Sinful Ever After - Vivian Wood Page 0,25

his eyes again but lets that pass without commenting. Instead he changes the subject.

“There are a bunch of hot springs around,” Aiden says, looking around. “And Native American burial sites.” He pauses. “My mom was crazy about Native American stuff. When we were kids, she would drag us all over New York and New Jersey to see different kinds of ruins.”

I swallow hard. It’s the first time he’s ever mentioned anything about his mom, aside from her death and the fact that she might have lived on the Morgan estate.

“That must’ve been interesting,” I chip in.

He laughs. “Are you kidding? Taking two kids under the age of ten to study old artifacts? Eve and I thought it was torture.” He smiles ruefully. “In retrospect, I think that she just wanted to get us out of the house and away from my father for a little while.”

I’m not stupid. I know that Aiden’s dad was pretty terrible to him, even though I never met the older Moreland. So I just let that slip by. While I’m thinking, though, Aiden starts packing up.

“Please don't let that mean that we’re going to hike again,” I groan.

He slides me a look. “I thought that we could roll up our pant legs and dangle our feet in the water at the hot springs. There is one just up there.”

He points to the river behind me. I glance in that direction, then nod. “Okay. But only if I can carry the trail mix with me.”

He grins, shouldering his backpack. “Deal.”

I pick up my own backpack, even though my feet protest at the slight burden. It turns out that he is right about the proximity of the hot springs. It must be a popular destination, because a path is cut out of the riverbed. He leads the way around the rushing river, only going about a thousand feet before it slows to a gurgle. There is a post driven into the ground, topped with a little weathered gray paint.

Aiden slings his bag to the ground and starts rolling his pants up. I drop my bag beside him and walk to the river’s edge. There I find a flat shelf of dirt and the clearest water I think I’ve ever seen. I judge it to be about chest high, if I were to climb in. I can just barely make out a little steam rising from the water.

“How deep is—” I start to ask, turning toward Aiden.

But he surprises me by being right behind me. I’m thrown off balance, waving my arms in a manic pinwheel as I start to topple backward. Aiden reaches for me, grabbing my arm. I clutch at him, shifting his balance too.

My eyes widen as we both fall headfirst into the water, landing with an indelicate sploosh. It’s surprisingly not freezing cold. My brain registers the warmth of the water, like putting your head under water in a hot bath. For a moment I’m submerged in the water, helplessly falling underneath Aiden’s heavy form. But then something kicks in, some survival instinct or something, and I struggle to the surface of the water.

I gulp huge breaths of air as I come back up, wiping my face. Aiden is doing the same thing right beside me, scowling. He looks like a very grumpy and very wet pet dog.

I can’t help the smile that stretches across my face, or the breathless laugher that bursts past my lips. He glares at me, paddling halfheartedly against the river’s current. I sort of doggy paddle toward the riverbank, only to have his hand grab my arm.

I whirl around to face him. “I can’t swim!” I remind him. “Let me go.”

He rolls his eyes. “You’re not going to drown in here. It’s waist deep.”

To prove it, he gathers me in his arms and stands briefly, the water sluicing away from his body with ease. We steam gently in the open air, making me shiver. Then he drops back into the water.

But he doesn’t let go of me. I cling to him, breathing hard. He looks down at me with a smirk. His eyes drift briefly down to my lips and he swallows. All I can hear is my heartbeat sounding its ballad in my ears.

Oh my god, are we about to kiss?

“You really should learn to swim,” he says, looking back into my eyes. “Can I teach you?”

I try not to deflate like a balloon. “Oh. Sure?”

He releases his hold on me and I stand up in the river,