Page 38 of Fall Hard

Driving lessons. Weed. Skinny dipping.

My head snapped quickly towards Bryn and she laughed when she caught the expression on my face.

“Yep,” she said smugly. “Kind of perfect, right? Just tell me you know how to swim.”

I stared at her. “Of course I do.”

She shrugged. “Hey, I’m not judging. Some people don’t.”

I didn’t say anything else, nerves beginning to settle in. Bryn was going to see me naked. I mean, yes, she’d technically already seen it that night I’d been drunk afterLuscious, but this was different. I was sober. It was day time.

Then another, possibly more concerning, thought hit me:I was going to seeBrynnaked.Unless she wasn’t planning on coming in with me. Surely she wasn’t just going to watch me strip off and swim around though, right?

“So what do you think?” Bryn asked as she pulled the car to a stop not too far from the mini pier. “Do you want to smoke before or after?”

“After,” I said immediately. As much as I wanted to not be sober when I got naked, I disliked the thought of swimming while high more. “Does Jamie know you’re planning on raiding her car stash?”

“Know?” Bryn snorted. “She insisted on rolling three fresh joints, all in different flavors or something for you to try.”

“Three?How stoned does she think I’m going to get?”

Bryn grinned. “I think she just wanted to join in somehow.”

“And yet you didn’t invite her.”

She shrugged. “I thought it would be counterproductive to bring you to a secluded spot with the girl you love, but can’t have, while she’s naked. I didn’t take you as a glutton for punishment.”

Okay. Point. I inclined my head slightly and Bryn smirked before pushing open her car door and climbing out. Great. I guess we were doing this then.

“Are you, ah, coming in with me?” I stared out at the lake apprehensively. It was a great day to do this, weather-wise, but I hadn’t had the time to psych myself up (or out) about it first. I tried to focus on the physical sensations, blocking out the threads of nervousness that threatened to overwhelm me as I inhaled the scent of water and warm grass, the buzz of insects nearby replacing the sound of my heartbeat in my ears.

I could feel Bryn staring at me and I met her eyes before we walked to the edge of the grass.

“Unless you don’t want me to?”

“Oh, no, it’s fine, I just meant—”

She swept her tee off over head before I could finish speaking and I choked on my own spit at the sight of her breasts pressing against the pale blue bra she was wearing. I froze and she raised an eyebrow.

“You know, to skinny dip you have to take off your clothes.”

I nodded jerkily as I kicked off my sandals and reached for the hem of my cotton shorts, stepping out of them clumsily as Bryn tugged down the tight skirt she’d had on and then paused as she waited for me to slip off my top before she unhooked her bra. I tried not to look. Then I tried to be professional, clinical. They were just boobs. Nothing I hadn’t seen before and nothing I didn’t also own.

But they wereBryn’s.Her skin was perfectly creamy and slightly flushed with pink, like she was blushing. Her skin was a little tanned, but her breasts were paler than her chest, the tips of her nipples a flushed peach that made me unexpectedly greedy. For what, I wasn’t sure.

“Are you going to ogle me? Or get naked?”

I undid my own bra, letting it drop to the ground on top of the rest of my clothes, and shivered as a light breeze touched my skin. It felt strange, to be standing like this out in the open, where anyone could see.

Bryn looked down my body to my underwear, just plain cotton, and there was an intensity to her gaze that hadn’t been there a second ago as she said, “You first,” and I obeyed.

I turned away before she could drop her own briefs, not trusting myself to look away if I saw all of her, and I’d embarrassed myself enough when it came to her. The wood on the pier was warm under my feet as I walked and I could feel the gentle vibrations of Bryn’s steps as she followed me, but I focused on the sunshine I could feel beating down on me, the sound of the water as it moved with the breeze.

I stopped at the edge and looked down. It was surprisingly clear, sparkling in the sunshine and I could see the bottom so I wasn’t too worried about how deep it might be. Bryn came up next to me and the warmth from her arm next to mine had me wanting to lean a little closer.

“So do we just jump?” I asked, not recognizing the breathy quality of my own voice.

“Unless you want to be pushed,” she teased and I reached for her hand.

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