to do, staying still as he throws his t-shirt onto the towel. It takes everything I have to keep my eyes on his face and resist the temptation of my gaze dropping to his torso.
“Come on,” he says, and I can’t resist any longer. My eyes slide down, and to my pleasant surprise, he actually has a couple of abs, not an ounce of fat on him, and golden skin covered by a couple of freckles, which I really wouldn’t mind licking.
This boy is doing strange things to me.
He reaches for the button on his jeans, and it’s enough of a shock to snap me out of my daze. “What are you doing?!”
“We’re going in.”
“We are not.”
“Come on, Abigail. Live a little.”
“I…I don’t…I don’t have my bathing suit.”
He winks at me. “I don’t mind.”
My insides knot at his words, and I’m pretty sure right now my face isn’t hiding just how attracted to him I am.
He laughs at me and then is pulling down his jeans and kicking them off before running into the ocean in his black boxers, giving me just enough of a view to know I want to attach myself to him.
I watch as he runs into the water, splashing around then diving in head first.
All my insecurities come to the forefront as I consider what to do. The sun is bright, so there’ll be no hiding every imperfection of my body, and I’ve just stuffed my face with tacos and soda, so I’m probably bloated and unattractive. I’m not even sure if I’m wearing matching underwear right now.
“Abigail!”
I turn to look at him, contemplating what to do, and as Brett ducks under again, I know with absolute certainty that he won’t give a crap what I look like, or what my insecurities are. Right now, all he cares about is taking my mind off my grades and making me relax.
And the sight of him in his boxers is certainly doing that.
I reach for the hem of my t-shirt, pulling it over my head before I can stop myself, revealing a cute bralette my mom bought me last year. Then I pull off my shorts, grateful that even though my underwear doesn’t match exactly, it’s at least the right color.
I look back to the ocean and see that Brett’s stopped messing around and instead has his eyes pinned on me. My stomach flips at the look on his face, and I sweep all my insecurities from my mind as I run to join him, shrieking at the initial cold before diving under and coming up spluttering.
He laughs, moving closer so that he’s within touching distance of me, and I really want him to touch me. I really, really want him to touch me right now.
“It’s good, huh?”
“It’s freezing.”
“It’s the Atlantic—clears the mind.”
The only thing on my mind right now is him. Him, him, him.
Another gentle wave comes in, lifting me off my feet as it does, and he reaches out to grab me, his hands going to my hips to stop me from moving away.
I feel like my body is on fire where he’s touching me, where his right thumb strokes gently against my hip, and I have never wanted to kiss somebody so badly in my life. The way he’s looking at me right now, I think he might be feeling the exact same way.
I take a deep breath, pushing myself to be the bravest I’ve ever been, and make a snap decision.
I want this.
I lean into him, just slightly, tilting my head up to his, and I swear he reacts, swear for just a second he starts to do the exact same thing—before another wave comes along, shifting us again, and this time, he lets go.
This time he takes a purposeful step back, away from me, turning and ducking back into the water then coming up even farther away from me.
“The ocean’s kinda rough today, huh?”
My heart drops.
He doesn’t want me. He’s brushing that moment away and acting like it never happened.
He might see me as a friend now, but that’s where it ends.
He doesn’t see me like that at all.
“Maybe we should go back in?”
I try not to let any emotion show on my face as I follow his lead, heading back to the towels and quickly engulfing my body in one, turning away to hide any hurt that might be visible on my face. I hurriedly dry my skin, throw my clothes back on over my wet underwear, and try to act like