AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“No.”
The last we’d known it, the boat had been on its side, acting as a barricade.
Luke’s gaze flicks across the loch to the leafy enclosure on the other side. “I want to get away as far as possible,” he murmurs, as rain begins to trickle onto the loch. Large circles spread across the water’s surface with every plummeting drop, overlapping and growing as the rain becomes heavier.
“Whit’s that over there?” Finlay asks Rory quietly, nodding to the stretch of land shaded by trees.
“An island,” Rory answers, which surprises me. I’d assumed the loch had bisected two areas of land, not formed an island.
Luke, however, is not in the mood for geography. He moves across to the wooden boat, wiping the small benches dry with his sleeve, and sets down his lantern. “There’s only room for two. Unless someone rows back and forth each time.”
“Plus the fox, chicken and bag of grain,” Danny remarks lightly.
“There’s room for three,” Rory says, gesturing to the center. “It’ll take too long to go back and forth all the time. You take the saint and D-boy. Fin and I will swim.”
Finlay blinks at him. “Uh, Fin willwhit? I dinnae think so. Why are we even goin’ tae this stupid island, anyway?”
“Because Luke wants to,” Rory answers simply, as though this is all the explanation that’s required.
“Lochkelvin water,” I murmur, standing at the edge of the loch, the slow waves lapping in front of my black shoes, the raindrops pooling in front of it. In my periphery, I see Rory turn his head in my direction. The rain hardens, no longer a fine trickle but a hail of bullets.
“In case it’s escaped yer notice,” Finlay yells over the sudden downpour, “it’s rainin’! Is this some mad ritual thing, ‘cause I dinnae endorse it—”
“No, it’s because I like seeing you wet and naked.”
This shuts Finlay up. There’s a long pause where the only sound is the patter of rain.
“Wait, d’ye actually?” Finlay asks, trying his best to appear casual.
Rory cocks his head to the side, his lips raised in the tiniest private half-smile. “Now move. I’ll show you how.”
Finlay, Danny and I watch in awe as Rory sheds his blazer. He unknots his tie and kicks off his school shoes. There’s no finesse to it. As the rain beats down on us, Rory stripping manages to be as unceremonious as gym class. And yet… It doesn’t stop my heart from racing, my mouth from drying in the rain. It doesn’t stop all of us from staring as his fair hair darkens like metal when wet, as he gains confidence from every eye being on him and turns into a god before us.
He tilts his head back, water cascading down his body, his white shirt soaked to his skin and clinging to the expanse of lean muscle. He raises his gaze in challenge to Finlay. “Your turn.”
