those same blue Hawaiian-print swim trunks from last night, his arms bent behind his head, his biceps bulging. My heart flipped over itself seeing him like that, all relaxed and cute and oh my God, I really needed to stop thinking about Jake that way.

Counselors didn’t go out with campers. Plus, Jake was too intense, too much for me. I didn’t care how sweet or helpful he’d been. Kyle was more my speed, more my taste.

Glancing at the clock, I rolled my eyes at him. “It’s only one minute after eight.”

“Still counts as late.” He leaped to his feet and sauntered over to where I stood, reaching out to tug on the ends of my ponytail. “You ready to do this?”

Mute, I nodded. He was terribly close. I could smell him, all soapy clean and fresh. He had a baseball cap on backward and he grabbed the bill at the back of his head, flipped the hat off, and tossed it onto a nearby chair. I watched the hat fall, almost afraid to look anywhere else, because I had the distinct feeling he was totally checking me out.

And I was totally letting him.

“Take your dress off, then, and let’s go.” He strode toward the pool, and I watched him go, my gaze locked on his back. I’d never given a guy’s back much thought before. Jake’s was smooth-skinned and tan from the sun, his muscles shifting with his every movement. His shoulders were impossibly broad and his hips were narrow and those swim trunks hung a little low. Almost scandalously low.

My entire body went hot from the direction my thoughts just went, and I shook my head once, telling myself to get over it, get over Jake. This was about snagging Kyle. Getting him interested in me. I didn’t need to have distracting thoughts about a counselor. Relationships between counselors and campers were strictly off-limits, and I wasn’t about to get in trouble.

I shrugged out of my swimsuit cover-up and made my way toward the pool, sitting on the edge of the shallow end and immediately dunking my feet into the water. Jake sat down right next to me. So close our shoulders bumped.

“Impressive,” he murmured, his gaze meeting mine.

I looked away from those dark, all-seeing eyes, studying the water instead. “I don’t have much time, so I need to push myself to get over my fears.”

“You don’t want to push yourself too hard, though. That could only set you back,” he pointed out.

I slid my gaze to his once more, defiant. “I won’t set myself back. I can’t afford to.”

“Fair enough.” He nodded, then rubbed his hands together. The movement caused our shoulders to bump into each other again, and I noticed how warm his skin was. “Let’s jump in.”

He splashed into the water and turned to face me, his disappointment clear. I knew he fully expected me to follow after him, and I’d wanted to. Believe me, I would’ve done it, but the thought of actually hopping into the water without someone or something to catch me just sort of seized me up.

So I remained frozen by the edge of the pool instead.

“Come on, Annie,” he said, his voice low. Coaxing. “Join me.”

I shook my head, not able to put into words my stupid, paralyzing fears. It was so frustrating, how one second I felt perfectly fine and the next I wanted to bolt.

He held his arms out, like I was a toddler ready to jump toward him. “You can do it.” He waggled his fingers at me.

“No.” I shook my head again, the ends of my ponytail whapping my cheeks, making me wince. Who knew hair could feel so sharp?