Allie sat up on her board, letting her legs hang over the sides into the water, and leaned her head back to soak in the last moments of the slowly sinking sun. “I haven’t done this in forever.”
“What, come out here so late in the evening?” The sun was still bright enough that we could clearly see what we were doing, but it would be gone soon enough.
“No.” She shook her head and trailed her fingers through the water. “Surfed. Been out here on a board.”
“How long has it been?” I couldn’t imagine going more than a couple days without being out here.
“When was the last time you and I talked? I’d say a few days before that.”
I looked at her like she had lost her mind. “You haven’t been surfing since the last time you went with me?”
“No.” She shook her head and finally looked at me. “I haven’t wanted to.”
She used to. I wanted to remind her of that, and I wanted to demand she tell me why she hadn’t since then. I wanted her to admit something that I wasn’t even sure I was looking for.
Instead, the only thing I said was, “You might have lost your touch.”
“Maybe.” She chuckled. “But I didn’t have much of a touch to start with. You just tried to make me think I was better than I actually was.”
She was right, but I wasn’t admitting that.
I paddled in the water, turning my board as a wave started to build. “Well, let’s see what you got.”
She eyed the same wave and quickly got into the right position on her stomach without me saying a word. She looked so determined as the wave made its way toward us.
The ocean pushed us both forward, and I was so damn distracted watching her that I could barely pay attention to what I was doing.
She stood on her board, something I had taught her years ago, and she rode the wave for a second or two before she wiped out and hit the water. I rode the wave out before jumping off my board and grabbing both boards in my hands.
Allie was now standing, wiping the water from her face, and my t-shirt was stuck to her like a second skin. It did nothing to hide her body which had become so damn perfect.
Her breast looked like they would fit in my hands perfectly, and God, I knew her strong thighs could hold her against me while I did whatever I wanted with her body.
“Quit looking at me like that.” She pushed her curls out of her face and reached out for her board.
“Like what?” I was still staring at her, at the soft curve of her stomach and the deeper curve of her hips.
“Like that.” She pointed at me and moved back out toward the deeper water.
“You going again?”
“I am.” She climbed onto the board. “That was just pathetic.”
“You’re out of practice.” Be an ass. Push her away. “It would seem you’ve been riding too many other things besides a board lately.”
Her gaze snapped to mine, and I tried to ignore the hurt in her face as I pushed myself onto my own board.
“You’re such an ass, Carson. I almost forgot that for a second there.” She shook her head.
“Don’t.”
“I won’t.” She looked back at me over her shoulder, and I felt like she wanted to say something more. And part of me wished she would. I wished that the two of us could just have it out and quit tiptoeing over our past. “You won’t let me.”
Chapter Eight
Allie
I was still shivering when I climbed into his car.
We had surfed without saying another word to each other for about half an hour until the sun was too low for us to continue. I didn’t want to get out of the water when Carson said it was time to go. I just wanted to keep going, to keep pushing my body to do better, and to keep staring daggers at Carson and his perfect form.
I had actually been having fun there for a second until he had to go and ruin it.
I was disappointed when he had, but I expected it. That was all Carson did anymore when it came to me.
I didn’t even understand why I was sitting here in his stupid fancy car with my hair still wet and my bra still damp against my skin. I had dressed in his room quickly then walked out before he was finished. I didn’t want to do anything else with him today. I didn’t want to say yes to the stupid little game he was playing.
I wanted to go home and snuggle into my bed and pretend like this entire night hadn’t happened.
The sound of his car door opening startled me. I straightened in my seat as he climbed in and started the ignition, and I tried to pretend like the smell of his cologne didn’t do something to me. His entire car smelled like it, but there was something different about smelling it on him.
“Where to now?” He looked over at me, and I wanted to slap that damn smirk from his face.
“I want to go home.”
“What?” He frowned and looked back out the windshield. “No way. You’ve only said yes to two things so far. You owe me eight more.”
“I don’t owe you anything,” I corrected him. “It’s not going to stop you from being a dick anyway. Just take me home.”
He ran his hand through his sandy blond hair before turning his head to look at me. He watched me for a moment before he even uttered a word. “I’m sorry, okay? I shouldn’t have said that.”
“I think you owe me more apologies than just that one.”
I regretted the words as soon as I said them.
“That’s probably true, but I don’t think either one of us is ready for that conversation. Just give me tonight. I swear. No more asshole comments.” His fingers drummed against the steering wheel, and even though I knew that I shouldn’t, I trusted what he said.
I leaned my head back against the headrest and stared up at the ceiling. “I should say no.”
“But you don’t want to.”
He was staring over at me, and I turned to look at him. He didn’t look like the guy he tried to make everyone else believe he was. He looked like my Carson, like my old friend.
“No. I don’t.”
He grinned before he seemed to catch himself and what he was doing. That he let his guard down in front of me. “Let’s go on our next adventure then.”
“That word coming out of your mouth makes me nervous.”
He chuckled as he backed out of the driveway. I noticed both of his parents’ cars were here, but I didn’t see either one of them. It was odd. “It’s almost ten o’clock on a weeknight. How much trouble do you think we can get into?”
“With you?” I stared out the windshield and tried not to look at him again. I would never get my head on straight if I kept staring at his jawline or the short stubble of hair that rested there. “Probably too much.”
He grinned but didn’t say another word. He just drove, me having no idea where we were going, and I leaned back and just tried to enjoy it. Normally, I would be just getting off work or finishing up my homework, and even though there was no way I would admit it to him, it was nice to not have any obligations tonight.
My phone vibrated in my pocket, and I quickly checked it.
I hope you have a great night.
Guilt overwhelmed me as I read Eli’s text, and I wasn’t sure if it was because I felt guilt toward him or if I felt guilt toward Carson. Either way, I didn’t respond to his message. I simply tucked my phone into my pocket and looked up just as Carson pulled into Bob’s Snow Cones.