Then broke me.
Now he’s here.
Ready to break me again.
The two choices I have are to be stubborn or be stupid.
Stubborn if I pretend not to notice how committed he seems to be, despite the unlikeliness of it. Stupid if I trust him then he hurts me, even though I knew it was probably going to happen.
I grab a bottle of vodka, knowing it’s my weakness, and turn and walk away.
No one said I had to choose today. A girl can take some time to think about this sort of thing. I hear it’s what adults do.
Chapter 12
Wild Ones Tip #8
Never get drunk first. You could end up hanging from a tree with honey all over your body, while the woodland creatures lick you clean. Or eat you alive.
KYLIE
Cold.
Wet.
Cold.
Wet.
I shiver, my eyes blinking open, and then shutting again. Then my eyes dart open as I jackknife up to the seated position, and…curse my freaking father and cousins!
The air mattress I’m floating on is taking on water, and I scramble to grab the…oar? No, this is not an oar. Not unless I was a freaking gnome!
That’s another not-so-subtle short joke from the five giant spawns of evil.
Water laps at my legs, chilling them even as it tries removing some of the dried paint still all over me.
The tiny little decorative oar looks like a kid’s toy in my hand, but I desperately start paddling toward the closest dock. Because I’m in the lake. The sun is out, and I’m floating in the middle of the lake.
Because I got drunk.
And then…fucking cousins and father.
I’m going to kill them all.
The oar is pointless, so I toss it aside, panicking when more and more water starts coming onto the mattress. The water isn’t as cold on the surface as it is about a foot down, but it’s still really cold.
Even in summer.
My eyes dart to the dock that is closest, and then…I meet a set of blue eyes as Liam walks out onto the dock, grinning as he carries a bundle of rope. Why is he shirtless?
Why is his body so perfect?
“Need help?” he chirps.
I look around, noting that I am definitely on the Vincent side of the lake. Still.
“No. I love being on a mattress that is slowly sinking in the middle of a lake that never warms up enough for swimming,” I tell him.
He laughs before winding up then tosses the rope to me.
It misses, landing wide, and he quickly tugs it back in, hand-over-hand, until the rope returns to his grip. Then he tosses it once more…and misses wider.
“Do you need help?” I ask, smirking as he mutters something.
“It’s not like I grew up on a ranch,” he quips, winking at me as he gets the rope in again.
This time, when he tosses it, it lands on the mattress, and I grab it before it can fall off.
“Pull gently and slowly, or the mattress will dip. Then I’ll have to kill you when I get thawed,” I instruct.
He grins like I didn’t just make an actual threat, and he starts slowly tugging me to shore.
“How are all those people good at waterskiing and stuff? I didn’t think this lake was for watersports.”
“Only the Wild Ones are good at it,” I say absently, wincing when I shiver against the breeze. My dress is soaked, damn it. “Falling in is great incentive to learn to stay upright when skiing and such. Negative reinforcement and all. You get really good, or you don’t do it much at all.”
He smiles broader, still slowly tugging me in, as I lean back, trying to put most of my weight on the rear to prevent the deflating mattress from capsizing. Those muscles of his are very distracting.
He winks when he catches me gawking.
“Terrible shame the way you’ve let yourself go,” I state wryly.
He doesn’t even try to hide his cocky grin, and he tightens those ab muscles just to toy with me, most likely.
“Did you see them do this?” I ask, seeing the dock grow closer and closer and tracking each inch of progress with relief.
“No. I stalked you until you disappeared about fifteen til’ two this morning. I figured you went home.”
My lips twitch.
“Are you telling me you knew where I was all night long?” I ask, trying to sound amused instead of acknowledging the butterflies in my stomach.
He arches an eyebrow.
“Now that I’ve finally run into you, my stalking game is about to get strong. I’ve been holding back.”
I can’t help it. I smile. “You realize stalking is not bragging rights.”
The mattress bumps the dock, and he reaches out a hand for me. I clasp his wrist, and he clasps mine, then actually lifts my entire body up until my knees are on the dock. His hands go to my waist, lifting me the rest of the way.
I shiver harder, partially from the chill of my wet clothes. Partially because he’s not wearing a shirt and all that firm, tempting skin is under my cold fingertips as my hands rest on his chest.