Page 6 of With Every Breath

“I can drive you.” Dex suddenly appeared, I think. I haven’t really been paying attention.

“No.” I snapped my head in his direction.

“Ok.” He held his hands up. “Did I do something to upset you, or do you just hate guys?”

“I have a reason I don’t let people in. You just need to trust me, and no, I don’t want to talk about it.” I stormed off in the direction of the slip and slide.

I’d worn jeans to this, so I knew it was a bad idea, but I couldn’t help myself. This big black plastic mat has been taunting me all afternoon.

“’Bout time you came up here,” Lexi cheered as she threw her arms in the air above her head. “Are you going to join the races?”

“Races?” I tipped my head to the side.

“Gotta get wet first.” Lexi grinned.

I shrugged, moved to the top of the hill where the giant plastic mat was tacked down, and flopped onto my stomach. The cold water immediately was soaked up by my jeans and tee, but the rush of sliding down the giant hill head-first negated anything bad. I hit the bale of straw at the end full force, and sprung to my feet. What a rush. I laughed as I punched the air, and rushed back up the hill. “What’s this race? I’m wet now.”

Lexi giggled as she pointed to my red bra that was practically glowing through my shirt. “See that rope.” She pointed to a large yellow rope that was tied to a pole at the top of the slip and slide. The end was at the bottom by the straw bales. “You can challenge someone to a race to get to the top.”

“What does the winner get?” I grinned.

“Bragging rights.” Lexi tossed her hands in the air as if this were common knowledge.

“Can we challenge anyone?” I placed my hands on my hips.

“Yep.” She nodded.

Just as I was going to go challenge Madi, Dex jogs up to me. “I’m challenging you.” He points at me and smirks.

“You’re not wet.” I smirked back.

“Easy fix.” He raced over to the slip and slide, and flopped down, sailing to the bottom. As he stood up, water dripped from his tee. “What’s your next excuse?”

“Game on, Nirvana boy,” I teased.

We rushed to the bottom of the hill, and each grabbed a rope. “When I win, you have to go on a date with me.” Dex grinned.

“Ok.” I tightened my grip.

“What? No retort for this?” He seemed confused.

“Nope. I don’t lose.” I yanked at the rope, and then stared up at where Lexi and another guy had their arms in the air.

“Ready! Set! Go!” They both shouted and dropped their arms at the same time.

I scrambled as my feet lost their traction multiple times on the wet plastic. Dex climbed with ease, seeming to not struggle at all. His feet stayed planted and when we both reached the top, I was winded where he seemed to not even break a sweat. Just as I reached out to tag the pole, Dex’s fingers wrapped around it.

“Winner.” The guy at the top raised Dex’s arm above his head.

“What?” I screeched in disbelief.

“Guess there’s a first time for everything.” Dex smirked as my lips twisted and I crossed my arms over my chest, deflated from my loss.

I made my way back down to where Madi was standing with the others just as shocked as me. “Guess he’s more athletic than he looks.” Madi shrugged as Dex trotted down the hill after me.

“Just because I’m not a soccer star doesn’t mean I’m not athletic,” he teased. “I have my own hobbies. Speaking of which. You owe me a date.”

“Fine. Where are we going? And do I need to dress up?” I rolled my eyes. Most guys wanted to do either a bar near campus, so they’d run into their friends, or some fancy restaurant to try and impress me.

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