Total pages in book: 133
Estimated words: 129986 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 650(@200wpm)___ 520(@250wpm)___ 433(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 129986 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 650(@200wpm)___ 520(@250wpm)___ 433(@300wpm)
I shift my attention back to the water and try to change the subject. “Do you come out here a lot?”
“Yeah.” He tips the bottle back and takes a swig. “I usually like to come here alone, though. It’s peaceful.”
“I hope I’m not ruining your peace,” I say lightly.
“Of course not.” He glances at me. “I like hanging out with you.”
“I like hanging out with you, too.”
He passes me the bottle. “Has the ocean always spooked you?”
The abrupt subject change startles me. I take a sip before answering. “Um… no. I was never afraid of water before. I guess it’s probably just too fresh, you know? That was scary last week. I honestly thought I was going to die, and that feeling, the water filling my lungs…”
I don’t even want to think about it.
I accept the bottle as he hands it back, but I didn’t even notice him take a drink this time. “Can’t be afraid of it. How’m I ever going to teach you how to swim if you’re afraid of the water?”
I take a sip and crack a smile. “I don’t know. It might not be a good idea.”
“It’s a better idea than you drowning,” he returns.
I offer the bottle back. My head feels heavy. I don’t mean to, but I lean my head against his shoulder to support the weight of it. “I think I should stop drinking.”
“Nah, have a little more.”
I’m too wobbly, so he wraps an arm around my shoulders and tips it back, making me drink more than I want to.
It feels good. I’ve only had alcohol on a few occasions, and never enough to get drunk. I don’t recognize the feeling of fogginess, but the more it hits me, the less I resist when Dare keeps plying me with liquor.
I don’t know how long we sit there, but it feels like forever. It feels nice, too. I feel so light and happy, so untethered to the heavy reality I’ve known lately. He makes me feel free, and I adore him for it.
“Come on,” he says after a while, putting his rum bottle back in my bag and climbing off the rock.
“Dare, I don’t know if I can…”
“This side’s easier to get over,” he assures me, continuing across the rocks instead of going back the way we came.
I’m uncertain, but he seems totally sure, so I move slowly, following him across the rocks to get to the other side.
He’s right, it’s a lot easier to get across over here.
Dare waits on the beach below while I try to figure out how to slide down the rock to the beach without scraping the backs of my thighs.
Reaching his hands up and grabbing my waist, he says, “I got you.”
He lifts me off the rock. I slide down the front of his hard body as he lowers me until my bare feet touch the sand.
I’m so tipsy, I nearly trip over his shoe, but his strong grip keeps me upright. He leans in, making my heart pound hard in my chest, but he only leans his forehead against mine for a moment.
God, that’s so sweet.
My heart fills up. He pulls back.
I follow him across the beach, but I couldn’t walk a straight line if my whole life depended on it.
“Where are we going?” I ask him.
“There’s a little lagoon over here,” he tells me.
Sure enough, there’s a cove with rock formations that block so much of the ocean’s movement, it has created a dreamy little lagoon much calmer than the ocean. White caps still move in and hit the sandy shore, but the waves are small and not intimidating at all.
“This is so peaceful,” I tell him.
He bends to pull his shoes off and leave them on the dry part of the beach. “Come on,” he says, taking my hand and pulling me toward the water.
Since it doesn’t look deep here, I follow him. My toes sink into the wet sand. I’m okay when we’re ankle deep, but then the water gets deeper. It sloshes around my kneecaps, and he’s still pulling me.
“Dare.”
He must hear the nervousness in my tone because he stops and looks back at me.
“This is far enough,” I tell him uncertainly. “I don’t want to get my skirt wet.”
He lets go of my hand and turns around. I gasp as he suddenly bends, catches water in his hands, and throws it at me.
“Dare!”
He laughs and the sound is so lovely, it’s as if everything inside me lifts. “Too late. You’re wet now.”
There’s a devious bend to his eyebrow when he says that. It turns my cheeks pink as I grab a handful of water and throw it right back at him. I aim for his face but he dodges. Droplets of ocean water still hit him, clinging to his thick dark hair.
Without meaning to, I move a little closer, then I’m chasing him and we’re throwing water at one another until we’re completely soaked.