I’m flexible after years of cheering, and smearing sunscreen on my back isn’t all that difficult, but there is no way I’m going to turn down that offer. Already turning, I pull my braid over my shoulder. “Do you mind?”
I almost sigh out loud when he settles his hands on my bare shoulders and spreads the lotion over my skin. I close my eyes and melt under his hands. It doesn’t escape my notice that he takes far longer than necessary.
His hands are rougher than I expect, pleasantly masculine. His fingers knead into my shoulders, and then he reluctantly draws them away.
“Your turn?” I ask as I flop my braid back over my shoulder.
“Sure.” He hands me the bottle and turns.
I squirt some of the sunscreen into my hand and then rub my palms together to warm it. Almost nervous, I tentatively slide my fingers over his shoulders. He tenses the moment I touch him.
“Sorry,” I murmur as I run my palms down his back, following his shoulder blades. “It’s a little cold.”
“No.” He pauses. “It feels good.”
My stomach flips, and I grin. I finish with his back and trail my hands over his biceps, using the excuse of the sunscreen to let my fingers slide over his tattoo. Feeling brave because his back is to me, I trace the band with the tip of my fingernail. He shudders, probably because it tickles, but seeing him react to me sends a little thrill through me.
The sun beats down on us, warm and perfect. In all honesty, it’s not quite hot enough to play in the water, but I don’t care.
“You first,” I say as I step to his side and nod toward the creek.
Linus shakes his head and holds out his hand. “Together.”
Suddenly shy, I slide my hand in his. Both barefoot, we make our way over the rocks to the edge of the water. I stick my foot in the pool and then pull it back, laughing. “No way. It’s frigid!”
Wicked, Linus tugs me forward. “Come on…”
“Nope.” I pull back, laughing, but he’s already dragging me forward. We stumble in, and the water swirls around my calves, sending goosebumps up my legs, all the way to my arms. “Linus, it’s cold!”
I splash him to prove my point, though he’s, of course, standing in the water too.
Instead of darting away, he wraps his arm around my waist and pulls me close so I can’t move. Grinning, with an ornery glint in his eye, he draws us deeper into the water. “Maybe it’s warmer over here?”
I shriek and fight him as we stand in the thigh-high water, both of us almost slipping on the slick rocks. I end up freeing myself enough to splash him again, but he retaliates with gusto.
By the time we stumble back to the bank, we’re drenched from head to toe. Though I’m freezing, I’m happier than I’ve been in a long time. With my teeth practically chattering, I rummage through my backpack. “I f-forgot my towel.”
I could have sworn I packed it.
I wrap my arms around myself and hop up and down as if that will help. Linus, who doesn’t look nearly as cold as I am, scrubs some of the water from his hair with his hand and digs through his own backpack. “Here.”
“Aren’t you freezing?” I ask as I snatch the towel from him.
“Nah. You use it first.”
Quickly, I dry off and then reluctantly relinquish the warm towel. Linus rubs it over his hair but pauses. Laughing, he shakes his head and wraps it around his shoulders. Then he gently tugs my hand and pulls me toward him.
I hesitate, nervous.
“It’s okay,” he murmurs as he gives my arm another gentle yank.
And just like that, I step into him and press my hands against his chest as he wraps the towel around the both of us. My heart skitters as I settle against his water-dampened skin. His heart, too, races under my palm. The towel is rough, and we’re cocooned in its laundry-detergent-scented warmth…nestled inside our own little world.
The creek trickles by, and the sounds of the forest surround us—birds in the trees, squirrels in the brush, the clacking of locusts as they wing their way through the grass.
Linus smells like sunscreen, and he holds me like I belong in his arms. But I can’t be the first to kiss him—not this time. If he wants to go there, he’s going to have to move first.
“You’ve stopped shivering,” he says, his voice low and husky.
“Yes, thank you.” My eyes are on his chest.
“Riley?”
I finally look up. “Hmmm?”
Our faces are close, and his jaw brushes against my cheek. “Would you think less of me if I admitted I tossed your towel out of your pack before we left?”
Despite how fast the blood is thrumming through my veins, I let out a laugh and give him a light shove. “You did not.”
He grins and locks the towel around us with one hand, while he slides his other hand around my back, holding me in place. Then he murmurs as he so very slowly brushes his lips against my temple, “Not joking.”
Every muscle in my body tenses in shock and desperate pleasure.
His fingers travel up my back, and he pushes my damp hair to the side. He kisses just lower, on my cheek, which is already tingling, and then he trails his lips over my jaw. “This isn’t a joke either.”
I’m practically putty in his hands. My knees are so weak, I’m leaning against him just so I won’t melt to the ground. With my voice embarrassingly breathy, I say, “Linus…”
“If you’re going to tell me how nice I am again,” he teases as he presses a maddening kiss to the corner of my lips. “I don’t really want to hear it.”
“That’s not what I was going to say.”
Linus brushes his bottom lip over mine. “Then what were you going to say?”
My brain is too fuzzy to think. “I have no idea. Just please kiss me already.”
And then his lips are on mine, and I’m pulling him closer, kissing him back. The towel drops from around our shoulders, falls to the ground, but now I’m more than warm enough. The kiss is just past soft, just one step over sweet. It’s electric and breathtaking and far better than my memory gave it credit.
After several blissful, blissful minutes, Linus pulls back. “This is technically a public place.”
I press another kiss to his lips. “What’s your point?”
He groans and pulls back. “My point is that we should find somewhere a little more private.” He laughs when I raise my eyebrows and wraps his arm around my shoulder. “Pretend I didn’t say that.”
My whole body is humming in the most delightful kind of way, and I press another kiss against his lips. “You know what?”
“What?” He runs his hand along my bare arm, making me tingle.
“I like kissing you—you can add that to the list.”
“Not just kissing, but kissing me specifically?” he teases.
I move in for more. “Very much you specifically.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
Side-by-side, we lie on the large beach towel, letting the sun dry our suits. I’ve taken the band out of my hair, and Linus is running his hand through it. I have my arm pillowing my head, and I’m practically purring under the attention.
“It’s so long,” he says. “You always have it braided.”
My eyes are closed, and if the rock wasn’t bumpy and hard under the towel, I might be able to fall asleep. “Mmmhmm.”
“I was scared you’d choose Zeke,” Linus says quietly. “That’s why I bolted that night. I knew I’d lose you—thought I wasn’t good enough for you—so I figured it would be easier to walk away.”
I open my eyes and angle my head toward him, startled. Linus sits up on his elbow, studying me with an intensity that makes me breathless.
Sitting up, I whisper, “I choose you.” When he doesn’t say anything, I panic. “I mean, unless you don’t want—”
“I want,” he breathes as he wraps his arm around my waist and pulls me closer to his side.
“Then why did you give Zeke my number?” I ask, my voice quiet.
“Honestly?”
Linus lies back. “I was hoping you’d turn him down.”
I squirm, feeling guilty, but he looks at me and smiles.
“But even though you didn’t,” he continues, “I knew he’d do something stupid—which he did in a spectacular fashion.”
“I’m sorry,” I say. “I shouldn’t have gone out with him when you’re the one I wanted.”
A cocky smile plays at Linus’s lips. “You wanted me, huh?”
I trace his tattoo. “Yeah.”
“Video games and all?”
“Well. I mean, you’re not perfect…” He tickles me, and I roll away, laughing. Then I finish, “But you’re about as close as it gets.”
He kisses my temple, and we settle back to watch the clouds.
“What’s the story behind this?” I ask, tapping his bicep.
“It was my first month in college, and I was feeling a little reckless one night. My friends were out drinking, but I’d tried that. It wasn’t my thing. I went out to find my own entertainment. This is the result.”
“I like it.”
Linus smiles at me. “You know, I noticed that. If I were a smarter man, I would have shown it off a lot sooner.”
“I always wanted to be a bit rebellious, date someone more daring than me,” I say absently. “Live vicariously through them, I guess.”
“That explains Zeke,” Linus mutters, but his expression is easy.
“I like your tattoo better than any of his,” I say as I run my finger down the lines again. “There’s something more appealing when it’s hidden away, only for me to see.”
“Or anyone who happens to be at a swimming pool I’m visiting,” he says dryly.
I lightly jab him in the side. “You know what I mean.”
He watches me for several moments. “You could get one, you know.”
Startled, I sit up. My suit’s mostly dry now, and the sun is getting a little too warm. “I’m sorry?”
A slow smile builds on his face. “If you’re feeling rebellious, you could get one yourself.”
“Why, Linus, are you trying to corrupt me?”
He wraps his arm around my waist and nestles against my neck. “Maybe I am.”
***
My mother is going to kill me. Harper is going to disown me. Lauren is going to tease me to death.
The fact that there is even a tattoo parlor in this little mountain town is laughable. The fact that I’m standing in it, staring at a book of designs, is even more so.
“What do you want?” Linus asks as he flips through another book next to me.
For some reason, it reminds me of ordering birthday cakes from the bakery section of the grocery store. Do I want the palm tree theme or the princesses?
“Something small and pretty,” I say. “And easy to hide.”
Linus turns to me, somehow frowning and smiling at the same time. “You don’t have to do this, you know.”
A small voice whispers that maybe he’ll be disappointed if I don’t, that he won’t like me quite as much if I back out now. And I want to—I do. Even if it’s only because I want to remember this summer.
I turn the page and continue to browse the designs.
“I think I want this one.” I point to a tiny compass, no bigger than a dime. “On the side of my heel, I think.”
Who’s going to look at my foot, after all?
Linus steps closer to take a look and wraps his arm around my shoulder. “Why?”
Because it reminds me of today and all the other days we’ve spent wandering around the woods. “I just like it.”
Nervous, I tell the man who’s been patiently waiting nearby, doodling in a notebook, what I want. His name is Adam, and he looks as normal as can be. When I walked in, I expected to find a guy with dozens of piercings and most of his skin covered with ink. Adam has some tattoos (it would make me nervous if he didn’t), but other than that he looks normal. Like he could work in a bank or something if he just covered up his arms.
“On your foot?” he asks, frowning. “Those hurt.”
I knew there would be some pain involved, obviously. But the way Adam’s looking at me isn’t instilling much confidence in my decision.
“Like how much are we talking here?” I ask.
He shrugs and sets his pens aside. “A lot. How about your lower back instead?”
Biting my lip, I look back at the design. It’s really cute, very simple. Just two arrows crossing each other, and a simple lowercase letter denotes each direction. I think I can handle it. It can’t be worse than the time I broke my leg while we were practicing a routine back for regionals in tenth grade when that freshman dropped me. And I made it through that just fine.
I look at Linus for support, but he just shrugs. “It’s up to you. Whatever you want, Riley.”
After looking at the design for a few more moments, I turn to Adam. “I want it on my heel.”
“All right,” he says. “Let’s do it.”
He sits me down in the chair and does all the prep. My palms grow sweaty, and I clasp them together, refusing to back down now. This is the moment of truth, a defining point in my life. Who am I? Am I the perfect Riley, the one everyone expects? The one who gets good grades, joins all the clubs, and pleases everyone she meets? Or am I fun, wild Riley? The one who gets a spur-of-the-moment tattoo.
I eye Linus. Which girl does he want?
“Last chance to back out,” Adam says with the needle positioned above my foot.
***
“I’m proud of you,” Linus says as we walk out of the tattoo shop.
I smile down at my foot. “Me too.”
Linus stops and pulls his phone from his pocket. “Let’s take a picture before it washes off.”
That’s right—washes off. I totally wimped out. That compass on my foot? Adam drew it on for me after I panicked. And it wasn’t the prospect of the pain that did me in, it was the permanence. Did I really want that little compass on me forever?
The answer is, I wasn’t sure. And that wasn’t enough for me. And when it came down to it, I was mostly doing it for Linus. And I don’t do that anymore.
I angle my foot toward Linus, posing like I have something to show off.
He laughs and takes the picture.
After he slips the phone back into his pocket, I wrap my hand in his T-shirt and yank him toward me, smiling in a coquettish way. “Are you disappointed in me?”
Like they’ve belonged there all summer, Linus’s hands find my waist. “No.”
“I almost did it for you, you know.”
He knits his eyebrows. “For me?”
There aren’t as many tourists here, so we’re alone on the street. After hiking back from the pool in the creek and driving here, it’s late afternoon.
“To prove I’d do something stupid for you. To prove that you were worth it.”
His brushes a hand against the material of my tank top and runs his thumb up and down. Looking chagrined, he says, “This is because of what I said.”
“But I didn’t—don’t—want to pretend with you.”
He waits without answering, knowing there’s more.
I smooth the wrinkle in his T-shirt. “You’re the first guy I’ve ever felt I could be real with. It wasn’t because you weren’t worth trying—it’s because you are worth being real for.”
Linus meets my eyes, and I can tell he’s trying not to smile. “And when we first met?”
“When we first met, I was still an idiot.”
Grinning, he clasps our hands together and leads us toward his truck. “Fair enough.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
I blow a cheeky kiss to Linus as I walk out of the video game store. “I’ll see you tonight.”
“You’re awesome,” Linus calls before I’m out the door.
He forgot to pack a lunch this morning because he accidentally slept in after I kept him out so late last night. And being the awesome girlfriend I am, I brought him one.
“I know,” I call
back, grinning.
Tom, who looks three shades of nauseated next to Linus, rolls his eyes and pretends to gag. He still doesn’t like me much. That’s all right. I can’t say he’s my favorite person, either.
As I’m leaving the video game store, I spot Zoe sitting at the bus stop near the park.
Any girl in her right mind would know that Zoe doesn’t want to talk to me, but she looks so forlorn over there, all alone, I can’t just walk by.
“Hey,” I say as I sit next to her, faking cheer.
I’m good at that, at least.
She looks over, startled, and then narrows her eyes briefly before looking back at the phone in her lap. “Hey.”
It’s a brush-off, and not a subtle one.
I shift on the wooden bench, a little uncomfortable. “I didn’t think you’d still be in town.”
She takes a deep breath, as if talking to me is just a little too taxing, and then she turns back toward me. “Not that it’s any of your business, but I had some things for Zeke.”
Zoe’s pretty in a way that I’ll never be. Where I’m girl-next-door, cheerleader blond, Zoe is a touch exotic. Her skin is olive, and her eyes are as dark as her hair. She wears a lot of makeup—but not so much she looks ridiculous. She just looks good and artsy and…tired. She looks really tired.
“I didn’t know you guys were dating when Zeke and I…” Maybe this isn’t the best way to start this out.
She shrugs and studies me. “You’re pretty, and you’re probably real nice, but you were nothing special to him.” She leans against the bench. “None of us have been. Zeke’s a dog.”
Never one to mince words once I’m offended, I ask, “Are you pregnant?”
Zoe looks at me with such vehemence, I lean away. “Did he tell you that?”
I shake my head. “No. It’s just, well, we were the ones he called to pick him up after you ditched him. From what he said, it kind of sounded like—”
“Aren’t you two friendly? Well, it’s none of your business.” She glares at me. “And what would you know about it anyway? You look like the perfect, perky poster girl for abstinence.”
“I know that if you are pregnant, he needs to help you.” I stand up and smile even though she looks like she’s going to paint me in her next piece of art, and it’s not going to be a flattering likeness. “Don’t let him off the hook.”
Shine and Shimmer (Glitter and Sparkle #2) Page 15