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“We better get back. Looks like they’re heading in.” Hegestures at the boat, everyone scrambling to climb aboard as more thunder rumbles in the distance.
“Yeah, we better hustle.” I slip off the float, dropping down into the water. “I’m helping this time. We don’t want to get stuck out here.”
“Fine. Let’s go.”
Together, Cam and I swim back to the boat in silence. My mind’s racing, replaying the last few minutes on loop.
Was Cam about to kiss me or was that my imagination running wild?
The first large raindrops plop into the lake and I kick harder and faster. Then the rain really starts, moving quickly from a few drops to hard sheets sloshing down, blurring my vision.
“Come on, Trouble, we’re almost back. We’ve got this,” Cam says, taking over the float fully. I don’t argue with him about the tube, panic starting to creep in. I didn’t realize how far out we were and the motor’s already cranked on the boat. I know Gracelyn won’t let them leave us behind, but I’m still worried.
“Just a few more yards, you’ve got it.” Cam’s calm, soothing voice coaches me along and I relax a teensy bit. “Almost there?—”
Finally, we’re within arm’s reach of the boat and I can catch my breath. My legs ache from kicking so fast and cold rain’s pounding down all around us, the water sluicing down my face into my eyes.
“Good girl,” Cam murmurs into my ear, the low rumble of his words barely audible over the storm. He grips my waist, helping me onto the ladder and I scramble onto the boat, endorphins pumping through me. From the swim, the storm.
But mostly from Cam.
“Well, that came out of nowhere,” Gracelyn shouts over the roar of the motor as Cam and I squish down onto the seat next to her. She throws us a towel and Cam catches it, spreading it over my shoulders first, then his. We huddle together under the towel, wind whipping cold rain into our faces as we speed back to Thunder Creek and reality.
CHAPTER 12
CAM
That was a close one.
If the storm hadn’t kicked up out of nowhere, I definitely would have kissed Sloane out there on the sandbar.
Another mistake to add to my increasingly long list of fuck-ups.
No matter how badly I want to feel her lips on mine, taste her, breathe her in, deep down I know I shouldn’t go there.
Besides being Coach’s daughter, she’s too good for me, too pure. I’ve done things I’m not proud of. Things I don’t want her to know about, let alone get dragged into.
Sloane shouldn’t get involved with me and all my screw ups. She has marriage and babies and white picket fences written all over her. I want to play football and stay out of the headlines.
Even if her hand fits perfectly in mine.
Her smile lights me up from the inside out.
And being in a room with her makes it easier to breathe.
It’s not enough.
I’ll never be enough.
I’d be selfish to make her mine.
No matter how badly I want her.
I need to keep my distance. Get my life back on track, then get the hell out of Thunder Creek for good.
As soon as we’re back at the house, I cut the engine and unlock the doors, darting from the car to the safety of my room. I can’t trust myself sitting in such close proximity to her, the intoxicating scent of her filling the air, wrapping around me and making it hard to think.
Nope.
