Page 45 of Riding the Line
Her eyes flash.
‘It makes me feel … daring.’ Cherry swishes her arms along the surface, creating gentle ripples. Neither of us have looked away from the other’s eyes, almost like we’re both waiting to catch the other first. Waiting for the other to cross that line. ‘How does it makeyoufeel?’
How does being naked in a pool with the girl I’ve had to fight against my own dreams about, who also happens to be my best friend’s little sister, make me feel?
‘Conflicted,’ I grunt out.
‘Because you think Wyatt would be annoyed?’
I nod.
‘Do you think he’d be annoyed if …’ Cherry wades forwards, forcing me back – except I can’t move any further, because I’m already against the wall. She doesn’t stop until there’s barely a few inches between us, my body tightening in response. Up close, she looks even more radiant under the moonlight. Too angelic considering that she’s just cornered me.Naked.
‘If I did this,’ she finishes and lifts her arms out of the water, settling them on top of my shoulders. My breath catches in my throat. All the wires in my brain are suddenly frazzled, burned by her touch. By her boldness.
All I can do is nod again.
Because I want this so badly.
I want to feel her wet skin on mine, every inch of her beautiful, bare body pressed against me. I want to flip us around, press her back against the wall, and take her right here. I want to hear the water crashing around us as our bodies slam together.
Cherry’s eyes flick between mine, searching. ‘And what about this?’ Then, she shifts up and wraps her legs around my hips—
I reach out and grab her waist to stop her body from being flush against mine. From feeling how painfully hard I am. A small whimper leaves her lips as my hands splay across her ribs. My grip is tighter than I’d like, but it’s only evidence of how hard I’m fighting myself on this.
Finally, I break our stare and close my eyes, begging for my body to gain some control over itself. Holding her like this, learning what the bare,wetskin of her waist feels like in my hands, is making me second-guess whether this is reality.
‘Closing-time argument,’ she whispers, her breath caressing my lips. Cherry leans her face closer to me, faintly –so faintly– brushing her lips against mine, as she ponders, ‘Kissing your best friend’s little sister. For or against?’
‘Against,’ I lie, but don’t move my mouth away.
‘Fine, I’ll start.’ Her cold fingers trace the tattoos over my shoulder, where my sleeve starts, every inch of my skin lighting up under her touch. Each word comes out as a breath. ‘I think it would feel really, really good.’
My arms tremble, trying to keep her where she is. Any closer to my body and she’ll feel exactly how much I agree with the idea that kissing her would feelreally, really good.
I open my eyes just as I say, ‘It would be wrong.’
Her nail drags up my neck, my cock throbbing in response. ‘That makes it hotter.’
‘Wyatt would kill me.’
‘Wyatt?’ Cherry angles her head, blinking big doe eyes at me with the most innocent of smiles. ‘Who said I was talking aboutus?’
With that, she pushes off me, twisting around as she falls into a leisurely swim, giving me another flash of her ass. It’s then I realise little Cherry Hensley knowsexactlyhow much power she holds over me.
And I am completely and utterly fucked.
21
Cherry
‘You always were a natural in the saddle – I have no doubt you’ll jump up onto that horse tomorrow and be galloping off with ease. You’ve got this, Baby Hensley.’
Duke’s parting words from our phone call last night run through my mind as I watch Fliss lead one of the horses into the corral. I’m leaning against the fence, readying myself for this riding lesson – eight years of fear bubbling to the surface, which I confessed all about to Duke on the phone too.
I know it’s probably not healthy that I’ve been trusting him to help me get to sleep every night since last weekend – that I’m reliant on his soothing voice to keep my mind calm when soon I’ll be without him completely … Except, the rational part of my brain that tells me to not get so attached just doesn’t seem as convincing anymore. Because after the moment we had in the pool on Thursday, something tells mehewouldn’t be so opposed to that idea either. I could practically hear thecracks in all the walls he’s been building between us. They echoed along the dark water’s surface, inviting me to slip between them. Toexplore.
It’s safe to say I didnotsleep much that night. Too many hot, wet thoughts swirling through my mind.
