Daring the Bad Boy (Endless Summer)(51)

I dropped my hand. “You scared me to death!” I said with a gasp, shaking my head. I tried to act mad, but it was too hard. I was so happy to see him. So happy that he was sitting behind me, alone, his big hand still on my shoulder. He gave it a squeeze before he removed it, and I faced forward once more, trying my best to act like his touch, his nearness, didn’t affect me.

But everything within me trembled in anticipation. What would happen next?

“Yeah. I saw that.” A rumble of laughter escaped him.

Jerk. But at least he was a cute jerk.

“Settle down, settle down,” Nancy said, and everyone quieted. “Okay, who’s ready for another story?”

Jake leaned in close, his mouth near my ear. “Want to get out of here?”

I turned to look at him, our faces close. So close I could see the faint stubble that ran along his square jaw, and I wanted to reach out and touch it.

But I didn’t.

“I thought you had to watch the fire or whatever.”

“Brian’s covering for me.” He smiled, revealing straight, white teeth. I wondered if he had worn braces. I wondered what he might’ve looked like with braces.

Clearly my thoughts were veering way off track.

“Where did you want to go?”

“I don’t care.” He reached out and brushed a strand of hair away from my forehead, his fingers lightly touching my skin. My stomach dipped and turned. “Just say yes, Annie.”

I glanced over at Gwen, who was grinning at me. “Go,” she whispered, giving me a nudge.

Ducking, I slipped out of my row and went to the very last row of seats, where Jake was already waiting for me. He stood close, and I tilted my head back to look into his eyes. He was so tall I barely reached his shoulder. “Can we maybe stay here until the last story? I’m kind of having fun.”

“Yeah, if that’s what you want. I’m down.” He shrugged and settled onto the bench, grabbing my hand and pulling me down along with him. We sat so close our thighs brushed against each other, and he slipped his arm around the back of my seat. I rested my hands in my lap, wanting to touch him, too scared to touch him. I’d never been in this sort of situation before, and I didn’t know what to do.

Nancy started in on a new story, but I didn’t even hear her. My head buzzed at Jake’s nearness, my entire body tense. His leg kept bumping into mine as he sat in that way boys do, legs spread as if they wanted to take up the entire world. Usually it annoyed me, but with Jake, I didn’t mind. I liked how close he was, how his arm seemed to scoot closer and closer, until finally it was wrapped around my shoulders and he was gently tugging on the ends of my hair, curling it around his fingers over and over again.

I wanted to melt. I sort of wanted to die. But then that would mean I’d never get to experience this again, and I had a feeling that this could be the start of something truly amazing.

Nancy made a gasping, strangled noise, and I jumped, startled. I could literally feel Jake’s laughter rumble in his chest and I sort of wanted to smack him. But instead, I leaned my head on his broad shoulder and closed my eyes, breathing deep his clean, soapy scent.

His arm tightened around my shoulders and I kept my eyes closed, savoring this moment.

I never wanted it to end.

…

JAKE

The second Nancy was done with her storytelling, I was on my feet, Annie’s hand in mine as I dragged her out of there.

“Where are we going?” she called after me as we made our escape.

I really didn’t know, but I told her, “You’ll see,” hoping that she’d trust me.

Thankfully, she didn’t protest. She just followed behind me until we gained some much-needed distance and I could slow down. Then we walked side by side, her hand still in mine, the both of us quiet as we headed farther away from everyone else.

“Want to go to the beach?” I asked her.

She glanced up at me, her nose wrinkling. “Won’t other people be there?”

“Probably.” I glanced around and spotted a few couples already camped out near the shore. Guess we all had the same idea. “How about the lifeguard tower?”

“Seriously?” She sounded surprised at my suggestion.

“Yeah. We could see the whole lake from up there. And the stars.” It was actually an excellent location. We’d be high above everyone else but no one would really notice us. And I needed to keep this on the down low so my uncle wouldn’t catch us together.

“All right,” she agreed softly.

We went around the other side of the lake, where the tower was, and once we got there, I encouraged her to climb up first. “For safety reasons,” I told her. “I’ll be here to catch you in case you fall.”

Really I just wanted to check out her ass.

She scrambled up the slats, her butt looking pretty damn perfect in the denim cutoff shorts she wore, and I followed after her, settling in the chair beside her, my arm around the back of it. She scooted close, though she really didn’t touch me, and I knew I’d probably have to take this slow. She seemed pretty inexperienced, and I couldn’t push her too hard, but man.

I wanted to.

“It’s so pretty tonight,” she said, leaning forward to peer over the edge of the tower before she lifted her face to the sky. “Remember the last time I climbed up here to join you?”