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She groans and rolls her eyes, but she’s smiling when she says, “I’m so glad I don’t have a dick. You guys really struggle to think of anything else, don’t you?”
“Nah, I don’t struggle. I give in to the perve thoughts without a fight. Especially when it comes to your cave of wonders.”
“Call it that again and I’m going to poke you in the eye instead of the chest,” she says, bending to gaze into the small cave, where Catherine and Layla have already disappeared. “It’s a slick, sexy little crevice of wonders, not a cave.”
And then she ducks into the entrance, leaving me with far too many thoughts about her sexy little crevice and a hard-on I take a moment to get under control before easing into the cool darkness behind her. The tunnel is smaller than the one leading from the main beach to our hidden practice grounds. At one point I have to drop to my knees to get through and at another my shoulders force me to inch forward sideways.
By the time I step out into the main cave, where a hole in the rocks overhead makes the sea water below glow a magical turquoise blue, Catherine and Layla are already in the water. Juliet stands on the rocks on the other side of the pool, naked and so beautiful she takes my breath away. From her fuller breasts to the enhanced curve of her hips, the weight and muscle she’s put on look damned good on her, and the small patch of blond hair between her legs sends memories of that night on the roof pulsing through my head.
I stand, frozen in longing and admiration, as she prepares to dive. She lifts her arms and her gaze, shooting me a heated look that has my heart pounding all over again before she slices into the ocean with a tiny splash.
Looks like this might be as much torture as play—at least for me—but that’s not going to stop me. Stripping my clothes off with a grin I run and cannonball into the water, spraying the girls with a massive splash.
fourteen
JULIET
For the firsttime in what feels like forever, I’m not worried about shifting or fighting or training or scheming or outsmarting the many people who want me to fail at this school.
All I’m thinking about is beating Catherine to the other side of the pool in a freestyle race, jumping off the highest rock formation, and trying not to get caught staring at Ford.
Notstaring at him at all isn’t an option because holy hell, the man looks good with no clothes on.
Even better than he did before, in fact.
He’s bulked up, but added a little fat to his frame, too, just enough to make him look healthy and strong instead of like some half-starved body builder. The lean, hungry hollows have left his cheeks and his already bootilicious backside is now a thing of thick and gorgeous beauty.
Seriously, I could write a sonnet about his ass, and I’m not a sonnet-writing girl. He’s the one who’s good with words, the one who practically writes me a poem with his eyes every time I stare at him a little too long.
I can feel his eyes on me now, and I want to turn and glance over my shoulder so badly it hurts. But it’s a good hurt, one that makes my blood hum and my body sing as I lift my arms and dive backwards off the rock, hearing Catherine and Layla’s cheers just seconds before I plunge into the cool water.
I let myself sink deeper than I have before, feeling the perfect pressure of the ocean all around me, like a hug from Mother Nature, promising everything is going to be all right. Growing up on the coast, I’ve always felt a closeness to the sea. The smell, the spray, the sweet relief of cool waves on a steamy summer day, all of it feels like home in the best sense of the word.
I exhale the last of the air in my chest, letting the bubbles float away and the last of my tension seep from my weary muscles. By the time I pull back to the surface I’m more relaxed than I’ve felt in days and my skin is glowing a soft pink again.
“Dude, look!” Layla points to my arm. “It’s happening. You’re shifting.”
I shake my head with a little laugh. “Nah. It’s just a thing that happens when I’m feeling happy. It’s happened a couple times before, but I didn’t shift after.”
“But maybe you can,” Ford says from his perch on a rock about a foot beneath the waves at the water’s edge. His hips are submerged enough to conceal his cock—and the ass I’m having way too many steamy thoughts about—making it easier to focus as he adds, “Maybe you just need to keep relaxing and feeling good and just…melt into the shift instead of muscling into it. Maybe that’s the phoenix way.”
“Melt into it,” Layla repeats as she treads water. “You might have something. I melt into my bear sometimes. Like this.” She lies back, floating on the surface, her entire body going limp. “I just give into the rise and fall of my breath and the warm rush of my blood in my veins and…”
She goes full furry, her adorable black bear form floating on the surface for a moment before she lets out a playful roar and sinks under the waves. Not long after, she’s swimming toward Ford, who scoots over to make room for our now much-larger friend with a grin.
“Yeah, like that,” he says, his grin softening as he glances my way. “Just give in to the warm rush, Jules. I can come help you if you want. Hold you while you float or…whatever else you need.”
I narrow my eyes on his but can’t bring myself to get too worked up about the off-limits flirting. Catherine and Layla aren’t stupid. They figured out Ford and I aren’t “just friends” a long time ago, but they haven’t pried. They seem to sense that it’s complicated.
And it is. My connection to Ford is complicated in many ways. But in some ways, it’s also pretty simple. He’s a boy who makes me very aware of all the good things my body can feel. And he’s a friend, one who meant it when he said he’d do whatever he could to help me survive what comes next. He’s proven that in the past two weeks and earned my unwavering loyalty in the process.
And my affection, I’ll admit it.
I just…like him. A lot. So why not let him help?
“Okay,” I say, gliding toward him with a breaststroke pull, with my head above the gently bobbing waves. “Hold me while I float?”
His brows shoot up. “Really?”
