Page 19 of When It Burns

He slowly reaches out his hand as if he is worried he’s gonna run me off. He grabs the bottle from my hand and motions for me to turn around. I shift in my chair so that he can reach me and brace myself for the cold lotion to touch my exposed flesh. But as he makes contact with my shoulder, all I can feel is the heat from his fingers as he gently massages the sunscreen into my skin. He moves his hand down and I feel his hand brush the string of my bikini. The thought hits me that I would let him pull that string later tonight and stand there happily in front of him as it fell to the floor. I imagine him running his rough hands lower and teasing me gently until he runs a finger through my wet core until I’m screaming out his name. Blinking that thought away, I try not to let my lust-filled brain get the best of me. “Uh, thank you, Theo. Do you want me to do yours now?”

I cringe as soon as it registers what I just asked, and he gives me a small smirk that has wetness pooling between my thighs. “Darlin’ let me let you in on a secret. I’ll let you do me anytime,” He lets out a small, uncharacteristic laugh before jerking his shirt off and throwing me the sunscreen.

I can feel the heat on my cheeks, and I am about to sink into another lust-induced haze when I look over to where Theo has turned around waiting on the sunscreen. There is a small patch of his back that looks as though it was singed off. It has healed well, but there is certainly still evidence of trauma. I grab the sunscreen and squeeze some into my hands before asking, “What happened to your back, Theo? Did something happen at work?”

As soon as the words are out of my mouth, I wish I could take them back. Theo visibly stiffens, and while I can’t see his face, I know the grinning, grumpy man that was just before me is gone. In his place is a man lost to his demons, and I don’t know how to get him back.

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

THEO

Goddamnit Theo. What the hell were you thinking? My brain continues to scream obscenities at me, and I try to put together a response to the beautiful woman sitting behind me.

I’d come to terms with my scars over the years, but no one had ever really questioned me about them. In my line of work, they weren’t too out of place and the years of throwing myself into working at the station hadn’t left much time for days at the beach. Never mind the fact that I’d lived like a recluse for the majority of my twenties.

“No, they’re not from work” is the best response I can manage as I fight to stay in the present.

“Oh, okay. I’m sorry I asked,” Caroline says softly as she slowly massages the sunscreen into the tense muscles of my back.

“It’s fine,” I say, looking out at the ocean as I try to pull myself together. Once I feel as though my mask is firmly in place again, I turn and settle back in my chair. I look out at the ocean and think of my Mom. She loved the beach, and we never went a summer without a trip south. She loved laying in the sun and sending Dad to chase us down when we were younger and wandered too far from her chair. As we got older, she’d sit in her chair reading a book and take as many pictures as she could. I know Margaret has a few saved on her computer, and I have the sudden urge to track them down.

Breaking out of my trance, I look over at Caroline who is watching me with a look of regret on her face and fidgeting with her swimsuit. Her question was innocent enough, and I’ll do anything to get the carefree look back on her face. “So you help out around Hannah’s farm?” I ask her, trying to steer the conversation back to a safe topic.

Her face breaks out into a wide smile as she asks, “I do. I really love the animals. Did you grow up around animals?”

“Not really,” I reply simply.

Caroline laughs and says, “Not really? What does that mean?”

“My grandfather had a horse that we used to help take care of when we visited, but he died when I was in middle school and we didn’t have room for a horse in town.”

“I love animals,” Caroline states. “I’ve been going out to Hannah’s farm since we were in elementary school. Leroy is my favorite. He’s mischievous, but he’s so cute.”

I look at her for a minute before asking, “That’s the pet pig y’all were talking about?”

“Yep, he has a dedicated food bowl and everything. Her grandfather got him for her years ago, but I don’t think he ever expected he would become so doglike. His little tail even wags when you pet him.”

“You’re shitting me,” I say, trying not to let the smile I’m fighting show. The corners of my mouth lifting up feels foreign to me, but there’s something about this girl that makes it impossible to contain.

“Nope, you’ll have to come meet him sometime soon,” she says with a smile.

“Okay,” I respond simply, unsure of what else to say.

We sit in comfortable silence for a few minutes before she stands up and offers her hand. “Come on,” she says, standing up and holding out her hand for me.

“Where are we going?” I ask looking up at her.

“Does it matter?” she asks with a quirk of her lips.

And at that moment, I decide I don’t give a shit. I give her my hand and she pulls me up and tugs me along with her straight into the ocean. She laughs loudly as she tries to jump on me, forcing me underwater. We tussle and I fight to grab her to dunk her under the water. She screams and throws her body against my back as she wraps her legs around my front. I slowly reach around and turn her so that she is facing my front with her legs still wrapped around me. Her breaths are hard from the exertion of fighting with me and our lips are inches away from claiming each other. I have no doubt she can feel my hard length pressing into her center with the way she's pressed against me.

We stare at each other, both of us unwilling to break the spell we seem to be under.

She inches her face slightly closer to me, and all I can think is how badly I want to feel her hot mouth all over mine. I run my fingers under the string of her swimsuit, and she arches into me begging for my touch. I’m about to close the last bit of distance between us when a wave comes and knocks us both underwater.

We resurface, and Caroline’s laugh is loud enough that I almost forget the way she felt wrapped around me. I grab her hand and lead her to the shore.

As Caroline and I emerge from the water, Hannah and Margaret return with Will and the man I am assuming is Seth. Seth is roughly the same height as Will, but he is leaner than me. His scruffy brown hair hangs down in his face and he has a wide smirk on his face. “This is Seth,” Will explains to me.

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