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“Yeah?”
“Yeah. I sorta hated it at the time. Sometimes I miss it now.”
“Does your family still live there?” he asks.
“My dad and sister do, yeah.”
“What about your mom?”
“She’s gone.”
That’s the wording I’ve found to be most effective at shutting down this topic of conversation. Not she left or she’s dead. She’s gone. Simpler and cleaner.
But I’m not surprised when he asks, “Where?”
Or when I admit, “I don’t know.”
“I’m sorry.”
I swallow. “Thanks.”
The light ahead grows brighter and larger as we continue trekking through the forest, and then we’re through the trees, overlooking the view we’ve come all this way to see.
“Whoa,” I say, taking in the scene spread before me.
I used to think there was no nicer view than an expanse of green only interrupted by stark white lines, but this is crazy impressive. A sight like I’m only used to seeing as the automatic screensaver my computer generates. The kind that makes your breath hitch and your eyes blink to ensure it’s not a mirage.
“Not bad, huh?” Beck comments, clearly enjoying my reaction.
Translucent, viridian water pools in a hidden oasis guarded by craggy peaks. Tall and proud evergreens line the water’s edge, dotting the landscape with darker dashes of green.
“What is this place?”
Beck rattles off a series of German words. He grins at my confused expression. “It’s a national park.”
He leads the way down closer to the shore. I follow closely behind, yanking off my sneakers and socks once we hit sand so I can dip my toes in the water. It’s colder than I expect it to be. If not for the relentless sunshine beaming down on us, it would be unpleasant.
With one hand, Beck yanks his T-shirt over his head. It’s the first time I’ve seen him shirtless. In person, at least. The carved torso I’m staring at has been photographed more times than the Mona Lisa. I bite the inside of my cheek as I watch his abs clench. He leans over to take his shoes off, the powerful muscles of his shoulders bunching and rippling.
I pull my top off too, enjoying the feel of his eyes on me. My nipples pebble beneath the spandex of my bikini top, and it has nothing to do with the cool water lapping at my ankles.
“We’re swimming?”
“Up to you.” He wades into the lake, not even flinching at the temperature. In a flash, he’s dipping below the surface, emerging a few seconds later.
His muscles look even better with water dripping down them.
I step onto the shore to pull off my shorts, then head back in, forcing myself not to react to the shock of adjusting to the cold.
Beck shoots me a dangerous grin as I trudge deeper; a devilish expression that makes my skin flush despite the cool water.
I submerge up to my collarbones in an attempt to numb myself to the cold, my ponytail floating behind me. New droplets of water appear in Beck’s darkened hair with each step forward, glinting in the sunshine. Just as I’m about to lose contact with the sandy bottom, I draw even with him. I reach up and tug the elastic out of my hair, letting the strands tumble free and fan around me.
We stare at each other as cold water saturates the ends of my blonde strands. I feel the hair swirl around me with each move I make.
“You’re different than I expected,” I blurt.
One brow rises. “What did you expect?”
