That spirit seems deflated tonight, and the shadows on her face have nothing to do with the darkness.
“Wait, what are you doing?” she asks skeptically when my ass hits the sand beside her.
“You look like you could use some company,” I say easily, flashing a smile as I rest my forearms on my knees. “Am I wrong?”
Her eyebrows lift. “I have a houseful of company, Enders.”
So she knows who I am. Hell yes. The real question is whether or not she know which Enders.
“You shouldn’t be here.” She glances back to the fully lit cabin, where music—some offbeat hip-hop shit—pulses through the night along with raucous laughter. Everyone seems to be living it up. Everyone but Hayden.
“You and lover boy have a tiff?” I ask, part of me praying they’ve broken up.
“A tiff?” She laughs. “Have you been hanging out with my seventy-five-year-old grandmother?”
“Shit, you caught me. I mean, she does make some hella good cookies.”
She throws her head back and laughs. It’s the best friggin’ sound ever and I swear I feel it in my bones. More than that, I love that, despite the rain cloud over her head, she’s smiling again. For me.
“The peanut butter ones are the best,” she says on a sigh. “But you probably knew that.”
I dip my chin. “Yep.”
She lets out a giggle, then rests her cheek on her knees, facing me. “I’m Hayden, by the way.”
“Jesse.”
“I know.”
Fuck yeah.
“So, what are you doing out so late?” A small smile plays on her lips. Maybe it’s flirty, but probably not. She’s been with Lane—the pretty boy with the slicked back hair and skinny jeans—since at least the beginning of the summer.
“Just needed some time to myself.”
I feel her eyes on me for a few drawn-out moments, before she sighs again and lifts her face back to the water. “Peaceful, isn’t it?”
“Very.” The wind is almost nonexistent and the water is calm. While the music from her cabin is cranked, it’s not loud enough to drown out the frogs. One gives an especially loud croak and Hayden laughs.
“Ouch! That sounded painful.”
“Yeah, it did.” I chuckle, too. “I can only imagine what he swallowed. Probably some big ass mouse.”
“Eww!” She pulls back like I opened a can of sardines under her nose.
“Circle of life.” I shrug, and she simply shakes her head.
“So, you’re staying across the lake, right? With Sam?”
“Yeah, we spend a lot of time there during the summer, but you probably knew that,” I say, mocking her earlier words.
She smiles. “Didn’t y’all just graduate from college?”
I snort at her slang. “Yup. You been keeping tabs on us?”
She wrinkles up her nose. “It’s a small town.”
“Uh huh, sure.”
A gentle elbow prods my ribs. “Shouldn’t you be, I don’t know, working? Instead of living it up like a bunch of frat boys?”
I feign offense, but honestly, her sass is adorable. “What’s wrong with living it up?” I tip my head toward her place. “You don’t seem to have a problem with what’s going on up there.”
Her taunting expression fades. “There’s a reason I’m out here and not up there.”
“Lover boy too much to handle tonight?”
“Don’t call him that.”
“Did you break up?”
“No.”
“Then he’s your lover. Unless you’re still a virgin. Holy fuck, the very thought.”
“Jesse!” She punches my bicep and not gently either.
“Sorry!” Laughing, I throw my hands in the air and get to my feet. “Come for a walk with me,” I say, offering my hand.
She eyes me suspiciously. “I don’t take walks with frat boys.”
“Good thing I’m not one. In fact, not only was I never in a frat, but I also have a job. A damn good one. And in case you didn’t notice, it’s Saturday night. Actually, Sunday morning now. And I’m off the clock.”
Her gaze narrows. “What kind of job?”
“I’m gearing up to take over the family business.”
“The excavating company?”
“Yeah. You’ve heard of it?”
“It’s hard to miss the gigantic sign in town.”
I tip my head toward the trail that runs around the perimeter of the lake. “Come on. It won’t take but a half hour.”
“It’s late.”
“You got something better to do, city girl?”
“Ugh, you’re a pain in my ass.” She takes my hand and lets me pull her up. It’s then that I notice she’s only wearing a bikini top and a pair of jean shorts that are so short, the whites of her pockets show beneath the denim.
She’s not tall—the top of her head comes to my shoulder—but the girl has legs. And a sweet as hell, bubble butt ass. God fucking help me.
I start walking backward toward the trail, while she follows cautiously, as if she still doesn’t trust me.
“So, what happened that you needed time to yourself?” she asks.
“Steve started playing that same hip-hop shit you’ve got going. Couldn’t take it.”
“Is that all? Psshh. Besides, isn’t that what frat boys listen to?”
God, I like her spunk. “Try again.”
“Hmm.” She purses her lips, slowly gaining speed and closing the distance between us. “If not hip-hop, then pop for sure.”
“Not a chance.”
“No boy bands? I mean, you look like you could be in one, so...”
Hands over my heart, I groan. “You wound me.”
“Definitely dramatic enough.” She’s close enough now to reach out and poke playfully at my chest. She’s also close enough that she has to tip her head back to look up at me. “Jesus, you’re tall.”
“Maybe you’re just short.”
Her dark eyes widen. “Remind me why I’m giving you the time of day again?”
“Because someone pissed in your Cheerios, but, like an angel in the night, I arrived to make you smile.”
Her lips twitch, barely holding back a smile. “I hate Cheerios.”
“And I’m no angel.”
She surveys me for another moment. “Rock music. The Southern stuff is what you crank the loudest in your truck.”
Hot damn. “How do you know I have a truck?”
“Am I wrong?”
“Favorite band?”
Eyes narrow again, she sticks her tongue in her cheek. “38 Special.”
Holy fuck. “Will you marry me?”
She laughs. “I’ve seen you in the truck at the Cole Stop, and you might’ve had the music on full blast.”
“Ah, so you’ve been stalking me.”
“You’re hard to miss.”
I grin. “I like that you paid attention.”
“I have a boyfriend.”
And yet here she is with me, on the shore of Amber Lake, well past midnight. “He’s the one who pissed you off, though, right? What’d he do?”