Then, I tear my shirt off and her eyebrows shoot to her forehead.
“In your underwear?”
“Yeah, you got a problem with that?” My shorts come off next, and I’m standing in my tight black boxers which were not made for swimming, but I don’t care. Yeah, I’ve had too many drinks already today, but it doesn’t stop me from grabbing my drink and beating Hanna to the pool. Setting it down on the deck, I make a quick dive into the water. It’s warm without being hot, perfect for tepid nights like tonight. It’s not too hot out here this time of year, but just right for an evening swim. Just as I come up, I spot her sitting on the edge, her legs dangling into the water.
“That’s not swimming,” I say, gliding over to her, placing my hands on her legs.
Is it too obvious I’m trying to play nice? Can they tell I’m trying way too fucking hard to not be an asshole? Probably, but the whiskey helps convince me I’m doing the right thing.
Thanks, whiskey.
“Nash!” She yelps as I pull her under, my hands gliding up from her legs to her soft waist, my fingers dancing over her ribs, feeling each bone under her skin.
I should have made her dinner. Now I feel like an asshole, but as we both pop back up, the water running in rivulets out of her thick black curls and over her skin, I fight the urge to kiss her.
“You’re too skinny,” I say as soon as we come out of the water, and her smile fades in a blink.
“You know that’s just as rude as telling someone they’re too fat.”
“Well, you are.” She pushes against my chest, but I wind my hands around her waist, holding her to me. “I’m sorry if that’s rude, but I want you to eat more.” I’m not trying to start a fight, but the harsh expression on her face tells me she thinks I am and she’s readying herself for battle.
“I’m just worried about you, that’s all.”
With her one blue and one brown eye laser focused on my face, her struggle dissipates.
“I’m fine, Nash.”
“Are you?”
It’s a quiet, intimate moment as we stare at each other and I guess I’m probably bringing up the elephant in the room, but I was the one who picked her up that night. She never wants to tell me what’s going on with her, and maybe she thinks I don’t care. But I do care. I care she had a very public breakdown last year. I care that she’s living in such misery now that she ran off to my island to escape. I care this was supposed to be a safe place for her and instead, I yelled at her and called her a slut.
I care that she should hate me, but I hope to fucking God she doesn’t.
From the corner of my eye, I see Ellis approach. In his hands is a round wooden tray, and he sets it down on the pool deck next to our drinks. Hanna and I both look over and notice that while we weren’t looking, he must have put together this cheese tray assembled with two different kinds of cheese, sausage, crackers and some grapes.
“Thank you,” she says sweetly to him.
Why couldn’t I do that? Why do I have to push her buttons? Basically insult her when all I wanted to do was what he just did?
He gives me a momentary glance before he goes back to his chair around the patio table.
Hanna dives into the food Ellis brought out, and we both watch with satisfaction as she practically demolishes it. When she takes her last sip of wine, he’s quick to replenish it for her.
“Thanks guys,” she says. “I could get used to this. You two could really take good care of me, couldn’t you?”
Our eyes meet immediately. The innuendo was obvious, wasn’t it? That wasn’t just in my head, and suddenly as I glare at him over her head I’m back in Amsterdam, sitting around with some girl, waiting to take things to the next level.
But this isn’t Amsterdam. And Hanna is not just another girl. That is not happening with her.
What is happening is at the end of this night, she will be in my bed. I’m going to make things up to her the right way, without fighting, without letting my insecurities win, without hurting her in the process.
Just thinking about it has my dick twitching in my soaking boxers.