I read between the lines. While his family might be accepting of our untraditional mate dynamic, his community would not. My stomach twisted again, and I pressed a hand to it, reminding myself that this wasn’t a choice we’d made. Fate in her omniscience had chosen this for us. We just had to carry the burden of being unique. Thankfully, we had a lot of shoulders to spread out the weight.
“Do you have any siblings?” I asked, once again realizing just how little I knew about my guys.
Chase laughed lightly. “Oh, you know, just a few. If you consider twenty-three a few.”
My eyes went wide. “Twenty-three! Old Ones! How big is your house?”
“It’s big, but we’ve never all lived there at the same time. We all just come home for family events and holidays. I’m one of the youngest.” He shrugged. “I know things are a little different for you, but what’s your family dynamic like with the other girls?”
I sucked in a deep breath and let it fill my cheeks, then slowly exhaled. I’d never been asked this question before and wasn’t sure what to say. So, I went with my heart and spoke the truth, as I knew it.
“I love my sisters, but it’s complicated.” I kicked absently at a rock in the middle of the path and sent it skittering into the trees. “We weren’t allowed to develop personalities, not really. So, it’s kind of like we’re all going through adolescence now, even the older girls. We’re all just trying to figure out who we are. Sometimes, it’s a little disconcerting to see someone I’ve known my entire life suddenly become a different person altogether.”
Chase made a humming sound in his throat and nodded. “How do you think they’ll react to our little situation?”
I shrugged and shook my head. “I have no idea, but they supported my pink hair, so, maybe they’ll be cool.” I lifted my hands, dragging his up with mine. “Who the fuck knows.”
“Who indeed,” Chase echoed and grinned down at me.
We talked about his siblings, his parents, and extended family members, while we made our way further into the forest. He regaled me with stories of Christmases and birthday parties gone wrong that made me laugh until my face hurt. Eventually, the tension that had twisted my stomach at the mere mention of my family, dissipated, and I began to share memories of the good times. I kept the bad ones locked away, still, for another day when the sun wasn’t quite so bright.
The path narrowed after a while, so that we were forced to unlink our fingers and walk single file with Chase leading.
“Not that I’m complaining,” I called out as the terrain roughened considerably. “But you promised me a lake and I’m pretty sweaty back here.” I wiped a sheen of sweat from my forehead and took his offered hand from atop a huge boulder he’d climbed.
With a grunt, he pulled me up and into his chest, then lowered his lips to mine and murmured. “We’re here.”
I twisted away from his kiss, which was like butterflies whispering against my lips, and glanced over his shoulder, then gasped in delight.
"I knew you'd like it," Chase murmured, gently squeezing my hand before leading me towards the lake.
It was stunning. The lake, if you could call it a lake, was huge and as calm as a mirror. Mature trees lined its shores, broken only by sections of verdant grass that disappeared into smooth pebbles, then glistening water. The sun reflected off the surface, making it sparkle as if it were encrusted in diamonds. I rushed forward, feeling pulled towards its placid depths, and laughed in delight when I found it warm and inviting.
Without hesitation, I pulled my shirt over my head and tossed it onto the grass, then shimmied out of the rest of my clothes. Chase followed suit, only pausing to watch me wade into the water. Then he was splashing in after me, all light and laughter.
He caught up to me and reached out, gripping me lightly around the waist to lift me high and send me flying. I squeezed my lips shut as I hit the water and disappeared into the aquatic wonderland beneath.
"You swim like a fish," Chase said with a laugh when I swam around him, doing lazy flips and luxuriating in the feel of the water on my skin.
I moved my fingers over the surface. "Rose and Liam have an outdoor pool and an indoor one, so I spent a lot of free time learning to swim."
"Learning?" Chase asked, paddling closer to me. His eyebrow quirked up, then fell as realization darkened his eyes. "Shit. Sorry, I forgot."
I shook my head. "Don't be sorry. I love that you see me as just a normal girl." I swam forward and wrapped my arms around his neck while our feet brushed together, and we kicked to stay afloat.
"There's nothing normal about you," Chase whispered with his mouth an inch away from mine. He hovered there for a moment, just staring into my eyes. I wondered what he saw there and how he could make me feel so special with just a look.
His mouth branded me, moving against my lips this time without the gentleness of before. This was hot and heady, and filled with desire. I melted into him, angled my head to deepen the kiss, and gasped when his hands delved into my hair and pulled.
The small pain was exquisite and only excited me more. Beneath the surface, our legs kicked wildly, keeping us afloat, while our mouths devoured. Moans escaped my throat when he left my mouth to nip at my jaw and lick my neck.
“Well,” a voice called out from the shore, snapping the sexual tension in an instant. “Looks like we weren’t the only ones to have a good idea today.”
“Fuck.” Chase eased back and gulped in deep breaths. “Sorry,” he murmured. “Most students don’t know about this place. The path is rarely used.” He sighed and tilted his head. “Want to get out or ignore the interlopers and swim across?”
I considered the options, glancing over at the small group on the shore who were watching us intently in a way that creeped me out. I frowned and lowered my voice so they wouldn’t hear. “Who are they? I’ve never seen them around campus.”
Chase puffed out his cheeks and blew his breath out slowly. “They weren’t here for summer semester.” He nodded slightly towards them. “See the guy in the green shirt?”
I glanced again and nodded.
“That’s Dresden Oswell, one of the biggest douches on campus.” Chase grinned. “If you discount Dimitri.”
I grinned and playfully slapped his arm. “You’re bad.” I knew he loved Dimitri, and the jibe wasn't real. "I don't know." I chewed my lip and glanced across the lake, knowing it would be a fantastic swim. "I'd love to stay, it's beautiful here."
"But?" Chase asked, picking up on the hesitation in my voice.
"But maybe we could come back another day, when there are a few less assholes around." I shrugged, feeling bad about ending our date so soon. "We could head back to that little clearing on the way up, the one by the brook, and have our picnic." I did a little shimmy and smiled. "Maybe we could pick up where we left off."
Chase's eyes flashed with interest. "You mean, when we were interrupted." He glanced at the shore with a frown. "Yeah, probably best. They're watching us like a pack of hyenas."
I shivered despite the warmth of the water. Part of me wanted to ignore the instinctual warning and chalk it up to dislike for the new group, but another part of me said no. I'd ignored my instincts this summer and questioned my sanity. But I'd been right. There had been someone watching me, stalking me. After the attack, I'd promised myself that I'd start relying on my instincts more. They had led me to my mates, after all, so they couldn't be that rusty.