Page 10 of Crushing On Dad's Best Friend
“Wait!” I shout, “I remember from my research that there’s a lake aroundhere!”
“Yeah, it’s just past those trees,” Liam says, “and there’s a dock out there. A few docks, actually. There are a few houses that sit on the edge of thelake.”
“Don’t tell me you geeked out over researching this place and have the Google Earth view memorized like Ido.”
“Better than that,” he says, “I didn’t have to use Google earth to know this spot. I bought a cabin right on the other side of the lake about a yearago.”
Okay, when I mentioned the lake, I didn’t know that it bordered his property. Really, I didn’t. If I’d known, I wouldn’t have mentioned it, because I am getting a serious case of cold feet right now, a withering feeling in the sphere of my belly, something that’s telling me danger is just on the other side of thosetrees.
“Should we…go check the lake out?” I ask casually, twisting my hips, modest rebellion swimming through my veins. If I were in the mood to be a little more opaque, I might just run back into the house, grab a popsicle from the freezer, shove it between my lips and saunter back over to him with a finger twirling slowly through a lock of my long darkhair.
But that’s not me. I’m not that girl:bold.
But right now I’m feeling alittlemore daring than my usual, soft ways, the manner of going through the world without everreallyputting myself on theline.
I guess I’ve never been as brazen as I am right now because no one’s ever inspired me the way Liamdoes.
“Well?”
I clasp my hands together and look around casually to see if anyone’s looking at us, like my mom and dad specifically. They’re not — my mom is on the phone, probably with a vendor, and my dad is yucking it up with his brother and my sister’sfiancé.
“Sure,” Liam replies slowly. His eyes tell me I might be playing with fire, my rebellion now not that modest. We start walking, leaving the party behindus.
“It’s beautiful here,” I say, my belly full of big, loose knots tying and untying in perpetual, smoothmotions.
He just grunts out a little response of agreement as we walk through the small thicket of trees. There’s a path, and it’s well-lit, and it’s far less scary out here than I’d thought it wouldbe.
When we get to the dock we walk down it slowly and we both jump into the lake. The water is warm and feels incredible, and I kick toward the surface, piercing it just in time to see Liam do the same, his taut, firm arm muscles glistening in the early-evening light as he scrubs his hand up and down his face. He shakes his hair out, getting a few droplets of water onme.
“Hey,” I say, flicking some water back at him, “I’d love to see your cabin sometime.”
“Maybe we’ll get some time this weekend for me to show it to you,” he says, his chest expanding with a big, deepbreath.
“Yes, that would befantastic!”
“It’s not cute or Instagram-worthy or anything. It’s really basic at this point, it has one couch and none of the appliances are hooked up. I think the only things it has is running water, a roof and afloor.”
“Running water, a roofanda floor? That’s the height ofluxury!”
He smiles and swims closer to me, and as he does, I feel my breathing become slightly more shallow. With a few strokes of his arms he erases the distance between us. We get close —soclose — and I swallow thickly as he slowly, underwater, wraps his arm around my back and pulls me close tohim.
And suddenly, I’m throwing my arms around his shoulder and our lips are on each other’s. He holds my body close to his and wraps both arms around me, gliding his tongue into my mouth. I part my lips, eager to let his tongue slide against mine, eager to have our lips lockedtogether.
He pulls away and looks into my eyes, and that’s when I grab his face, pull his lips to mine, and feel the entire world bleedaway.
