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And I let myself pretend this is nothing to shy away from. That this is normal—me and her.
I slather some sunscreen on my shoulders and arms, swipe at the streaks she left on my face, and jog after Natalie. She’s still in the shallows, halfway up to her thigh. I wrap an arm around her waist and spin her, pulling her into the deeper section of the lake. She shrieks and laughs. Splashes me and giggles.
Most of all, she makes it easy to pretend.
We swim out to the farthest floating dock in lazy, even strokes. I’m a strong swimmer thanks to lifeguarding. But Natalie keeps up with minimal effort, her slender arms gliding through the water and occasionally brushing mine.
I hang back once we reach the dock, letting Natalie climb up the ladder first. No one else has ventured out this far—we have the stretch of wood to ourselves.
Once she’s up, I haul myself up as well. Streams of water drip away as I lie down on the sun-warmed boards and exhale. Natalie lies down beside me.
It’s quiet all the way out here. Peaceful. The water nudges the edge of the floating dock, rhythmic and reassuring in tempo. The shouts on the shore are nothing but a distant murmur.
“Liam.”
“Yeah?” I let my arm fall off my face, where it’s been shading the sun. Turn my head, so I’m facing her.
Seconds turn into minutes as I stare at her. The drops of water on her skin haven’t had time to dry. They slip down her tan skin and fall to the wood we’re lying on, occasionally encountering a freckle.
Unfamiliar, unwelcome emotions rattle around inside me. I care about Natalie Jacobs. Way too much.
“I had a dream about you last night,” she tells me, rolling her head toward me.
“Oh, really?”
“Yeah.” She rolls her eyes, like she’s amused by the admission. Or embarrassed. I’m getting better at reading Natalie. At peeking behind the mask she holds up.
I roll on my side, so I’m looking down at her. “Was it a good dream?”
“Yeah.” She blinks up at me, a smile curving up the corners of the lips I fantasize about kissing.
There’s a clump of wet hair stuck to her forehead. I push it aside, absorbing how her breath stalls. How her teeth sink into the flesh of her full bottom lip, chasing the blood away. My hand lands on her hip, feeling the dampness of the water at first and then the warmth of her skin underneath. “Was it areallygood dream?”
“Uh-huh.”
My face moves closer to hers. Our breaths mingle, literally inhaling and exhaling each other. “What was I doing?”
Natalie moves closer, pressing her body above mine and moving me onto my back. She hovers over me, her expression some mixture of mischievous and open. Mostly mischievous. Her fingers tangle with mine, and then her hand moves to her waist to cover mine. “You were touching me here.”
“Just here?” I trail my fingers along the hem of her bikini bottoms, reveling in the way her abdominal muscles contract beneath my touch. Natalie can lie to me. Her body can’t.
“And lower.” The words are a breath. An exhale that doesn’t separate where she stops, and I begin.
I listen to her instruction, trailing one finger down between her legs. The wet polyester clings to her skin. I can feel each undulation and every shift, as she reacts to my touch tracing the outline of her swimsuit. Her legs fall open and her back arches, seeking more contact.
“Fuck,” she moans.
I ghost my lips up her neck and across her jaw. “We can’t do that here.”
Two of my fingers slip beneath the hem, and we both groan. I flip us so I’m above her, covering her smaller body with my own. Shielding where my hand is in case anyone else ventures out this far.
Natalie rides my fingers until she comes, her breaths coming in pants and gasps as I feel her clench, then relax. Her head is tilted back, the water dried from her skin.
And I realize, suddenly, that this will be a moment I remember for a long time. That this warm, satisfied sensation in my chest that came from giving her pleasure and watching her shatter is one I’ll look back and compare others to. And I’ve learned—in my nineteen years alive—that is a rare thing. Especially under positive circumstances.
I dip my head lower. Kiss her.
“Tell me something no one knows about you.”
