Page 63 of Make Me Mean It

My fingers falter at the waistband of my jeans, my head snapping up sharply, finding Theo already watching me, the corner of his mouth twitching up.

I narrow my eyes, the words rubbing me the wrong way, and the longer I look at that smug expression, the stronger the urge gets to turn them back on him and see how much he likes them then.

Theo’s smile slips, his tongue rolling over his lip ring, eyes holding mine.

“Good to know,” he breathes, his brow arching.

Theo turns towards the lake, leaving me standing there with those three words rattling around my head.

Good to know.

What the fuck is that supposed to mean?

I push a hand through my hair and follow him before I can do something humiliating like ask.

Cold closes around my feet when I step in, climbing higher with every reluctant step until a stuttering breath tears through my teeth. Goosebumps rise across my arms despite the sun warming my shoulders. By the time the water reaches my knees, I’m seriously reconsidering how badly I wanted an answer to one stupid question.

“Cold?” Theo asks, laughter thick in his voice.

I glare at him. “Shut up.”

He tips his face towards the sunlight breaking through the trees, closing his eyes with a soft chuckle.

Water runs in thin trails down his chest, catching against the ink over his ribs before disappearing beneath the waistband of his boxers. His dark hair is pushed away from his face, leaving the line of his jaw exposed, and with all that tanned skin and muscle lit gold beneath the trees, he looks like one of those obnoxiously perfect Greek statues brought to life.

Except those don’t smirk at me.

Or call me princess.

Or apparently know exactly how to make me stare at them.

“I’m in,” I point out, folding my arms across my chest in a mostly useless attempt to keep some warmth in.

“You are,” he hums, grinning.

I roll my eyes, forcing myself deeper, the water reaching my thighs. The cold is vicious now, sinking through skin and muscle while loose gravel shifts beneath my feet, forcing me to concentrate on every step so I don’t end up flat on my ass.

Something brushes the back of my calf, a startled yelp tearing out of me as I jerk forward, my foot slipping over the rocks beneath the water.

“Fuck-”

I grab Theo’s shoulders to steady myself, but all I manage to do is take him with me. His arm catches around my waist as we stumble backwards. Freezing water closes over my head, the shock punching the air from my lungs, my muscles locking up.

Theo’s arm clamps around my waist, hauling me back up until we break through the surface together.

I come up coughing, sucking air into my lungs, water streaming down my face. My forehead drops against his shoulder, struggling to get my breathing under control, both hands braced against his chest while Theo holds me steady.

“Fucking hell, Reid,” he laughs breathlessly, the sound vibrating through the wet skin beneath my palms. “Are you trying to kill me?”

“If only it was that easy,” I mutter, my voice still hoarse from inhaling half the lake.

It takes another breath before the panic from going under clears enough for everything else to start becoming a problem.

Theo is practically wrapped around me.

His hand is spread low against my back, my fingers curling against his chest, clinging to him. Every breath brings us closer, his chest warm despite the freezing water surrounding us.

Water clings to his lashes, dripping onto his lower lip, and every time I manage to pull myself away from his mouth, there’s another part of him waiting to make things worse. Water slips over his chest, down the hard lines of his stomach before disappearing beneath the waistband of his soaked boxers.