Page 18 of Only One Tent
Cody jumped up and down again. “Yeah! Let’s go swimming, Daddy.” When the three of us were back together, Cody grabbed Warner’s hand and tugged him back the way we came.
“Daddy, huh?” I had to give him shit, but we both enjoyed the daddy/boy dynamic in a relationship. Oh. I let that slip with Skyler earlier. Maybe that’s why he ran so fast? If that was going to scare him, I didn’t think we’d work out anyway. But there was still something inside me that simply did not want to let go.
“Don’t act like you don’t know.Daddy Crow.” Warner mocked me.
“No need to get sarcastic with me.”
“Whatever.”
I had nothing else to say to that. Or anything, really. I was at a loss for what to do about Skyler and felt like maybe nothing was going to work. I shouldn’t continue to pursue someone who obviously wasn’t a fit for me, regardless of potential. With a long sigh, I shoved thoughts of him down so I could enjoy the day. And the swim.
Chapter thirteen
Swimming
I left my clothes, boots, and phone with Drew on the benches that surrounded the upper level of the swimming hole. He would be taking turns with Justin, Danny, and Lee, watching all of our belongings, so I felt safe to leave it and head to the water.
I jumped in and swam out to the buoy and rope barrier constructed to mark the edge of the swimming area. The water was so cold and felt great. After hiking for most of the morning, I felt hot and needed refreshing.
I paddled around and chatted with a few other guys from the law firm. I wanted to stay in the water, but I kept eyeing the ladders. Dog paddling where I couldn’t touch the bottom was exhausting, and it was deep everywhere. I floated on my back for a bit but didn’t trust I wouldn’t bump into anyone or that someone wouldn’t bump into me. I couldn’t relax enough with so many people around, and honestly, most of them weren’t from our trip.
The ladder closest to me had a bunch of kids hanging all over it, but it started thinning out, so I made my way over. I needed to get out for a little bit.
Before I could get far, my day was ruined. Crow popped up in front of me with that snarky-ass grin of his that made my stomach flutter.
“Sky. Here. Want to use these?” He thrust two pool noodles at me.
The fucker. Why did he have to be so sweet? “Yeah. Uh, thanks.” I lowered my eyes. Mother fucker. He had woken up next to me this morning on the ground. And then took pity on me and blew me to take care of my raging hard-on. Well, it was his fault I had one, so that seemed fair. But then I ran. And he came after me, saving me from an embarrassing situation. And I repaid him by running and hiding. Again. I’d been avoiding him all day.So mature, Sky—not.But I couldn’t avoid him now.
I slung my arms over the floaties and kicked my feet, taking me over to a more open spot near the edge of the area. I turned and was not surprised at all that Crow had followed me. “This water feels really good, doesn’t it?”
“Yeah, it does. These help though.”
“Thought they might.”
“Crow, uh…I don’t want things to be awkward between us. I’m sorry I ran off this morning.” Words tumbled out of my mouth, completely different than what I had intended to say. Sorry? Was I?
His brown eyes widened and darkened, though they were already so dark, I hardly thought it possible, but he’d proven me wrong again. “I…”
Just that one word. Why did my heart hammer so hard? Fuck it.
I leaned closer and gently kissed his wet lips.
“Yeah?” he asked when I pulled back. I shrugged. I didn’t know what the hell I was doing. I had to admit that Crow was sexy, and apparently, against my brain’s judgements, my body wanted to climb him. In fact, I wrapped my legs around his waist and shifted my floats behind me, hooked under my arms. Feeling him against me like that made my brain short-circuit. “This is a family-friendly area, you know?”
I huffed. “Whatever.” And kicked away from him.
He grabbed my ankle and pulled me back toward him. “Don’t run, Sky.”
“Is it gonna make you chase me?”
He didn’t answer that question. He raised an eyebrow, then let me go, leaning back and closing his eyes. He looked peaceful, so I did the same. It seemed I wasn’t wrong though. When he pushed, I ran, and he chased. Was that how it was supposed to go? No. But I didn’t know if we had any kind of future together. So many issues. Not the least of which was that he’d betrayed me once already. How could I trust him?
We sat together on the bus back to the campsite, and he held my hand. Maybe I had Crow pegged wrong. Whatever happened back then, or what I thought, Crow was being so nice to me now. Maybe it was his way of apologizing? Maybe we could have something here. Friends with benefits? I wasn’t sure about any of it.
The rest of the night and through dinner, I was nervous. Crow pulled me with him to sit with his friends while we ate. Since we’d been gone most of the day, dinner was bought. Fried chicken, mac and cheese, rolls, and some people were eating salad, but I didn’t. I ate enough salad normally. Lived off it. But this was vacation, so hard pass for me on that one.
Cody was fun and reminded me a little bit of Danny. So much energy just waiting to burst out. But his boyfriend, Warner, managed to keep him contained. Cody called him his daddy, but he didn’t seem like a Little. But what the fuck did I know about it? Danny and Levi were both Littles, but both were very different. So, I could be wrong. Either way, I didn’t ask. Instead, we talked about music and movies. Pop culture felt like safe territory.
