Page 80 of Chasing You

He moves to take his T-shirt off once he gets halfway down the beach. I watch as he discards his sling and manoeuvres his shirt carefully off his body before throwing it on the sand.

“I thought I said no funny business,” I say sternly, raising my brows at him when he turns to look at where I’m standing further up the beach, my arms crossed over my chest.

“Did you forget that you being bossy doesn’t intimidate me, princess? It only turns me on.”

A flush crawls up my neck. “I’m going first.”

He gestures his hand towards the water. “Go for it.”

I stride down the beach, narrowing my eyes at him as I pass him on my way to the water. I stop just short of the shoreline pulling my own shirt over my head.

I feel an intoxicating combination of nerves and anticipationroll through me as I reach behind my back and unclasp my bra, letting it fall onto the white sand.

Friends isn’t the right word for us. We might not be lovers, but we aren’t friends either. We sit in this dangerous middle ground. And it’s in times like these that I forget why I suggested being friends in the first place.

I should be fighting it, should be pushing us back towards the line of friendship, but I can’t give up this feeling.

I hook my fingers into the waistband of my denim shorts and push them down my legs, leaving me in nothing but a pair of black lace panties.

I pull the hairband from my wrist and fling my hair up into a loose bun, rogue curls bouncing free around my face.

It should feel sexual, standing here almost naked on the beach knowing Miles is only a few meters away, but it doesn’t. It feels vulnerable, and intimate. Like I’m showing him more than just my body. Like I’m showing him that the barriers between us have been stripped away, even if it’s scary, and even if it hasn’t been fully within my control.

I don’t move towards the water, I just stand here letting the waves glide over my feet as I wait.

Within seconds, I feel Miles’s presence behind me. “You okay, princess?” I feel the pad of his finger smooth over the skin between my neck and shoulder.

I nod. “Yeah, just thinking.”

I’m so used to having both of his hands on me, it doesn’t feel like enough just feeling one. “How is your collarbone?”

“It’s okay,” he says, his voice barely more than a whisper as his finger trails down my arm. “The mobility is getting better with every session. I might even be able to ditch the sling soon if I’m lucky.”

I lean my head back, finding the left side of his chest, I close my eyes. “I was so scared, Miles.”

His finger has reached its way to my hand, where he tangles his fingers in mine. “I know. I’m sorry.”

I shake my head. “It wasn’t your fault Boulder had it out for you.”

He just chuckles. “Yeah, I’m not sure I’ll ever be fighting him again.”

“You better not.”

The palm of his right hand finds my waist, and I flinch, only because I wasn’t expecting it. The pads of his fingers trace over the freckle on the side of my ribs, the one he used to kiss.

“Is it okay to move it that much?” I ask.

“It’s good for it,” he says. “The water will be good for it too.”

“Then you should get in,” I say, even though my movements contradict my words as I stay leaning against him.

I haven’t felt him touch me like this in so long, my heart aches at the memories.

I finally step out of his touch, walking into the ocean. I let the water flow over my shoulders before letting my arms out in front of me to push through the small waves.

I spin around to see Miles watching me, an almost haunted look in his eyes that clears when I catch his gaze. He’s standing in nothing but his boxers, and I can’t help but stare at the rigid plains of his body. He hasnotslipped behind in his upkeep. I don’t think I could even try to lie about that.

He dips into the water, popping up just in front of me

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