I toss him a wink, hoping he doesn’t notice how shaky I am. “Don’t act coy now.”
“You’re just so…” He trails off, gesturing vaguely at me.
“I’m so what?” I demand, taking a few strides closer.
“Hot,” he says, loud enough to echo over the water.
“You think I’m hot, Eric?” I tease.
His cheeks flame, and he crosses his arms over his stomach. “Hotter than me,” he grumbles.
I roll my eyes and grip his wrists, tugging them away from his body. “Have you looked in the mirror lately?”
His eyes lift to mine, vulnerable for a second, before he eases his wrists free. He pinches the soft flesh at his stomach, scowling as he jabs at it. “I’ve looked plenty.”
“So have I,” I murmur. His eyes fly back to mine, pupils dilating as I drag a fingertip over his stomach. “If you think this makes you any less sexy, you need to look again.”
I’m toeing a dangerous line with that confession.
His tongue flicks over his lips, then he glances at the water and takes a half step back. I let him go, recognizing the need for space. Predictably, he shifts the focus to something else, and I try not to be disappointed as he dips a foot into the shallows.
“Holy shit, that’s cold,” he hisses.
“You said it would beperfect,” I say with a laugh
“I fucking lied. Or the sun lied… fuck,somethinglied because this is frigid.” He steps back, arms crossedlike he’s reconsidering everything. “We could just imitate the turtle and sunbathe. That’s an option, right?”
“Coward,” I call back at him as I wade in to my calves. The cold hits like a slap, but I keep going, pretending it doesn’t faze me. “Come on. It’s not that bad.”
“You’re lying through your goddamn teeth.” He takes a step in, and goosebumps erupt across his torso all at once. “Not that bad,my ass!”
“Don’t make me do this alone,” I taunt, unable to hide my own shiver.
“You’re enjoying my suffering.”
“A little,” I admit.
“Sadist.” He follows anyway, wincing with every step. When the water reaches his thighs he lets out a dramatic whine. “This is torture. Actual torture.”
“You’re the one who said it was swim time!”
“I was optimistic. Optimism is adisease, Dmitri. I amsuffering.”
“You are,” I say solemnly, “and I want you to hear my sincerity when I say this: you’re the least optimistic person I know.”
He laughs as he lunges forward, scooping water in both hands and splashing it straight at my chest.
I yelp—genuinely this time—and splash back twice as hard. “Youlittle—”
Everything turns into chaos fast. He charges over and grabs my waist, throwing his weight into it as he tries to dunk me. I twist and dig my heels in, and barely manage to stay upright. We wrestle until we’re past waist deep, then Eric manages to knock my feet out from underneath me. I loop an arm around his neck, and we both go under laughing.
We surface together with a gasp, water streaming off our faces and plastering our hair down. His grin is wild, eyes bright, and for a second the cold doesn’t exist.
Eric shivers again. “Truce?”
“Not a chance,” I say as I lunge, but he’s faster. He dodges and hooks my waist, and it pulls me so off-balance that I crash into him. Our chests collide, slick with lake water, and for a heartbeat neither of us moves. His hand lands on my lower back, thumb pressed against my spine. Mine ends up on his shoulder, fingers curling against wet skin.
The laughter dies. The cold is still there, but heat blooms everywhere we’re touching. We’re chest to chest, our thighs brush under the surface, and his uneven breath fans across my cheek. His heart hammers against my skin, or maybe it’s mine.
