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“It is,” I agree, my head whipping around at the sound of a small engine. When I see Nate driving a golf cart, I shake my head.
“Can I sit up front with you, Uncle Nate?” Izzie asks, running over to him when he comes to a stop, his eyes sparkling with as much excitement as Izzie is displaying.
“Sure you can!” He gets out and helps her into her seat, buckling her in before looking back at me. “Sorry, you’ve been demoted.”
“That’s alright.” I place my arm around Clay’s shoulders and steer him toward the back seats. “We don’t mind being chauffeur driven.” We sit down and I wink at Clay before shouting, “We’re ready, driver! Take us to the lake.”
Clay chuckles, his gray eyes lighting up. “Yeah!” he shouts to them. “Let’s get going!”
“As you wish!” Nate shouts and Izzie giggles next to him.
We’re pushed forward in our seats as Nate moves the cart, taking us through a trail in a small wooded area, past a wooden building on the left. He’s only driving for a couple of minutes before he breaks through the trees onto a large patch of grass.
He comes to a stop about thirty feet from the sand at the edge of the lake before jumping out and grabbing all of the towels off the seat behind him and helping Izzie down.
“Wow,” I say when me and Clay jump out of our seats.
The sparkling blue water in the lake is almost see-through, not the murky kind of water I imagined it would be.
“Can we go in?” Clay asks as Izzie runs down to the sand, pulling her own sandals off.
I look down at him. “Of course.” Taking his hand, we walk down to the sand, coming to a stop next to where Nate has placed the towels and is waiting for us.
“Who wants to race me to the floating dock?”
“Me!” Izzie and Clay shout at the same time.
Clay pulls off his t-shirt, throwing it on top of the towels and diving into the water along with Izzie, Nate not far behind them.
I watch them with a giant grin on my face, Izzie’s little arms working as fast as they can as she swims across the lake to the dock. Clay is ahead of her but when he turns his head back and sees how far behind she is, he slows down and lets her overtake him. Always taking care of his sister.
Bringing my hand above my eyes to shield them from the sun, I chuckle when Izzie struggles to get up onto the dock, but with a little help from Clay, she nearly makes it until Nate comes and picks her up like she weighs nothing at all and plants her on there.
Clay gets up next, sitting on the edge, his feet still in the water. When he looks back at me, waving his arm frantically, I do the same which causes Nate to swing his head around, a frown on his face when he spots me still at the edge of the water with my clothes on.
He cups his hands around his mouth and shouts, “Plenty of room on this dock for you, too!”
“I’m good here!” I call back.
He smirks at me before diving into the water and popping up a few meters away from the dock, heading toward me. I back away from the water as he climbs out, walking over to me with droplets of water cascading down his muscled chest and through the contours of his abs. “What’s wrong? Scared you’ll lose in a race?”
“Psshhh, no.” I may be scared, but it’s not because of losing a race. It’s the fact he’s going to see more skin than he’s ever seen before. He only saw me in a swimsuit top at the beach the day he taught me how to surf. My arms wrap around my stomach, hiding it because it feels like he can already see through the tank top.
“If you’re not in the water within the next ten seconds, I’m making you jump in from the diving dock.” He points over to a wooden tower halfway around the lake and my eyes widen. “Your choice.”
I gaze back up at him, trying to determine how serious he’s being. When I realize he’s not joking, I swallow against the sudden dryness in my throat. I can do this, I chant in my head over and over again as I slowly untie the belt around my shorts, pulling them down my legs.
He watches every movement I make, his hands flexing at his sides.
When I grip the edge of my tank top, his eyes meet mine briefly before focusing back on my hands as I slowly pull the top up and over my head.
I open my mouth to say something but the distraction is just what I need to go running into the water, diving in and swimming as fast as I can to the floating dock.
I get a couple of feet away from it when I feel something grip my ankle. I squeal, my head going under the water as I’m pulled down. Coming up to the surface spluttering, I push the wet hair out of my face, searching around me and finding Nate standing on the dock.
“Uncle Nate won!” Izzie shouts, holding her fists up in the air and doing a little dance in celebration. Traitor.
I puff out a breath. “You cheated!” I accuse, pointing at him.
