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She kept going, suddenly at the speed of an Olympic athlete, until she reached the sand. Then, climbing out, she gathered all their clothes into her arms. “Thanks for a fun night!” she called out to him.
His mouth dropped. “You’re leaving me stranded out here? Naked?” And stealing his clothes, if appearances could be trusted.
“I guess now we’re even,” she said as she jogged away down the beach, putting her own clothes back on as she went.
He bobbed in the waves, watching her disappear as the first of the carnival fireworks exploded across the night sky. Vibrant colors of red, yellow, and orange burst across the dark night sky, the glow reflecting on the ocean around him.
Now they were even? What the hell did she mean?
One thing was certain. This new memory of skinny dipping with Sarah Lewis was definitely going to rival the old one.
Chapter Nineteen
Sarah towel dried her hair an hour later in her bedroom, still grinning over her actions. It had taken all her strength not to give in to Wes in that moment. Her body had come alive from his touch, his kiss, his desire for her… She’d wanted him just as badly as he’d clearly wanted her.
But he’d totally deserved it.
Maybe leaving him stranded without his clothes had been a little overkill, but years of repressed feelings mixed with self-preservation revenge fantasies had overshadowed any guilt. She’d needed to set their record straight. He’d rejected her—twice. If he wanted her,reallywanted her, he had to work for it.
A loud banging on the inn door had her heart racing.
Shit. There was no questioning who that was.
Heading downstairs, her legs felt slightly unsteady and she stopped on the stairs, seeing him enter, using the key she’d given him during the renovations. The laugh that escaped her at the sight of him in a women’s beach cover-up was uncontrollable, and the look on his face when he turned toward her made her laugh even harder.
“You think this is funny?” he asked, advancing toward the stairs.
She nodded, struggling to compose herself. The thin, flowy fabric with the brightly colored flower pattern did little to conceal his body underneath. “Little bit,” she croaked out before another fit of laughter.
“I had to flag a nice lady down and beg her for her cover-up, then I had to catch a taxi on the boardwalk looking like this, and then I had to agree to fix the understanding driver’s fence for free in exchange for fare because someone stole my wallet,” he said, climbing the stairs. His hair was still damp, and she could smell the salty ocean lingering on his flesh.
“Well, it serves you right,” she said, crossing her arms across her chest in her thin silk bathrobe. She swallowed hard, but a lump seemed to be stuck in her throat.
He stopped on the stair below her, and his gaze burned into hers. “What did you mean,now we’re even?”
She swallowed again, then cleared her throat. “That night in the water…before graduation. You set me up.” She hated admitting that his actions that night had stayed with her over the years, that he’d had that much control over her teenage heart back then, but it was the truth. First heartbreaks were the deepest.
He frowned. “No I didn’t.”
“That’s not how I remember it,” she said, her pulse racing. And she’d thought about it to an unhealthy level over the years.
“Well, your memory must be a lot different from mine,” he said, his voice slightly husky. “Because I remember a moment when I wanted to kiss you.”
Her mouth gaped. So all this time, she hadn’t been imagining that connection. That moment. He’d felt it, too. That put her overthinking mind at ease a little, but he wasn’t off the hook. “But then you left.”
He released a deep sigh. “My friends showed up. What was I supposed to do?”
“Not leave me bobbing alone, naked in the ocean, to become a joke for your friends?”
The sting of that humiliation had followed her for the weeks leading up to graduation. She’d felt her peers’ eyes on her, heard the whispers. She didn’t think Wes had perpetuated the gossip or rumors, but he certainly hadn’t been affected by them the way she had. Maybe if it had been someone else, someone she hadn’t been so in love with, she could have laughed it off. But having her hopes dashed in such a public way by him had left a scar.
He lowered his head, and remorse was apparent in his expression when he looked at her again. “I freaked out, okay? I was super attracted to you that night. Why do you think I dared you to do it in the first place?” He moved up a step until his face was level with hers. “I liked you, Sarah.”
Her heart raced, and her mouth was dry. “Well, why didn’t you say something? Why didn’t you tell me? Why did you leave?”
“Because you were this amazing genius, and I was just a dumb jock. You had all these amazing plans, and I had football. We were worlds apart back then. I wasn’t good enough for you.”
That’s how he saw things? “That’s not what I remember,” she said softly.
