Author: Nyrae Dawn

"Please, dude. The day you have to pick up my slack is the day hell freezes over. Ninja, remember?"

I laugh because he's such an idiot with that ninja stuff. I open my mouth to say something, but Priscilla beats me to it, sneaking up behind him and sticking her foot out to hook in his. Bastian stumbles, as she says, "Yeah, look at that stealth."

Now I'm laughing even harder. "Pris just went ninja on your ass," I say as he tries to save face by pretending he did it on purpose.

"Whatever. I knew she was there."

She surprises us both by sticking her foot out and doing it again. "Damn it!" he yells, half a smile on his face.

 I almost fall, I'm laughing so hard. Aspen, too, but she's actually trying to cover it up.

"Aww, are you alright, big guy?" she teases, trying to wrap her arms around him.

He starts mumbling something about her kissing it and making it better and I don't know where it comes from, but I hold up my hand for her to give me a high-five and say, "That's my girl."

Priscilla stumbles a little and I actually feel embarrassed. What the hell? I've hit on so many girls. Met so many girls at parties and thrown out so many lines, but it's different saying things to the girl who means something to you. When it's real, you're out there, all vulnerable and shit wondering what she thinks about it or if you sounded like an idiot.

Priscilla doesn't leave me hanging though. She lifts her hand and smacks mine the way Bastian and I would, but my heart is actually thumping. I can't remember my heart ever thumping like that with a girl unless we were touching a whole lot more than this, and I'm sure it went wild then for a completely different reason.

Before it becomes obvious I'm pretty close to some kind of nervous breakdown or something, I grab her, putting my arm around her and pulling her close, like I would have done last year. No one needs to know I'm practically spouting poetry in my brain. "She's the shit. I'm keeping her in my corner." I play it off, but feel like I'm standing in front of a classroom naked or something because both Bastian and Aspen are looking at me with huge smiles on their faces.

I don't even have to look to know Priscilla's smiling too.

What is it they say? If you can't beat ‘em, join ‘em. I let myself crack one, too, as we go rent our raft.

***

At the risk of sounding like a Hallmark card, it's really pretty out here. We're halfway through our trip and even though Aspen is wearing a shirt over her bikini, Priscilla isn't. I think she's doing it to drive me crazy. I can't stop looking at the curve of her hips, her legs, and all the smooth brown skin.

It's crazy how many places there are on a girl to explore. Does she know how incredible she looks? All normal and happy, talking with Aspen or talking crap to me and Bastian. It's like she doesn't realize how big a deal she is. What something as simple as licking her lips or hitting my leg can do to a guy. I wonder if girls know that, the kind of affect they can have. Or maybe it's just Pris who has that much power. I don't know.

Priscilla leans forward, the pink strands of her bikini top sliding down her back. I want to touch it. To tickle her with it. Do something to see if I can make her feel even a tenth of what I'm feeling right now.

Her and Aspen start talking about something, as though we're in Normalville and I'm not almost dying over here.

"Dude, you're drooling." Bastian nudges me.

"I am not," I try to wipe my mouth all incognito, just to be sure.

He shakes his head. "I was where you are last year, remember? I know my shit. You want her, Jay. You've always wanted her and you're going nuts right now. Seriously, loony-bin crazy. Been there. You might as well give in now."

My eyes jump to the girls who are still in their own little world and not realizing Bastian's calling me out. We're at a calm part of the water right now, so I lean back a little bit and relax. "I'm not giving in to anything. We're friends. That's all. Texas girls are supposed to be hot."

Bastian doesn't even crack a smile. "How stupid do you think I am? I'm your boy...or I'm supposed to be, at least. I told you when I started to like Aspen."

I don't know what he wants me to say because it's not the same thing. It's not like I've suddenly started to like her. I've known for a long time. And it's not like we can be together because I can't even sort through stuff in my own head, so how would I ever make things work with someone else? Even when I want to do the right thing it ends up wrong and I'm not pulling her into that.

"I don't know. It's different or whatever." I don't look at him as I talk, but be sure to keep my voice real low. "I just...know it wouldn't work. Her parents hate me anyway." I shrug hating that that's true. Why does everyone seem to hate me?

"No one would be good enough for her. They want everything perfect when it comes to Pris, but, hell, they don't even pay attention to her half the time. Between you and them, she'd pick you every time."

She would? I want to ask, but then I realize how needy that sounds. "She shouldn't have to."

Bastian groans. "Be real with me for a minute, man. We're like, turning over a new leaf or whatever. I think it's part of growing up... just be real. Do you like her?"

There isn't a hint of a joke in his voice. No laughter on his face, which for Bastian is like a freaking miracle. And for once, I feel like I need to admit it. To say it, just to hear the words come out. "Yeah...yeah, I do."

My eyes find the water, the trees, and rocks around us. Anything, but him...or her.

"That's all I needed to hear, man." Sebastian moves over to the other side of the raft. "Watch out, Pris. I want my girl back. Go over and protect Jay from the rapids coming up."

I look at him and the jerk actually winks at me. I know I'm screwed because he obviously has something up his sleeve. But when she moves over to sit by me, I can't make myself care.

***

We hit a rapid. The water is white as it slams into rocks and flies up over the edge of the raft, spraying us.

Even though it's hot outside, the water is cold. Priscilla screams, and buries her face into my arm as we hit another one, more water flying at us. The front of the raft dips down and flies up again as we bump along. I use the oar to push us off a rock, but try not to move too far away from Priscilla, either. Sebastian has the other oar.

My body is pumped as we soar across the water. I see Bastian wobble and almost fall out and I can't stop myself from laughing at him.

We hit another big one and bump hard.

"Oh my God! My shoe just flew out," Priscilla shouts, her pink flip-flop floating away.

By then the rapids are over and the water is calming again.

"Dude! That was awesome. The best one," Bastian holds out his fist and I bump it.

"No shit." I'm soaking wet. Way wetter than I realized I would be.

We're at the end of the trip now, so Sebastian and I steer the raft over to land. We get out and help the girls out of the water. There's someone who works there who takes it and gives us a slip to turn in once we get back. The shuttle ride takes a lot less time than the trip and after buying a couple drinks, we’re walking to the car.

"That was a blast." I tell them as I look over at Pris. She's jumping around as she walks and I realize her feet are probably hot on the pavement. Bastian and Aspen are walking in front of us a little bit, holding hands.

Stopping, I grab her arm. "Jump on."

She looks at me like I'm crazy and I want to tell her yes I'm a glutton for punishment, offering for her to get on my back and wrap her legs around me.

The look is gone just as quickly as it came and she puts her arms around my neck and jumps up. Her legs wrap around my waist and I grab onto her, trying not to think about what her silky skin feels like under my hands.

This is what I love about her. So many girls would have played around, pretending to be embarrassed and that they didn't plan on jumping on my back when they knew they would. Or they would have actually been too embarrassed and we would have stood there arguing about it forever. Not her though. She doesn't let anything trip her out. She just climbs on because she knows her feet are hot and wants a cure for the situation.

Yeah. It feels good to be her solution.

We get to the car all too soon and I let her down. We parked in the shade so it's not too hot for her.

"Let's dry off a bit before we get in," Bastian says.

"Oh my God. You're such a girl," Aspen teases.

"So, I don't want my car getting all wet. What's wrong with that?"

We all laugh and then Bastian opens the back so we can grab our towels. We pull ours out while Pris is still searching.

"What the heck. I can't find mine."

We're all wrapped in towels except for her. It's actually a little chilly in the shade, but the black ground will be too hot for her feet if she moves to the sun.

"Here. You can have mine," I tell her, but she shakes her head.

"Just let me in," she nuzzles between my closed arms until I open them and she steps inside. Automatically my arms wrap around her and my head rests on top of hers. Her body is a little tense, but then she shivers and relaxes, pulled up tight against me.

Logically, I know it's just to keep warm. I mean, she already told me she's over me and that's the way it's supposed to be, but that still doesn't stop me from having to move my lower half away from her. Guy, remember? She's gorgeous and half-dressed and totally rubbing up against me all innocently, so, yeah... my body is reacting.

Glancing at Aspen, I see her all smiley like she just won the lotto or something. Bastian gives me another wink, like he thinks he knows something he doesn't. Whatever. I know what this is. She's moved on and in a few more days we'll be thousands of miles away from each other. We're friends and I've touched her a million times. There's nothing different about this one.

I hold her a little tighter and she shivers again, before her arms find their way around me too. All I know is, at this moment, I'm actually happy and things feel normal—no, better than normal, and I want to enjoy it for a little while, so I keep holding on.

Chapter Nine

We go back to the house for a little while to get ready for dinner. The girls get ready together because...Well, I don't know. They're girls and they do stuff like that. It takes Sebastian and me half as long to get ready as it does them, so we're chilling downstairs while they do whatever it is girls do.

I'm wearing a pair of black shorts, long, and they're belted loose and low like I like them. I have on a blue button-up shirt that's short sleeves and my black Adidas. My hair is still wet from the shower and it's getting so long, it hangs in my eyes now.

"What are they doing up there?" I ask as I fall back onto the couch.

"Who knows, man? I try to stay as far away from them as I can when they get like this."

For once I think he might know what he's talking about. I'm seriously tired and I just want to go to dinner and come back and chill.

When I hear noise on the stairs, I open my eyes, not even realize they fell closed. Holy shit. My body lurches into a sitting position and I'm suddenly not tired anymore. She's seriously trying to kill me here.

My eyes start at the sandals on her feet and travel upward to the skirt she's wearing. Up further to her purple shirt. It hangs off her shoulder and a strap from her tank top shows. She's dressed like that before. She's always been more girlie than Aspen, but this outfit? I think it's going to be imprinted into my brain.

"'Bout time," Sebastian mumbles before getting off the couch like he's somehow not seeing the same thing I am. I follow because I don't want to be the only one losing it here. I always notice her, always see her, but I swear she wore this for me. Or maybe it's wishful thinking because she already admitted to being over me.