Second Chance Summer (Chance #1)(22)
Author: Emma Hart

“You two just need to rip each other’s clothes off,” Luce puts in. “All this sexual tension is making me want to rip someone’s clothes off, so f**k knows how you feel.”

Adam coughs. “These are old shorts. I wouldn’t mind if they got ripped.”

“They’d be the only thing belonging to you that is ripped.”

Adam stops and stares at her for a moment. “You know what, Luce? I’ve always had this fantasy about making you really, really wet.”

I blink in shock, and his statement has had the same effect on my scarlet-haired best friend.

“You what?” she sputters.

He ducks under the net and repeats himself, “I said; I’ve always wanted to make you really, really, wet.”

She backs off as he approaches her with a mischievous gleam in his eye. “Oh, no!” she cries, realization setting in of what he actually means.

Adam takes off running, and she squeaks as she scrambles against the sand. I laugh as he chases her across the beach, finally catching her and hoisting her over his shoulder. Luce curses at him and beats his back through her laughter, only stopping when he runs into the water.

Reese grabs me from behind, and I scream. Reese tightens his arms around me and buries his face in the side of my neck. His whole body is shaking with laughter, and I take a deep breath to calm the frantic beating of my heart.

“You’re a jackass,” I breathe out. “You scared the crap outta me.”

“Maybe, but you think I’m a hot jackass,” he replies against my neck. He kisses the spot below my ear, his lips lingering there the way they did days ago.

“That’s a good compromise.”

“Mhmm.” He kisses my neck again, and I turn my face toward him.

“What are you doing?”

“Stealing a kiss. Kind of.”

I hear Luce scream another curse at Adam. I look over at the Sea and she’s standing waist deep in the water, soaking wet.

“Looks like Ad finally managed to get her wet,” I comment.

Reese’s lips leave my neck as he looks up and laughs once. “Yeah, shame it isn’t in the way he was really hoping for.”

I slap his creeping hands away from my stomach and dance toward the sea. “Is that all you think about?”

“Yep. Even if you’re in a bikini like that.”

“Like this? Is there any other kind of bikini?”

“Yep.” He grabs my hands, spins me, and tugs me into the Sea as gentle waves roll over our feet. “The kind that lives on my bedroom floor.”

“Or the one that happens to come loose in the sea and floats away?” I raise a knowing eyebrow.

His eyes light up. “Exactly. I’m glad we understand each other.”

“Don’t even think about it, Reese,” I warn him, fighting to get my hands free. His deep laugh goes right through my body as he pulls me against his chest, staggering slightly as the full force of the waves hit us.

“Think about it?” he grins. “Never.”

CHAPTER 7

“I cannot believe you actually did it. I can’t. Wait, where are we going?” I sit up straight and tap the dashboard. “This isn’t the way home!”

“I know. And I did warn you I was thinking about it.”

“Where are we going?” I repeat. “And I know you did, but I didn’t actually think you’d try to undo my damn bikini top!”

“And I would have succeeded had you not tied the bottom string tighter than a nun’s vagina,” he says. “And it’s a surprise.”

“Damn good job I did,” I mutter under my breath.

If I didn’t, the poor kid just meters from us probably would have been scarred for life.

“You’re still worried about that kid?” he laughs.

I look over at him, some of his damp hair sticking to his forehead and some curling at the collar of his shirt. “He was like, six! What would you have done if a girl flashed her boobs at you when you were six?”

Reese grins widely, looking at me as he pulls up by a load of trees.

“In fact, you know what? Don’t answer that, okay?” I roll my eyes, and he laughs. “Can you tell me where we are yet?”

“It’s a surprise, Kia.” He repeats and jumps from the truck. I do the same.

“I know that, but we’re here now.” I look at the trees stretching up into the sky.

“No, we’re not.”

“What do you mean we’re not? It’s just a bunch of trees.” I motion around us. “Not much of a surprise.”

He smirks. “That’s why it’s a surprise. It’s surprising, y’know.”

I raise an eyebrow as he steps forward and takes my hand, tugging me along after him. “’Cause you haven’t surprised me enough today,” I mutter and clamp my jaw shut, branches crunching under my sandals.

“Heard that,” he shoots back.

“Weren’t supposed to.”

“I gathered that by the damn mutter.”

“Are you planning on killing me and hiding my body in the middle of nowhere?” I question.

He snorts. “You watch way too much television.”

“Maybe.” I look at the thickness of the trees and the lack of sunlight. “Maybe not.”

“Just… Trust me. Okay?”

“Okay… I think.”

He shakes his head, glancing over his shoulder and smirking at me. I shrug a shoulder and let him pull me after him, making no effort to fight it.

“You do realize flowers are an acceptable surprise, right? Hell… Just turning up unannounced counts as a surprise. But then again, you should know that since you do it all the time…”

“Kia?”

“Yeah?”

“We’re here. Shut up.” He stops and turns. “Or we’ll turn around and go home.”

“You can’t take me home now!” I protest.

“Why not?” His eyebrows raise slightly.

“Because we’re here. That would be the cruelest of cruel!” My eyes skirt across the trees that look no different to the ones back at the truck. “But it’s exactly the same as it was five minutes ago.”

Reese’s lips twitch, and his free hand reaches up to push hair from my face, his fingers trailing down my cheek and neck. “Don’t you know, baby? The best things in life are the things you can’t always see. They’re the things that creep up on you when you least expect it, but that makes them even sweeter.”