Page 38 of Delirium

With impeccable timing, Nash waved his arm in the air. “Scarlett, stop messing around and get in here!”

Camp echoed his sentiments, “It’s beautiful, Scar. Come on.”

I looked between the two men, enjoying the moment, in sharp contrast to the miserable one I was sitting next to. In less than a second, my decision had been made.

Skinny dipping had never been on my bucket list, but I hadn’t come on this trip to sit on the sidelines either.

“Coming!” I called.

James raised a pale eyebrow. I met his gaze without hesitation, only breaking it while I tugged my shirt over my head. My bra and underwear really weren’t that different from a swimsuit, right?

Except when I looked at James again, as I stepped out of my pants, he visibly swallowed. His eyes shifted down my face, across my chest and over the planes of my body. I wanted to file away the way he categorized every inch of me, studying me in a way he would never admit aloud.

There was something kind of magical about the power I held over James, whether or not he chose to acknowledge it. This game we were playing was dangerous, I knew that as much as the next person, but I couldn’t seem to stop myself from getting close to him, even as our words pushed each other away.

I crossed my arms in front of my chest. “You sure you don’t want to swim?”

James made a choking sound, covering it up with a cough, and transitioned back into the stoic expression I’d become accustomed to seeing. “I’m good without contracting any parasites, thanks.”

I shrugged, far more confident than I felt. “Suit yourself.”

I turned on my heel, stalking toward the pool like a woman with ten times the confidence I actually held, James’ gaze weighing on me the entire way. I wanted to turn around, to see the expression on his face, but I refused.

If I caved, I lost the game.

If I showed any weakness whatsoever, I lost.

I knew men like James. I worked with them. I befriended them. I saw through the acts and pretenses, to the most basics of their wants and needs, what drove them through the day. When you laid it out on paper, James was simple. Because men like him wanted nothing. They just took.

Then again, James wanted me.

And he hated me for making him want something.

Chapter

Fourteen

NASH

The only thing taking my eyes away from Scarlett, walking toward us in her bra and panties, was noticing the way James stared at her as she left him behind.

I knew that expression. I’d seen it on his face way too often when we were younger. It was the look of him knowing he was going to have something. He wasn’t sure how, but he was going to make it happen. When we were younger, if I saw that look, I’d stay out of his way. James had a way of burning hot, and then flaming out, a supernova of a human being.

But we weren’t kids anymore, chasing after the girls we saw at university. I had no reason to stay away from James. And to be completely honest, he deserved to be knocked down a few pegs. It didn’t hurt for him to want after something he couldn’t have, and the way Scarlett sauntered away from him told me she agreed.

I wiped the water from my eyes, feet firmly on the sandy bottom. Scarlett smiled at me from the bank.

“Are you sure I’m not going to kill myself jumping in here?” She looked warily at the water, and not for the first time, I realized how cautious she was about everything. Everything was a process for her, steps to be taken in order, not skipped or rushed.

What the hell she was doing on my boat, I really couldn’t fathom.

I grinned back at her. “Sweetheart, if you don’t get your ass in this water in the next two seconds, I swear I’ll drag you in myself.”

She laughed, squeezed her eyes shut, and jumped in.

Beside me, Camp had gone still.Shit. Had I been too forward in how I spoke to Scarlett? I really couldn’t help myself. I found myself sliding into flirting, calling her sweet names, checking in on her, those kinds of things—because Iwantedto.

It wasn’t an act. Wasn’t some kind of weird pissing contest, although I was sure James would think otherwise.

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