The Pass (Smart Jocks #5) - Rebecca Jenshak Page 0,59
We’re having dinner and then Tanner and I are going out.”
“Okay. Have fun. Enjoy the time with your man and forget about Tara.”
I wish that last part was as easy as the first. Tanner and I have no problem enjoying ourselves. We never have.
After we take the jet skis around the lake, we take the boat to his favorite spot and jump in the water. He rests on a floatie and I wrap myself around him.
“I love being out here at night.” I tip my head back and look up into the dark sky. “It feels like it’s our own personal lake.”
“Someday we can build a house right over there.” His lips find my shoulder and one hand lifts from the water to point to an unbuilt area between two houses. They set far enough back from the water that the spot still feels private.
“A lot of assumptions in that statement.”
He chuckles softly. “You don’t think the land is for sale?”
“That was at the bottom of my concerns.”
“Well, you’re stuck with me and I’m going to have a place here someday, so pick your spot.”
“Stuck with you, huh?”
“Like glue.”
“I don’t need glue. That should be obvious after two years.” I swallow thickly. “Even if things didn’t work out between us as a couple, I’d still want you in my life.”
“Same, babe. We need those best friends forever necklaces where we each get half a heart.”
“I am not wearing BFF necklaces with you.”
“Matching tattoos?”
I groan. “That’s like the kiss of death for any relationship.”
“I’m going to think of something,” he says. “Some symbolic way to show the whole world we’re two peas in a pod. Peas in a pod… maybe there’s something there.”
Shaking my head, I can’t help but laugh. “You’re the least sentimental and symbolic person I know.”
His jaw drops.
“Don’t even pretend to be offended. You throw away every birthday card and handwritten letter, photos…”
“It’s just stuff. Doesn’t mean I don’t appreciate the sentiment.”
“I suppose.”
As we go quiet, I’m lost in my own thoughts about his sister and everything she said. I want to ask him what will happen with us when we get back to Valley, but I can’t bring myself to ask. Before Tara mentioned it, I hadn’t thought of myself as a rebound, but is that what I’ve been? Not just this time, but always?
Not that we hooked up or any of that before, but after every breakup, we always spend more time together. Each time I wondered if it would be the time that something might happen between us. I tried not to acknowledge the thoughts, but they were there.
Now that it’s happened, I have to wonder, am I Tanner’s fall back girl? Would we have ever gotten together if we hadn’t been alone together at the lake?
I know that he would never use me like that on purpose, and if I voiced my worries, he’d probably have something reassuring to say to ease my mind, but I don’t want to ruin what’s left of his time here at the lake. He already has a lot on his plate he’s trying to avoid. Two more weeks of his last carefree summer. I’d have to be a monster to wreck that.
And maybe I want to enjoy these last carefree moments with him without risking it blowing up in my face.
“Let’s go up on the boat.” I glide my hands over his abs and wriggle against his crotch.
“Don’t have to ask me twice.” He swims with me attached to his front. I let go when we reach the ladder and hurry up. Tanner’s right behind me and swoops me up. He sits on the bench in the back of the boat with me on his lap.
Goose bumps pop up along my arms and legs from the chill of the night air on my wet skin. Tanner runs his calloused palms up my back. He cradles my neck with one hand and the other travels down to my hip and slides under the fabric of my bikini bottoms.
His mouth takes mine and his tongue demands entrance immediately. The warmth of his mouth and the friction of our bodies pressed together chases the chill.
The gentle sway of the boat does a lot of the work for us, brushing my center against his. Tanner’s lips move down my face to my neck and then my chest. He kisses my exposed flesh and then his hot suction covers my nipple through the spandex material.