Page 40 of Losing Forever
I'm not much better than he is, either. I don't know how to be friends with a guy like Grayson. In high school and my first year in college, I had guy friends. Most often the guys wanted more, and the friendship ended because I didn’t feel the same. A few times, those guy friends kissed me, taking me by surprise. In no way did I want to kiss them back. It was as if I had a sign taped to my shirt that saidmake a move. Those guys never considered me, only whattheywanted.
With Grayson, however, I want him to kiss me and do more. It would have to be a secret. Noah could never find out. He'd freak and blame Grayson more than me, even though I'd be as much to blame.
Grayson slows the engine and pulls the boat to a narrow dock off a small island. A sandy beach follows half of the shore to where it meets mangroves, like the ones in the back of our house that lead to the water.
I leave my hat on the boat and help Grayson tie the ropes to the dock. When we're finished, he stands and gazes at the sandy shore in awe. “Man, I haven't been here in forever. It seems smaller than I remember.”
I stop at his side. “Or you're bigger.”
He lets out a short laugh and rumples his hair. “I am bigger, but I don't think that's it.” He takes my hand as if it's natural and heads for the beach. “Noah and I used to spend a month at his family’s coastal house every summer. That's when we would sneak the dingy out and row to the island. Local kids were always partying here at night.”
“And it was legal?”
He laughs again, this time harder. “It wasn't legal, but cops don't come out on the water. Besides, it's far enough away that no one heard us.”
I scan the shoreline in the distance, where big houses with docks border the water. “That's far to row.”
“It sure as hell is.” He grins. “But what awaited us was worth it.”
We step onto gravelly sand. It sinks between my toes, but it isn't too hot. Sometimes the sand here can burn. But like Grayson said, the trees on the island offer a good amount of shade. “What awaited you guys? Girls?”
He gives my hand a tiny squeeze, although I think it is subconscious. “Girls, beers, and the most awesome zip line ever.”
“A zip line?”
He smiles at me. “I built it myself.”
“By yourself?”
Ahead, the mangroves part. We steer toward it.
He shrugs. “Noah helped, but I designed it and oversaw the project.”
That gets a laugh from me.
He stops at the opening in the shrubbery and peers at what might have once been a path but now is overgrown. Grayson drops my hand and scratches his head. “Huh? Looks like no one has been here in a while.”
Concern creeps up on me. “Do you think it's okay for us to be here?”
“Yeah. I’m not worried about that. I just forgot my machete, so unless I can find a big stick, we're not getting through.”
Machete? He's not serious. “Maybe we should skip the island.”
He turns his bright face in my direction, his violet eyes filled with mischief. “You're not scared, are you?”
“No,” I lie. I am scared—of lizards, thorny bushes, fleas, snakes, and whatever else might be in there—but his challenge feels good. No one does that anymore. They're always handling me with white gloves, as if I might break. “I'm game if you are,” I say with a rush of excitement.
“Good.” His gaze darts over my shoulder. “Because I found my stick.”
He slides a thumb under my bottom lip so quickly I almost miss it before he walks off. A short distance away, a thick branch curves like an arch from a tree that has a gray trunk and no leaves.
Grayson jumps and grips the branch. It cracks right off. The stick is longer than a baseball bat and a little thicker.
“How do you know that won't snap in half when you use it, like the way it just did from that tree?” I ask.
He swings the stick in the air the way a baseball player swings his bat when warming up. His torso muscles flex as he walks toward me, like a tan beach god in his navy board shorts. His golden-brown hair falls in messy waves around his face. It goes nicely with his light scruff. I should stop checking him out.
“I think it will stand up to the brush and spider webs.”
