Trouble with the Fake Boyfriend (Rock Bottom #3) - Holly Renee Page 0,25

off the front of the boat like he wasn’t worried about alligators or fish or God only knows what.

But once he was gone, I was completely aware that only Liam and I remained.

“Why didn’t Jase and Sophie come again?” I picked up my bag and opened it like I was going to find something inside to save me.

“They couldn’t get out of work. That’s the sucky part of having a nine to five, I guess.”

I picked up my phone out of my bag. “Oh. I think Kennedy called. I better call her back.”

Liam pulled my phone from my hand before tossing it back down in my bag. “You’re not getting out of this, Brooke. Get your ass out of those clothes and let’s go.”

He sat down directly across from me, as if he was waiting for a show, and I hated that I somewhat felt self-conscious in front of him. I didn’t do self-conscious.

Not anymore.

I pulled my shirt over my head before tossing it in my bag, and I could feel Liam watching my every movement. I was wearing a red strapless bikini. It was modest to some, bordering on obscene to others. But I didn’t care.

I pulled my shorts down my legs then faced Liam with my arms crossed. “I really don’t think me getting in that lake is a good idea. I can’t even touch here.”

His gaze was lazy as he drug it from the tip of my toes all the way up until it reached my eyes. “Are you scared of the water?”

“No.” I pointed out toward the lake where everyone else was swimming without a damn worry. “But I can’t see through this water and something could eat me.”

He grinned, a huge, annoying grin. “There’s nothing in this water that will eat you.”

He stood up and I watched as he put the float in the water right in the front of the boat.

“Alligators.” He was crazy if he thought an alligator wouldn’t eat me.

“There are no alligators in Tennessee.”

Hmmm, I wasn’t sure if he was being honest or not. “Fish?”

“They might nibble on you, but they’re not going to eat you.” He grabbed a small cooler and set it in the center of the float.

That sounded terrifying.

“I didn’t think you were scared of anything.” He turned back toward me and tugged on my ponytail. “Get your ass on that float or I’ll throw you in.”

I turned my face to look at him in shock, but it was a mistake. His face was so damn close to mine, his lips barely a whisper away. It was probably the heat that was causing me not to think clearly, because all I could think about was pressing my lips against his.

“Liam, are you and your girl coming or what?” someone yelled from the water, and I was thankful for the distraction from his lips.

“Yeah.” He cleared his throat, and I wondered if he was just as distracted as I was. “We’re coming.”

He jumped in the lake, splashing cool water onto the boat, and as soon as he came up, he patted the seat of the float. “Let’s go, babe.”

I walked to the edge of the boat, and I looked out. I could see half the people watching us, and the other half pretending that they weren’t. I didn’t want to embarrass him in front of his friends, but wasn’t he the one who said they all shouldn’t like me so much.

I pressed a toe against the float, and it seemed pretty wobbly.

“Just get on the damn float, Brooke. I’ve never known you to be a chickenshit.”

I narrowed my eyes at him behind my sunglasses. I hated that he knew how to push my buttons, but I refused to let him win. I bent down, pulling the float closer to me, and I climbed on while silently praying I didn’t fall in.

My butt touched the cold water along with my feet, but miraculously everything else stayed on the float.

“Was that so hard?” Liam flicked some water at me, but I ignored him and leaned my head back into the sun. If I was going to be out here, the least I could do was get a good tan out of it.

The float started moving, hard, and I gripped the nonexistent handles while Liam started climbing onto the float with no care if it tipped over or not.

“I swear to God, Liam, if you tip this over.”

He plopped into the seat without an ounce of grace and looked over at me