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Ledger drops back to give me enough room. I repeat his directions over and over in my head. I dig the balls of my feet into the rocks, finding the right position. With the rock smashed between my thumb and pointer finger, I swing my arm across my body, then sling shot it forward, releasing the rock. I hold my breath as it soars through the air and hits the water, skips once, then hits again before sinking.
I scream and jump up and down. “It skipped! I did it! Did you see it?”
“I did.” He pulls me to him in a big hug.
“That’s the first time I’ve ever skipped a rock!”
He freezes. “Wait, you’ve never skipped a rock before?”
“I thought my sinking rocks earlier proved that.”
His brows furrow. “You never went to the lake as a kid and skipped rocks?”
“The outdoors and wilderness were never really part of my childhood. Getting dirty, playing in the dirt or skipping rocks wasn’t a thing.” We had family vacations in oceanside villas. Pools and powdery white sand beaches. Sleeping in a tent with no electricity and especially no flushing toilets didn’t exist.
“No offense, but that sounds really boring.”
“Oh, thanks.” I playfully slap his chest. “But I didn’t know anything different. What about you?”
“I basically lived outside. I wandered around every chance I got.” He picks up a rock and skips it, and I do the same. This time my rock skips three times.
“Did you see that one?” Delight lights up my face.
“You’re a natural.”
We continue skipping rocks into the lake. Each one going farther than the last. Pretty soon, it turns into a competition of who can skip their rock the most.
“I have an idea. Any chance of your friend or anyone showing up here?”
Ledger whips a rock, and it skips across the water. “No, I don’t think so.”
“Let’s play a game.”
He eyes me skeptically. “What kind of game?”
“Strip Rock Skipping.” It was the first thing that came to mind. There’s strip poker and strip H-O-R-S-E. Why can’t you have strip rock skipping?
He barks out a laugh. “How does that work?”
“We each take turns skipping a rock. Whoever’s rock has the most skips, wins and the loser has to remove an article of clothing. Then the first one who’s naked has to jump in the lake.”
He bends down, his lips inches from mine. “I am going to enjoy watching you jump in the lake…naked.”
“Too bad it will be you who’s going in naked.”
He makes a sweeping motion with his hand. “Ladies first.”
Over the next half hour, we take turns skipping rocks into the lake. I’m the first one to remove my shoes and socks, but Ledger is right after me. We continue taking turns, Ledger will go up two and then I’ll catch up and he’ll have to remove two articles of clothing.
Finally, when we’re both down to our underwear, I turn to Ledger. “This is it. Are you ready to get naked?”
“Take your best shot.”
I search the ground until I find the perfect rock. I fling it across my body, and it soars through the air, hitting the water and skipping once, twice, three times, and then a fourth before sinking. “Yes! Beat that!” I jump and clap, unable to contain my excitement.
Wordlessly, he picks up a rock, pulls his arm back and sling shots it forward. The rock sails through the air, hitting the water and skips on the surface.
One. Two. Three. Four. And then barely five.
