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  “Yeah, right.” Rich placed his hand across his toned chest to defend his honor. “I would never cheat when it comes to taking money from my friends.”

  Before I could say another word, I saw her. Swaying down the beach directly toward us was my worst nightmare.

  Jessica.

  Jessica and I had been best friends since kindergarten and next door neighbors until we’d moved into my grandfather’s house, but our friendship ended as soon as she admitted to sleeping with Jeremy. An act that I would never forgive or forget. I hadn’t seen her since summer began, and I hadn’t prepared to run into her today.

  She walked two feet from our blanket and set her bag down. The girl next to her, who I guessed was a new friend from college, threw her bag down and began to spread her towel on the sand.

  “Hey, Rich. I’ve missed you,” Jessica cooed, not acknowledging my existence.

  Rich stood between us in shock with his mouth hanging open. He couldn’t seem to find the words to respond.

  Before I could say anything, Lexy jumped to my defense. “Oh, hell no, Jessica. Move your stuff.”

  Jessica rolled her gray eyes. “Don’t be a drama queen, Lexy. It’s the only free spot near everyone.”

  Lexy took a step toward her. “That works for us because no one wants you here.”

  Jessica began to shake out her towel and lay it on the sand.

  Lexy took another step forward, grabbed her bag, and pushed it back into her arms. “Take this and leave!” she shouted, pointing toward the other end of the beach.

  “Are you kidding?” Jessica said, finally looking my way.

  Rolling my eyes, I turned the other way and began to peel off my white tank top. I didn’t have the energy to deal with Jessica. I just wanted to get a tan.

  Seeing that Jessica had already packed on the ‘freshman fifteen’, and knowing I was in the best shape of my life, I made a show of folding my tank top and bending down to place it in my bag. Unbuttoning my cut-off shorts, I slowly slid them down my legs, revealing my turquoise and black string bikini.

  I quickly checked my phone before throwing it in the bag and saw a text message from Jeremy.

  Happy 4th Babe! Wish I was at the lake with you!

  I was beyond ready for him to leave me alone. Maybe I should get a new phone number.

  “Damn, Bailey,” Holden stared as he grabbed a beer from his cooler. “You look good.”

  Grateful he had pulled me in from my thoughts, I smiled, knowing it would drive Jessica crazy that the attention wasn’t on her.

  I heard her huff from behind me. “We will be at the bonfire later. You don’t own the beach.”

  Lexy laughed as Jessica and her friend stomped away to sit among families with small children.

  “Thanks,” I looked at Lexy. “I just can’t deal with that today.”

  “Or any day for that matter,” Lexy added, rolling her eyes.

  I looked up, noticing for the first time that Ty was standing on our blanket, four feet away from me, allowing his eyes to travel up and down my body. Still irritated by Jessica’s presence, I stepped toward Ty and leaned down to the blue ice chest that was next to his right foot, opening the lid.

  Knowing we were underage, we had come up with several clever ideas on how to break the law. I opened the punch container we had packed and poured the orange juice and vodka mixture into a styrofoam cup. Shutting the lid, I looked up at Ty.

  “Cheers,” I smirked and turned to my place on the blanket.

  Taking a long drink to try and calm my nerves, I lay back on the blanket and attempted to relax.

  “So, who was that?” Ty asked, sitting next to me on the blanket.

  “That was Jessica,” I replied, taking another drink.

  “And?” he asked, still digging for details.

  “And nothing,” I snarked back. “Go talk to her if you want to know everything about her.”

  “Well, I guess that’s what I’ll have to do. It wouldn’t be the end of the world if you realized that you can trust me, Bailey. I’m not everyone else.”

  He stood and walked toward the water.

  Ty made his way to his jet ski, and every girl in the water approached him to ask for a ride. He blatantly ignored each one of them until he was sitting on his jet ski alone and cranked the engine. With one quick movement, he left a long wake behind him as he sped across the water. Watching every girl giggle as he disappeared across the water, I realized the crush I had been denying all along had suddenly surfaced. His sudden outburst sparked something deep within me, and I could no longer deny my feelings for him.

  Nearly a half hour later, I heard the engine of Ty’s jet ski pull up near the shore and the girls yelling his name, asking for a ride. Peeking through my sunglasses, I saw Jessica climb onto his jet ski and take a seat. In the same instant, Ty’s eyes locked with mine. Irritated and fueled with a small amount of vodka, I stood up. Never losing eye contact with Ty, I walked toward the jet ski.

  Grabbing the spare life jacket, I looked at Jessica. “Get off.”

  “Bailey, Ty wants to take me for a ride.” She winked in Ty’s direction, causing my anger to flare to new heights. “Ask him.”

  I glared at Jessica. “Get off or I’ll throw you off.”

  “You really need to get over your issues,” she growled as she jumped back into the water.

  I took a step toward her. “You really need to stop being such a bitch.”

  Ty stepped between us and grabbed my arms. “Let’s go for a ride.” His voice was calm, and it instantly slowed my heart that was threatening to beat out of my chest.

  I turned and climbed onto the jet ski, and he quickly followed. Sitting behind him, I wrapped my arms around his waist and wished the life jackets weren’t between us as I held tight. The engine roared, and we took off.

  Closing my eyes, I took deep breaths as the wind rushed past my face and through my hair. I quickly forgot about Jessica and the drama that came along with her. I felt Ty’s hand cover both of mine as the jet ski slowed and we came to a stop. We were sitting on the opposite side of the lake with no one else in sight.

  Ty shut off the engine and leaned into my embrace. “So do you want to tell me now who Jessica is?”

  A laugh escaped my mouth before I could catch it. “She is the source of any and all drama in my life.”

  He squeezed my hand again, waiting for me to answer.

  “Jessica was my best friend until a few months ago,” I sighed.

  “That whole scene makes more sense now, I guess.”

  “It’s the first time I’ve seen her since graduation.”

  Ty released my hand and stood on the jet ski. He turned so we were facing each other and sat back down. Pulling me closer to him, he placed his forehead on mine.

  “You can trust me, you know,” he almost whispered. “I’ve had my share of pain. Not much you can say will surprise me.”

  I closed my eyes and relaxed. “It might take me a while to believe that.”

  “I have time to wait,” he said, interlocking his fingers with mine.

  My heart skipped as soon as our fingers touched. Looking up, I saw that Ty was staring at my lips. With his free hand, he ran his fingers from my chin up my jaw to my cheek. Tilting my head back, his eyes met mine. It took every ounce of self control not to jump on top of him and attack his lips.

  Releasing my hand, he softly grabbed the other side of my face. Touching my bottom lip with his thumb, I released the breath I didn’t know I was holding. Tilting his head to the right and leaning forward, Ty’s lips met mine.

  His lips were warm and soft in the summer heat, and I couldn’t get enough. My hands ran their way up Ty’s life jacket, grasping the back of his neck. Grabbing me tighter, Ty fought with the life jackets that kept us apart. Unbuckling his vest first and then mine, Ty pulled me onto his lap.

  I greedily accepted his tongue as it found its way through my lips. His hands grazed up my thigh to my stomach. I broke away fro
m his lips and began to kiss along his jawline towards his right ear. A groan escaped my mouth as Ty pulled me further on top of him, and I felt him hard through his swim shorts. Finding his lips again, I parted my mouth for his tongue to enter. Ty’s hands moved back to my thighs and guided my rocking motion against him.

  Just when I thought I couldn’t take anymore without ripping both of our clothes off, I heard an engine closing in on our location. Separating his lips from mine, he looked up.

  Kissing me once more on the lips and moving me backward to my seat in one motion, Ty buckled my life vest.

  “If you don’t want to be part of the town’s gossip this week, we better stop for now.” He leaned his forehead against mine. “Unless you want to continue with an audience?”

  “Mmmm…” I hummed, not caring for the first time in a long time what anyone thought.

  Ty smiled and kissed me quickly again, turning in his seat. Switching on the engine, he grabbed my hands and wrapped them tightly around him. In one quick movement, we were speeding across the water and back toward the beach.

  ***

  Ty directed the jet ski back toward The Milt. Driving with one hand, the fingers of his free hand intertwined with mine. I leaned into him as he rubbed my palm with his thumb.

  A million thoughts were running through my mind. What the hell had just happened? And what did it mean? Surely Ty didn’t think we were an item now. No, he wouldn’t think that. We barely knew each other, and he knew I wasn’t ready for anything serious.

  Ty let go of my hand, then squeezed my knee. Pulling me in from my analyzing thoughts, he turned to me.

  “We’re back,” he said, turning off the engine and pulling close to shore.

  Without saying anything, I released my hands from his waist. Throwing my legs over the side of the jet ski, I shakily slid into the water. Thankful the water covered my wobbly legs, I stood still as I adjusted my bikini and unfastened the life vest.

  Ty jumped down next to me, making the water splash up around us. He had already taken off and tied his life vest to the jet ski. Throwing my vest onto the seat, Ty wrapped his arms around my waist and pulled me deeper into the water.

  Smiling from ear to ear, Ty looked into my eyes.

  “I knew you liked me,” he beamed.

  “Who said I liked you?” I challenged, shocked by his bluntness.

  “Hmmm, okay.” He was still smiling.

  We were deep enough in the water where our shoulders were barely above water. Grabbing my hips, Ty lifted me and wrapped my legs around his waist. Failing to keep my distance, I wrapped my arms around his neck and ran my fingers through his wet hair. It was weird how he made me forget that half of my high school was less than twenty feet away.

  “The new guy always gets the girl!” I heard Holden yell.

  Whistles and whoops came from across the lake, and my face turned a new shade of crimson. Releasing my hold on Ty, my peaceful expression immediately turned to a glare.

  “We can’t do this here,” I scolded.

  He just laughed and reached for my hand.

  I slapped it away and turned for the shore. I could hear him move behind me, but I continued toward the blanket. I couldn’t believe I just let that happen in front of everyone.

  “I thought you were going to give me a chance once school started!” Holden shouted as I passed him on the beach.

  “Shut up, Holden,” I huffed as I sat down on the blanket. Lying back, my thoughts invaded my mind again. What was I doing with Ty? This is exactly what I had promised myself wouldn’t happen.

  I felt someone lie down on the blanket next to me, and a few minutes later, Ty spoke.

  “Sorry, Bailey. I just got lost in the moment.”

  Not knowing what to say, or why I was this mad after I had just experienced the best kiss of my life, I only replied with, “It’s fine.”

  The next few hours were spent swimming, laying out and drinking orange juice and vodka. When the sun began to set, the boys gathered wood and dug a pit for our bonfire where we would cook hot dogs and then watch the fireworks from the shore.

  I pulled my white tank top and cut-off shorts back on before making my way to the bathroom at the entrance to the beach. Lexy caught up with me on my way back toward the bonfire.

  “What was that with Ty?” she exclaimed.

  “I don’t know. What did it look like?” I asked, not wanting to know. “What did everyone say?”

  “It looked like you two were in a love spell. Everyone was too shocked to say anything. I thought you swore off boys,” she said.

  “Yeah, I thought I did too.” I sighed. “How do I make it stop?”

  “Do you want it to stop?”

  “I’m not sure,” I said, staring at Ty across the fire.

  “He’s a good guy, Bailey. Give him a chance.”

  Linking arms, we walked past the bonfire and stood next to Ty and Colton near our blanket. Colton wrapped his arms around Lexy, leaving me and Ty to stand awkwardly next to each other.

  Our awkward moment turned tense the second Jessica slithered her way next to Ty.

  “So you never told me,” Jessica ran her hand up Ty’s arm, causing my blood to boil. “What are you doing in Milton?”

  “Why are you still in Milton?” I asked as I took a step forward, causing her to drop her hand.

  “Oh, Bailey,” she said in my direction. “I didn’t realize you were still here.”

  I laughed at her response, then before I could stop it, my hand landed across her right cheek. Shrieking in surprise, Jessica grabbed at the red mark that was across her face. Taking another step forward, I challenged her to make the next move. In true Jessica style, she simply rolled her eyes and turned in the other direction.

  What a coward!

  “That was classy, Bailey,” Jessica called out as she walked away. “Real classy.”

  “What a slut,” Lexy said loud enough for everyone to hear. “I’m glad you slapped her because I was about too.”

  “Let’s go for a walk.” Ty placed his hand on the small of my back to ensure I wasn’t going after Jessica.

  “Okay,” I replied as he pushed me in the opposite direction of her.

  Ty had changed into a light blue t-shirt and khaki shorts. His hair was a spiked mess from a day at the lake, and his face was slightly pink from his time in the sun. He was absolutely gorgeous walking next to the water in the moonlight.

  My hair was an absolute disaster tied on the top of my head, and any makeup I had on this morning was completely gone due to sunscreen and water. Stuffing my hands in my pockets, I suddenly felt uneasy walking next to Ty.

  He reached out and grabbed my hand. Interlocking his fingers with mine, he lifted my hand up and kissed my wrist.

  “You look beautiful.”

  Squinting my eyes at him, I spoke before I could stop myself. “Really? You stand here in your perfection, looking like you just came from a magazine shoot, and you think I’m beautiful? Give me a break,” I laughed.

  “So you do think I’m attractive.” He stopped walking and faced me, smiling.

  “I didn’t say that.” I immediately regretted my outburst.

  “Yes, you did. You like me and you think I’m hot.” He continued to smile and began walking again.

  “Well, now I just think you’re conceited,” I huffed. “And you shouldn’t refer to yourself as hot. It makes you the exact opposite of hot.”

  Ty laughed and squeezed my hand. Finding an isolated spot on the beach where we wouldn’t be seen by anyone, he stopped walking and sat down. Grabbing my hand, he pulled me onto the sand in front of him between his legs.

  Leaning my back into his strong chest, he wrapped his arms around my waist.

  “I’m sorry about earlier,” he said. “I was still caught up in the kiss, and I really didn’t think anyone would be watching. I’m not used to that.”

  “It’s okay,” I replied. “I knew they were watching, and in that moment I didn’t care. So
mehow you make me forget everything around me.”

  “Apparently I don’t help you forget about Jessica.”

  “Yeah,” I laughed. “You should work on that.”

  Ty smiled and kissed the top of my head. Relaxing into each other, we sat and listened to the waves and watched the night sky.

  After several minutes of silence, I sighed. “I’m not sure if I can promise anything right now.”

  He pulled me in even closer. “I’m not asking you to, but I’m not going anywhere. And, after that kiss today, I can promise that I’m going to kiss you every chance I get.”

  I smiled and leaned my head back into Ty’s neck. Wrapping his arms tighter around me, I ran my fingertips up and down his forearms.

  Before either of us could say anything, fireworks broke into the night sky. Turning my gaze upward, I allowed the blue and red explosions to erase any fear I had about letting Ty into my heart.

  ***

  Waking up the next morning, my headache reminded me of how relaxed the vodka allowed me to be. I remembered everything, but my feelings about the day before had shifted. I wanted to kiss Ty again, but I didn’t want to date him, and I definitely didn’t want to be his girlfriend. I had just become single, so I wasn’t ready for anything new.

  I groaned as I rolled out from under my white, fluffy comforter. Pulling on the first pair of shorts, shoes and tank top I could find from my closet, I headed for my bathroom. Splashing my face with cold water and brushing my teeth, I looked at myself in the mirror.

  I was tan from the summer sun, and lean from the extra workouts I had been doing lately. My hair had natural golden streaks that came each summer from time spent outside. My thoughts shifted to Ty and how good he looked yesterday at the beach, and how he kissed me on his jet ski.

  Mmmm…

  I wanted to do that again. He is going to be so mad when he realizes that I don’t want anything more than that, though. Throwing my towel onto the counter, I headed toward my bedroom door.

  I pulled my Jeep into a parking spot outside of the practice gym and noticed Ty’s truck was already there. I was really hoping he had decided to skip today. He was at my door before I could open it.