“Don’t thank me. It’s what friends are for.”
***
It’s blazing hot today—well over a hundred degrees. We all just finished eating lunch at Duke’s Diner, a local restaurant near the campground, and we’re now on our way to cool off with some liquid relief. The area has three different lakes to choose from, one of which offers some pretty sweet cliffs to jump from.
“Are we all jumping?” I ask from the backseat of Knox’s Rover. To make the trip over to the lake, we somehow managed to fit all of us—like sardines—in the one vehicle.
“Hell yeah, we are,” Weston exclaims from all the way in the back.
“Bro, you still fighting with your girl?” Knox eyes Weston from the rear-view mirror, a shit-eating grin on his face. Weston spent the majority of our morning with the phone glued to his ear.
“Fuck off, man. She’s being so fucking annoying.”
“What’s her deal now?”
“Same shit, different day.”
“Time to cut a bitch loose.” Laughter erupts in the car at that. Knox has no shame and always says what he feels. Kind of admirable, if you ask me.
Weston glowers, but says nothing. He’s about as over Knox’s shit as he is Jessica’s.
Pulling up at the lake, it’s not as busy as I anticipated, but it is a more secluded location than the other two. We all pile out of the car, nothing but swim trunks and sandals on.
“Anderson, can you get my back?” I ask, handing him the sunscreen, because skin safety and all that.
Things between us haven’t been too uncomfortable since my morning breakdown. There’s a slight awkwardness sometimes when we catch the other staring, but in an ‘oh shit, I kissed my best friend—what does this mean?’type of way. We haven’t discussed the kiss any further, nor my anxiety attack. Don’t know if we will or not, at least not while we’re here, surrounded by everyone.
“Sure.” A glob of white of sunscreen squirts on his palm. Setting the bottle down, he rubs his palms together before coming behind me and rubbing it all over my back. The lotion-like liquid is cool, but I can’t even feel it with the way his touch sets my blood on fire.
He massages the sunscreen into my skin diligently. Everywhere he touches sets off tingles below the surface.Does he feel it too?
He clears his throat. “All set.”
“Thank you.” Turning around to face him, his deep green eyes are heavy and he’s chewing on his bottom lip.Okay, yeah. He definitely felt it.“Want me to do you?”
“Uh.” He coughs, clearing his throat again. “What?”
“Sunscreen, Anderson. Want me to help you with your back?”
“Oh.” He laughs. “I’m okay. I used the spray stuff back at the campsite.”
Knox whistles, getting everyone’s attention. “Okay, let’s go fuckers. It’s hot as balls, and I wanna get in the water already.”
There are three different cliffs you can jump from—ten feet, twenty-five feet, and fifty feet. We’re starting at twenty-five. There’s a group already at the ten, and no way in fucking hell am I doing fifty feet.
We all trudge along the rocky path until we get to the cliff. As far as cliff jumping is concerned, this looks to be one of the safer ones. There’re not too many rocks at the bottom near the base, and the water looks plenty deep.
“Alright, youngest first,” Knox announces. Clearly, he’s in a bossy ass mood today. “Luca, you’re up!”
“Oh, real nice. Thanks, guys. Send the youngest as the guinea pig.”
“C’mon,” Branson says, taking Luca’s hand. “We’ll jump together.” They take a few steps back to get some momentum, then running hand in hand, they jump off the cliff, Branson pumping his other hand in the air. We hear, “Adios, bitches,” right before they splash into the water. Seconds later, they emerge, and we all erupt, hooting and hollering.
We all take turns jumping after that. The water feels amazing compared to the dry heat of the day. I swear it’s even hotter now than it was when we first got here. Everyone is all laughs and smiles, the mood light and easy. I honestly can’t remember the last time I had this much fun.
This weekend was exactly what I needed.
Chapter Twelve