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“Claire?!”
I ripped off my sunglasses and looked at Paige in question.
“Jeez,” Addie arched a suspicious eyebrow at me. “What's got you so distracted?”
“Bet I know,” Paige said with a wink, to which I rolled my eyes. “I was just asking if you wanted to play cornhole with the boys?” She pointed to Max and Tyler, who were standing on the lawn trying to wave us down.
I laughed at their over the top presentation of the corn-hole board in front of them, like they were trying to be Vanna White. It’s as if they were saying,this could be allll yours, if you only just walk up here and join us. Tyler motioned to my drink, silently asking if I wanted more. I quickly drained what was left of my cocktail and nodded. Call me a coward, but I wanted to be sporting a good buzz when Duke finally arrived… I wasn’t sure how I’d be able to deal with this day if he didn’t want to be near me. One could point out that he did say he wanted us not to be a tragedy back at the rink. But he was so hot and cold I never knew what I’d be getting with him. His devil-may-care attitude was part of what made him attractive, but when you were on the receiving end of his carelessness, it wasn’t so fun.
21.Duke
I was ready for a fun day. I was ready for a fun day withClairespecifically.
What I wasn’t ready for: Walking into the party to see Claire practically jumping into Tyler fucking Jettersen’s arms to hug him over winning corn-hole together. Her muscular legs were wrapped around his waist, and he threw his fist high in the air. You could hear her cackles probably all around the lake.What the hell?Had he already moved in on her?
Call me a coward, but that made me shuffle straight over to the nearest cooler to pop open a beer instead of going directly to see her, which was what I had originally planned to do.
She looked unbelievably hot in cut-off jeans and bikini top, which she had pressed against Tyler’s chest seconds ago. And I think she lightened her hair… I wanted to get a closer look to be sure, but I forced myself to stop staring at her like a creep.
While it only took me a split-second to locate her, I doubted she had even noticed me entering the party. I tried to swallow back that specific ding to my ego and pleasantly greet the guys around me, but it honestly put a major damper on my mood. I wanted to be her partner today… and notjustcornhole partner… I wanted to bewithher today. For real with her. Like pulling her close to me and making out on the dock during the fireworks kind of with her. But how could we possibly get to that scene with how the day was currently looking?
I grinded my teeth together as Tyler placed her back on her feet and gave her a high-five.
I’d get my time with her. I just needed patience…
Because, let’s face it, I was waywaybetter for her than stupid Tyler. I had years of Claire knowledge over him. Tyler didn’t know her favorite color was black (second grade), or that too much movie theater popcorn made her sick (fourth grade), or the fact that she got that little notch in her nose during a rough game of capture the flag (fifth grade, end of the school year party), or that the scar on her right temple happened when she was working on double axels (sixth grade). That particular scar resulted from the strap of the figure skating harness hitting her face. I remember feeling shaky the rest of that day because when I saw her in the lobby of the Ice League, there was a lot of blood coming from her head, and I had no way of knowing if she was alright until the next morning at school.
So, Tyler? Yeah, fuck him. He didn’t know her the way I knew her.
Beau next to me was now whining for me to let him off his leash. He looked at me then to the water with sad eyes, as if he was asking, ‘Please, dad?Pretty please.’
“Go ahead,” I told him as I quickly unhooked his leash.
He bolted for the water, making a path straight through Claire and Tyler’s cornhole game. Recognizing him, Claire’s head immediately snapped up to look for me.
As soon as our eyes met, all the people, the noise, everything, it all just faded away. All I could see was her beautiful hazel eyes. I gave her a small smile, and she hesitated a little before returning one.
I was about to start moving toward her, when Tyler picked her up, forcibly breaking our little connection by moving her to her spot for the next round of throws. She laughed like it was the funniest shit in the world…
She laughed like she liked him…
And my stomach sank as disappointment settled there.
Before her next throw, she adjusted her bikini top… andOh My God…
Claire Kessel had a tattoo.
I gulped and squinted at the delicate lettering scrawled under her right boob, wondering if my mind was playing tricks on me. There's no way that could be real. Craig wouldn’t allow that…
But wait, we were almost halfway through our twenties– she was literally turning twenty-four today. Craig couldn't say shit about it.
It’s almost like she could sense I was staring at it, because her eyes drifted to mine, and she quirked her eyebrow up before quickly covering the tattoo again with her top.
Fuck.
I rubbed my forehead. I was in over my head. I didn’t think I could be more tempted by her, but that just did it. I needed to see it for myself. God. I needed… I needed her. I didn’t want the dock scene as much anymore… Now my mind was filled with images of her in my bedroom… Tossing her on my bed, untying that bikini, inspecting that tattoo, licking it… making a hot trail with my tongue down her muscular stomach, down–
A heavy hand landed on my shoulder, and I immediately smelled the beer on Max’s breath.
