Summer Heat (Cruel Summer #1)(24)

“I’m sure of it,” he agreed.

I ran my hands through my hair.

And he just let me touch him.

Explore him.

I tugged his lower lip with my teeth, measured his kiss against my tongue, and then I lost myself in the feel of his warmth. In the tender way he kissed me. In the way he treasured me, while the party was going on downstairs. For minutes, we were locked in my tower.

For minutes, I felt like a princess.

And my knight in shining armor had ridden in to rescue me from the demons that haunted me.

“Yes.” I said between kisses. “Yes.”

“All I’ve ever wanted from you…” He stole kiss after kiss, and then he was pulling my jeans down my legs slowly. “Was a yes.”



“Hellloooo?” Jen waved in front of my face.

“Sorry!” I covered my face with my hands. “Sorry, I totally spaced out.”

“Visions of Marlo naked do that to a girl.”

“I wasn’t!” I was ready to defend myself when I noticed what she was staring at. Brax, Marlo, and Jackson’s bare asses as they jumped off the dock. Damn, what did they feed those boys? Marlo stood out amongst them the most, but it was an impressive view.

“Wow,” was all I had.

“Trust me, with Jackson it only gets better the longer you stare, honestly all those guys are nice to look at, I just wish they thought with more of their brain cells than their D’s.” She winked, “Come on, this way.”

We walked around the dock. There was a few trees and a nice bush that gave us enough cover, and the one tree went all the way up to the shoreline. It was perfect.

“Nice!” I laughed then pulled off my shirt and sports bra.

We both stumbled a bit in the sand to get our clothes off, and then naked, crashed into the water and swam toward the dock.

Male laughter filled the night sky.

I looked up, breathed in the fresh air. It was the perfect night. So many stars I couldn’t count, and the perfect warm breeze that made me want to swim all night until I was exhausted.

“The fun has arrived!” Jen announced from next to me as we joined the rest of the group.

You’d think she’d just yelled shark.

Jackson did a double take and then glared at her like she had no right to be naked in front of others, while Brax’s wide eyes looked like he wasn’t sure if he should hold Marlo back from charging toward me and demanding I put my clothes back on, or toward Jackson.

Interesting.

I gulped while Jen just rolled her eyes. “Feminism. It’s a thing. Equal rights. Voting.” She said voting super slow, eliciting a glare from Jackson. “So that means we’re allowed to skinny-dip too.”

That’s when I noticed.

We were the only girls.

Literally.

I splashed her with water. “You said there were more girls!”

She burst out laughing. “You wouldn’t have come! I refuse to apologize for the amazing water and night.”

I grinned as warmth spread across my chest. It had been a while since I’d met another girl who seemed genuinely nice. “That’s fair, I guess.”

The closer we got to the guys, the more everyone relaxed. Even Jackson finally relented, but Marlo? Marlo had his eyes locked on me with such intensity I almost felt like I needed to dive under the water to cool down.

So I did.

I dove under the water and realized that even with the darkness, the lake was pretty crystal clear. Almost like glacier water but not quite as nice.

I could kind of see feet and some legs that were close but that was it, and even then everything was blurry.

I blinked under water.

And then a face appeared in front of me.

I screamed and soared to the top gasping for air at the same time as a laughing Marlo.

“You ass!” I splashed him with water. “I could have drowned!”

“Doubtful.” He was a foot away from me, his wet hair slicked back over his head, his massive shoulders just floating like they could help him tread water all day. “You used to be on swim team.”

“Right, but on swim team, heads don’t just magically float in the water.”

“The head was attached to a body.” He leaned in. “Both of them.”

“What do you mean—” Realization dawned, and I splashed him again.

Jackson burst out lugging. “Good one, Marlo.”

Marlo saluted him and swam toward the dock. “Who wants to play Marco Polo?”

Cheers erupted. Oh yay, getting chased by naked guys with grabby hands, every girl’s dream, right?

I shared a look with Jen.

“Only if we can be it first!” Jen announced. “Girls against guys.”

“Oh, so you want to start off knowing you’ll lose, that’s cool.” Brax laughed just as someone ran down the dock and held up a half gallon bottle of tequila. “Bro, you saved a life tonight, I commend you.” Brax said as he swam over and opened his mouth. All the guys followed, everyone but Marlo.

I wondered why.

I didn’t voice my question.

But Jackson must have read my face because he pointed to me and Jen. “Before you Marco, you must drink. It’s tradition.”

“Since last year.” Jen rolled her eyes. “Whatever, one shot won’t kill us. Come on, Ray.”