Page 87 of Beautiful Lies

He slides his glasses down his nose to look at me. “You’re beautiful when you get all worked up,” Adrian says, “but you’re fucking gorgeous when you’re relaxed.” He brushes his fingers over my sun-kissed arm, and I dare in the heat to get goosebumps.

“Thanks to you.” I drop my leg over his lap.

“As much as I would like to be the cause of it, no, baby, that’s all you.” He pushes the sunglasses back up his nose, covering his eyes, and tips his head back to the sun.

The use of the wordbabysettles over me, and I decide I like it as little butterflies flutter around inside my stomach. Adrian has me feeling like a high school girl with her first crush, and that’s not a bad feeling to have.

Up ahead, clusters of tubes start to move closer together as the rapids pick up and the canyon narrows.

“So how long have you and Finlay been together?” I ask Emma, making conversation.

“We’ve known each other since high school. Dated off and on, and then got pregnant with Layla.” She looks down at Layla, adjusting her hat.

“She’s very cute.” I peek under the hat and Layla narrows her eyes at me. “Kids don’t like me,” I say.

“She’s crabby because she got woken up from her nap early and then fell asleep on the bus,” Emma sighs.

After a moment, Emma turns to me while Adrian and Finlay are paddling us away from some overhanging trees. “I’ve known Adrian since high school and he’s always been annoyingly happy, but with you, he seems,” she pauses, and I’m not sure how I’ll feel about what she says next. Looking back at Adrian and Finlay who stand nearby in the water while holding the rope to the tubes, she finishes. “Satisfied.”

Nodding, I think I can accept that assessment. Both Emma and Finlay are good friends to him, but I can tell they aren’t really sure of me, and to be honest, I’m not really sure of me. Finlay jumps back in the tube and Adrian follows. Layla reaches for Finlay and he grabs her under her chubby arms, pulling her into his lap.

“But just for the record,” Emma adds, grabbing my attention and looking between Adrian and me. “The two of you would make beautiful babies.” She smiles and raises her eyebrows.

I choke on my water, trying hard to catch my breath and feeling the water burn in my nose. Adrian laughs as if it’s some kind of inside joke while trying to pat me on the back. “Have I missed something?” he asks while laughing.

“That’s not even remotely funny, Adrian,” I snipe, wiping my mouth with the back of my hand.

* * *

After about an hourtraveling down the river, the scenery changes from canyons to rolling hills, and finally to flat, rocky shores. The mountains are always present, looming in the distance.

“I’ve seen more boobs today than I have in my lifetime, and that’s counting my own,” I say, flicking water at Adrian’s bare chest to make sure he’s awake.

“I’m not complaining,” Finlay says.

“Don’t be a pig,” Emma chastises.

“I still can’t believe you’ve never been,” Adrian says, turning his attention to me.

“I was preoccupied by other things,” I say, grabbing a branch as we pass under a few mesquite trees that stretch over the river like giant tunnels. Our tubes temporarily stop, but as soon as I let go of the branch, the current takes us again. “I worked through school, and then I had Noelle…” I trail off.

Adrian grabs onto a bigger branch and pushes us off, angling the tubes toward the middle of the river that opens wider in this section, and I can tell the water is deep.

“I wish I would have known you back then,” he says.

“I was much nicer, so you probably wouldn’t have liked me,” I tease, but Adrian looks at me solemnly as if he can see right through my tough exterior to all the reasons why I’m jaded. The truth is, Adrian deserves the younger me, the girl with an open heart, but that’s not who I am anymore.

“I like you just the way you are.”

I lean towards him, pulling myself onto his lap.

“In your bed?” I whisper, kissing his cheek. “Against the door?” I ask, capturing his mouth. “In the cab of your truck?” I tease against his lips.

Adrian pauses but then cups the back of my head, pulling me further into him, kissing me deep and slow.

“I think you need to cool off,” he says, and before I can protest, he flips the tube, dropping us both into the water.

“Adrian!” I yell grabbing onto the side of the tube, but Adrian pulls me to him and kisses me, muffling my protests.

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