smacking the top of the water for emphasis. Why weren’t they getting it? I don’t know when I’d gotten so riled up, but in the last sixty seconds or so,
I’d become blazing mad.
“Are you kidding?” Mimi cried, jumping to her feet in the hot tub, which kept the water at about the same level.
“Mimi, come on! Anyone with eyes can see the way you and Ryan feel about each other! Why the hel are you wasting time on anyone else?” I
pushed.
Simon pul ed me back onto his lap and attempted to quiet me.
“Okay, this has gone far enough,” Neil said, starting to get out of the tub.
“No, no! Neil, look at Sophia. Can’t you see she is total y into you? Why the hel are you al so thick? Seriously? Are Simon and I the only ones
that can see clearly here?” I yel ed once more, bringing Simon into the conversation whether he wanted it or not.
Neil looked at Ryan, and then at Simon.
“Dude!” Neil exclaimed.
“Dude,” Simon answered, gesturing toward Sophia, who stood up like she was going to say something. Neil put his hand on her shoulder, and
she stopped and sat back down. Neil nodded at Ryan.
“Dude?” he asked, and Ryan nodded back. Neil took a deep breath and looked at Sophia.
“Sophia, truth or dare?” Neil asked.
“We are not playing any more—” I tried to yel , but Simon took that moment to place his hand over my mouth.
“Al clear over here,” Simon announced as he pinned me to his lap more securely with his other hand on my waist. Thunder rol ed in, blanketing
the scene with an ominous air.
“Sophia?” Neil asked again. She was quiet, and not looking in the direction of Mimi and Ryan.
“Dare,” she whispered and closed her eyes.
Alcohol made everything much more dramatic.
“I dare you to kiss me,” Neil said, and al you could hear was the occasional loon over the lake. The loons in the tub were final y quiet. We al
watched as Sophia turned to Neil and placed a hand on the back of his head, pul ing him toward her. She kissed him, slowly but surely, and it went
on for days. I smiled into Simon’s hand, and he patted my stomach, which made me giddy.
When they final y broke apart, Sophia was laughing into Neil’s mouth, and he answered with his giant, goofy man-giggle.
“Wel , it’s about freaking time,” Simon said, releasing my mouth.
“Mimi, I—” Sophia began, turning toward Mimi and finding an empty hot tub.
Mimi and Ryan were gone. I caught just the edge of Ryan’s towel headed into the pool house—with a slippery wet companion on his arm.
“Wel , then, I guess we’l cal it a night.” Sophia sighed, grabbing Neil by the hand.
“’Night.” I giggled as she walked into the house with Neil in tow. They cuddled close, already a picture in the making. I looked at the pool house,
and noticed no lights had come on yet. They probably would not be coming on in the near future.
“Wel , that was a fine bit of matchmaking, although your bul -in-a-china-shop delivery left a lot to be desired.” Simon chuckled, letting his head
rest against my back. I was stil perched on his lap. His hand had left my mouth, and it was now drifting south, while his other hand remained tightly
on my waist.
“Yes, I usual y leave a lot to be desired,” I observed wryly, not wanting to leave this exquisite spot, but knowing I needed to—and soon. Simon
was quiet behind me, and I started to move off his lap.
“You leave everything to be desired, Caroline,” he said softly, and I froze. It was quiet for another moment, both of us not moving, but stil
moving toward each other.
Without looking back, I let out a tiny laugh. “You know, I never real y got that phrase. Does that mean I am desirable or—”
His fingers began to trace tiny circles on my skin. “You know exactly what it means,” he breathed into my ear. The air crackled around us, the
tension as wel as the actual weather. More tiny circles. In the end, it was the tiny circles that final y broke me.
I lost al control. I turned quickly, catching him off guard as I wrapped my legs around his waist and threw caution, and my harem mantra, to the
wind. I sunk my hands into his hair, luxuriating in the feel of wet silk around my fingertips as I pul ed him toward me.
“Why did you kiss me that night at the party?” I asked, my mouth mere inches from his. Once he realized I was driving this bus, he responded
by pressing his hips into mine, bringing us closer together than we’d ever been.
“Why did you kiss me?” he asked, running his hands up and down my back, settling into the space where his hands spanned my waist exactly
—thumbs in front, fingers in back—and pressed me into him further.