"It's freaking cold, Colt!" Taylor said in a whiny voice.
Will dropped my hand and pulled his T-shirt up. Then, he looked over at Luke.
"Oh no, y'all! Don't!" I said as they both took off running.
They ran up, and Luke grabbed Taylor. She screamed when he threw her into the water. Lauren attempted to run away from Will, but he got her and threw her over his shoulder. He ran up to the rope swing while Lauren called him every name she could think of.
"William Gregory Hayes, if you even think about-" Lauren yelled.
Will grabbed the rope swing, and Lauren screamed the entire time. She was even screaming when she finally popped up out of the water.
Grace and Libby took off running and jumped into the water while Colt did a flip off the deck.
I stood back and watched my best friends laughing and having fun. My heart grew heavy, knowing that this would probably be one of the last times we all did this together.
"You're sure quiet today," Luke said as he continued to work on the fence.
"Just thinking."
He stopped and let out a sigh. "Come on, let's sit for a bit and take a second to relax under a tree. It's so damn hot out here."
I reached into the cooler and pulled out two bottles of water. I gave one to Luke, and we made our way over to the large elm. Luke sat and leaned against the tree. Closing his eyes, he let out a long, drawn-out sigh.
I sat down and looked at him. "You like being single and going from girl to girl?"
He opened his eyes, and I saw sadness even though he was smiling.
"Hell yeah, I do. I don't have time for a relationship. I figure when I meet the right girl, it will all change." He took a long drink of water and looked away.
I nodded my head and took a drink.
"Are you worried about you and Alex?"
I knew Luke would just cut to the chase.
"Yeah. A part of me is worried, but another part of me isn't worried, if that makes sense. I love her, Luke. I mean, I'm pretty damn sure I fell in love with her when I was ten years old."
He started laughing. "That's a long time, dude." He shook his head and looked at me. "Will, I love Alex. I mean, she's more like my sister than my cousin. I want to see her happy just like I want to see you happy, but … "
///
"But what?"
He pushed his hand through his hair and let out a quick breath. "Will, what if you meet someone else? What if Alex meets someone else? The only thing y'all have ever known is each other. I mean, did you even date anyone else before Alex?"
I looked down at the ground before glancing back up at Luke. "I don't know how to explain it, Luke. When I see her, she steals my breath. When I'm near her, I can feel the attraction between us. I feel the love. I've never in my life felt like that around another girl."
"Dude, there are a lot of girls in college. A lot."
"Not interested."
Luke threw his head back and laughed. "You're a better guy than me."
I stared at him. "How many girls did you hook up with last year while you were at school?"
He shrugged his shoulders. "Two. One is just a fuck buddy. She doesn't want anything from me, and I don't want anything from her."
"The other one?" I asked.
"Just a girl I dated for a bit. She wanted more, but I wasn't ready to give it to her."
I nodded. "So, there has never been a girl who made you want more?"
He looked off over the pasture. He turned back to me and said barely above a whisper, "No. Never."
But his eyes were giving me a different answer. I knew Luke cared for Libby. How much he cared about her was what I didn't know. I wondered how Libby would react to seeing Luke at school with another girl. I pushed it aside and finished off my water.
"She loves you, Will."
I smiled and nodded my head. "I know she does. I also know Gunner has been filling her head with you-need-to-experience-more-in-life bullshit."
Luke laughed. "Sounds like Uncle Gunner. He just wants to make sure she's happy, Will. You'd be the same way if it were your daughter, and you know it."
I stood up and let out a moan. "Fuck, I know. I just feel like Lex is … "
Luke stood up. "Is what?"
"I don't know. Never mind. I'm letting my imagination run wild, and all it's going to do is eat me alive this year."
Luke slapped my back. "Ain't that the truth? Dude, you can't worry about Alex and what she's doing. Trust her, Will. She loves you."
Nodding my head, I agreed. "We still throwing the field party tomorrow night?"
He looked over at me and gave me a funny face. "What the hell is wrong with you? Hell yes, we are still throwing it, and I plan on getting drunk off my ass."
I let out a gruff laugh. "Why?"
"I just need to forget shit for a bit."
"Dude, that doesn't help."
His eyes grew sad, and he smiled weakly. "It will for a little bit."
I watched as Libby talked to Lauren, Lex, and Grace. I was so glad my sister was coming to A&M with me. Jason had been hanging around a little too close to Libby all night, and my patience was running thin with him. He had asked Libby to dance twice, and she'd turned him down both times.
I glanced over to Colt while he was dancing with Rachel. The bastard looked miserable. When my eyes caught Mike, I balled my fists. The fucker was whispering something to a girl I'd never seen before. I quickly looked back at Grace, who noticed Mike, too. Her smile faded, and she just stood there, watching.
This wasn't the Grace I knew. The Grace I knew would walk up to the bastard and kick him in the balls. The girl handed Mike a piece of paper, and he stuck it in his back pocket. I looked back at Grace as she downed her beer.
I walked over to where the girls were standing. I made my way to Grace and smiled weakly. "Grace, tell me you're not letting him get away with cheating on you."
"What?"
I shook my head as I took her by the arm and pulled her off to the side. "Grace, I know you saw that girl give Mike her number. Why are you putting up with his shit?"
"I know what I'm doing, Will. For once in your life, will you please keep your nose out of my damn business?"
Taking a step back, I held up my hands. "Fine. You know what? If you want to be treated like that, have at it, Grace. It's your choice."
I turned and walked up to Lex. I kissed her on the cheek and asked, "Wanna dance?"
She nodded her head quickly. "I sure do, cowboy!"
Lex and I danced and laughed for most of the night. I knew we were both just trying to hide the fact that we would be leaving for college in two weeks.
She pulled me closer to her as she whispered, "Make love to me."
Smiling, I asked, "Where?"
She looked around and bit down on her lower lip. "The river. Right now."
///
My mouth dropped open. "Are you nuts?"
She started laughing, and then she began running to the river. I quickly followed after her, but there was no way I would have sex with her in front of all these people-dark river or not.
Lex stripped out of her T-shirt and then pulled her boots off. Next came her jean shorts. Two seconds later, she was jumping into the river in her two-piece suit.
Right before coming to the party, we had all jumped off the rope swing into the river-well, mostly Colt and Luke had jumped off it, trying to outdo the other-so we still had on our swimsuits from earlier.
I pulled my T-shirt over my head and took off my sneakers. I'd opted to just wear my swim trunks here and not sweat my ass off in jeans. I glanced around. No one else was in the water.
I turned back around and looked at most everyone dancing. Taylor and Lauren were dancing with their friends, and Maegan was making out with some guy she had brought from Fredericksburg. Some people were standing by the fire we'd started in the fire pit. I saw Luke talking to Libby. He was already drunk, so I just prayed he wouldn't say anything to hurt her.
I looked back at Lex, and she was holding up the bottoms to her swimming suit.
Motherfucker. She's gonna kill me.
I quickly checked my pocket for a condom and ran toward the river. I jumped in, and she let out a small scream. I made my way to her and pulled her to me. My dick was already hard as a rock, knowing she was half-naked in the water.
She wrapped her legs around me, shoved her swimsuit bottoms into my pocket, and stuck her hand down my shorts. She slowly began stroking me.
"Damn it, Lex. If your brother sees us … "
She began kissing me. "He won't."
"Luke … " I whispered against her lips.
"He's so damn drunk that he has no idea what's going on."
When she pulled her hand out of my shorts, she began pushing them down until my dick sprang free. She jumped off me, and I ripped the condom open as I moved to shallow water. I quickly rolled it on before moving back to where Lex was.
She quickly positioned herself over me and sank down.