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I curse out loud, dropping Kat’s arm from my shoulder as she stumbles slightly. She falls back into the arms of Ashton, who is there to scoop her up, stabilizing her on her feet again. Perfect.
Pushing through people coming to watch the race, I practically hurdle them like waves, walking deeper and deeper out into my water.
“Lake!” I call out, feeling the desperation filling my lungs.
The closer I get, the harder it is to breathe.
He stalls in place beneath the shade of a nearby tree, his hands resting on the top of his head. The muscles of his back stretch the fabric of the hoodie as his fingers interlock and find their way to the back of his neck.
I’m breathless now as I make the last few steps to reach him.
“You lied to me, Dylan,” he says, still facing away from me.
My heart rate triples at the sound of his voice saying my name again. Fuck, I missed him. But he’s not wrong. I did lie to him. I promised him I’d take the job. But he promised me things too, so screw that.
“You always said I was bad at it,” I retort playfully.
Silence fills the space between us, and I know his mind is racing.
“Tell me you want me to be here before I turn around,” he calls out.
My chest practically cracks in half at the comment. He can’t face me if I were to walk away from him right now. I understand that pain. Know it intimately.
I slowly walk forward until I’m directly behind him. I grab onto a few of the fingers resting on his neck, pulling his hand down and turning him around.
He pivots slightly, looking down at our hands, staring at them as his chest heaves. His nervousness is so new to me. Lake Decker is nervous in the presence of his stale therapist. I’ll never live that down.
“I can’t think of anywhere else I’d rather have you be,” I say softly, grabbing both of his hands in mine as I gaze up at him.
His eyes slowly trail up until he gains enough confidence to look at me. It’s as if that one look breaks him, and his shoulders harden while his jaw tightens, his eyes wrinkling in the corners.
“She told you to be patient with me, didn’t she?” he asks abruptly.
I suck in a breath at the mention of his mother. Tears fill my eyes and I wrinkle my nose at the pain of them forming.
“There’s no other reason a girl as amazing as you would wait for a guy like me,” he confesses.
The tension is thick and the emotions we both hold over the secrets we’ve held onto feel as if they are ready to bubble over.
“Who said I did?” I ask suddenly.
Idiot, Dylan. You are an idiot.
This is not the time for inappropriate humor, clearly. He looks like I just stabbed him in the side with a spear.
“I’m kidding!” I say abruptly, with a dry laugh. “I’m sorry, I’m just nervous and stupid shit comes out of my mouth at weird times, and I thought maybe you needed to feel a little anxious like I do. Payback for the whole semen-swallowing comment,” I continue rambling. “Remember?”
He pulls my hands forward until I fall into his chest, interrupting my rant.
“I’m sorry,” he whispers, staring down at me. “I’m so sorry I took so long to get my head together, and I’m so sorry for saying sorry so much.”
I blink and realize we are pressed against one another, surrounded by a crowd of people walking past us. My eyes wander all around, checking to see who’s looking.
“I don’t care about them or anyone,” Lake says, as if reading my mind. His face hardens as he contemplates his words. “You lied to me about taking the job...and I lied to you, too.”
Our gazes connect again, his eyes piercing straight through to my soul, tearing me down. My forehead creases and I stare with uneasy eyes.
“I told you on rainbow, I’d never leave you. And I left you. Before you could leave me.” His hands drop mine between us and he grabs the sides of my face, locking my eyes on his. “But I was wrong, wasn’t I? Because you were never going to walk away, were you?”
