“Wanna swing by your place to grab them? Come on, man, what if Dakota is in the water and needs you to rescue her?”
I shake my head. “Dakota doesn’t like swimming.”
“And how do you know that?”
“I just do.” She said it once, and I filed it under my Dakota file. Now, how ridiculous is that, having a mental file for her?
For instance, I know she likes strawberry ice cream, that she hates classical music, that she loves collecting big watches, and gardening and oriental cuisine, and… and I like the fact she doesn’t like water. Water makes me uneasy, too.
“Come on, Z-man. Have some fun. Everyone will be in the water. You can swim. I’ve seen you.”
“So what? Doesn’t mean I enjoy it. I do lots of stuff I don’t like.”
“What are you talking about? It’s summer. The water’s refreshing.”
“As if you’re going to swim.”
“Damn right I am.”
Shit, he is serious. A few months ago he’d think twice about showing his scarred back to random strangers. Life with Audrey is good for him. He’s never been so relaxed before.
Doesn’t mean I have to be, though. Doesn’t mean I can.
The heat and humidity drown me as I walk through the park in my jeans, boots and T-shirt. Ash is dressed in shorts and sandals, the bastard.
We cross toward the lake. People sit on blankets, eating and talking and laughing, and kids run about, chasing each other. So much fucking joy.
What the hell am I doing here? I’m just about to tell Ash to forget it, turn around and leave, when I hear my name.
It’s Tessa. Of course. College students are on vacation. I can’t even imagine what it must be like, studying and dreaming of your future. All I’ve ever had is the now, the present, and that’s on the good days. The days when the past isn’t sucking me down.
“Zane.” She’s breathless and flushed, her blond hair caught in two pigtails, like a five-year-old. It makes me grin. “You came.”
“Looks like it.”
“Good job, Ash.” She is jumping up and down. Maybe five-year-old was an exaggeration. More like a three-year-old. “How did you get him to leave work for once?”
“Ty did it. I just picked him up.” Ash shrugs and looks around. “Where’s Audrey?”
“This way.” Tessa flicks her pigtails with her hands and skips toward the lake.
She fucking skips. Jesus.
Ash claps me on the back and bares his teeth at me. “Ready, man?”
Of course not. This is a royally bad idea. This is kindergarten, and I’m not in the mood for hide-and-seek, or whatever else is going on here.
Ash drags me along before I can sort out my thoughts. There’s a blanket on the grass with baskets and Tupperware, but everyone is in the water, as Asher predicted. I can see Audrey and Erin, splashing in the lake, and talking with a brunette I don’t know.
They look happy. They look like they’re having fun.
Time to hightail it out of here.
I turn, but then I see Dakota at the water’s edge, and I just stop and gape. Can’t help it. Fucking hell.
She’s wearing a yellow bikini top and hot shorts that leave her slender legs bare. Her dark hair with its pink streaks is caught up in a wild ponytail, and she’s eating a red popsicle.
Correction: she’s licking a red popsicle, and her expression… Eyes closed, mouth wrapped around the ice… Giving it a goddamn blow job, and she looks like she’s having an orgasm, right there, in front of me. She hasn’t seen me yet, and it makes it all that much hotter.
This chick’s killing me. There’s nothing I want more in the world right now than to throw her to the grass and enter her, fill her up and thrust into her until she screams my name. And then… taste those lips, so full and pouty, tasting the sweetness of the ice cream on her tongue.
Oh shit, this ain’t good. Not good at all. I need to go before I lose my last shred of control.
A heavy arm swings around my shoulders, holding me in place and drenching me in cold water. “See something you like, Zen-man?” Dylan drawls.
I keep my gaze forward. It’s a much nicer view, anyway. “None of your business, fucker.”
At the sound of our voices, Dakota turns, her eyes round. The popsicle almost falls from her hand, and I step forward to rescue it. Can’t have that.
If possible, her eyes go even rounder as I offer it back. “Zane?” She glances down at the popsicle and takes it. Her hand shakes slightly. “I thought you were working.”
“Tyler kicked me out.”
She smiles, and God, I need to taste her lips. I mean, I’m not just hard. It fucking hurts, that’s how hard I am. And she’s looking at me like she doesn’t have a clue, the yellow bikini hugging her small, round breasts and the shorts riding low, exposing her flat, golden belly and smooth legs.
“Gonna grab a drink,” Dylan says, his voice distant in my ears. “I’ll bring you one.”
Who gives a fuck? I take a step toward Dakota, and her mouth opens. No words come out.
“Your popsicle is melting,” I whisper, and she jerks.
“True,” she whispers back and smiles. It makes her blue eyes narrow.
“Can I get you another one?”
She points at a cooler in the shade of a tree, and I’m there and back before she even lowers her hand. Look, I can move at the speed of light. Call me Super Zane. Hey, it’s an important mission. Have to see Dakota lick her popsicle. I feel as if my life depends on it.
“Here,” I say. “It’s on me.”
“Is it?” This time she watches me as she peels off the wrapper and wraps her mouth around the long red cone.
Oh, baby. Holy shit. She’s distracting all right, taking my mind off all the shit lurking in the corners of my head. This is just what I need. Perfect diversion.
But something in my chest clenches, and sweat breaks on my face. What’s this? It’s as if she’s scaring me, and that’s bullshit. She’s just a pretty chick. Maybe it’s because she’s different from what I’m used to, her curves slight and smooth. I usually go for bigger tits, bigger asses.
So what? A pussy’s a pussy.
I hear voices behind me, but I’m transfixed by Dakota’s strawberry lips around the ice, her tongue licking the underside. Fucking it with her mouth.
Her eyes travel over my body, stopping at my crotch. She gives her popsicle a long, lazy lick, and my dick twitches. My throat has gone dry. I’m in serious danger of shooting my load.
“Excuse me,” a voice says by my ear, and the next moment hands go under my armpits, and someone grabs my legs, swinging me up into the air.
Wha…? “Ash? What the fuck?” I struggle and twist, but Ash just grins at me, walking backward, holding my legs.
“I think he needs to cool down,” Dylan pipes up from behind my back, and just as the words sink in, Ash wades into water, and I’m dropped into the lake.
Impact. Cold. Water in my eyes, my mouth, my nose.
A dark space in my mind expands, sucking me in. Terror grips me. I can’t move. A scream builds in my throat, but I can’t let it out. It chokes me.