“Well, we were getting a good tan until a giant blocked our sun,” Sawyer informs him.“You get a good wrestling match in with your boyfriends out there?”
“Ha!”Bryson chuckles.He sticks his thumb over his shoulder, toward the lake.“Either one of those bozos would be lucky to have me!”
I laugh.“We’re doing fine up here, Bryson.”
He squats down next to me, all long limbs and tanned skin.“You sure?”he asks, the corner of his mouth tugging upward.“You don’t want to come for a dip?”
“I’m good here,” I reply, turning to look for my book in her beach bag.“We’re just - eek!”I squeal, as I’m suddenly lifted into the air.The world is a blur for a second, and when I’m righted again I find myself bent over Bryson’s shoulder.“Bryson, you put me down right now!”
“No can do, Carleigh,” he says cheerfully, as he begins walking toward the water.I look helplessly at Molly and Sawyer, who are laughing as they get smaller in my field of vision.“I think you need a little swim.”
“Bye, Carleigh!”Molly calls, waving.
“I hate you both!”I holler back.I swat at Bryson’s back and cling onto his shoulders, not wanting to be put upside down.“Bryson, don’t you dare put me into that water.”
I can hear Bishop and Quinn laughing now.I manage to glimpse behind me just as Bryson starts wading into the lake.I steel myself to be dropped into the cold water, but he doesn’t set me down yet.Instead, he keeps walking further out, past a cackling Bishop and Quinn, until my dangling feet are wet.
“Carleigh, you can swim, right?”Bryson asks.
“Yes, but don’t you dare-”
He tosses me then, up and out, and I land with a splash.It’s deep enough here that I can’t touch but Bryson and Quinn probably can.I’m underwater for a second, where it’s all swirling murky coldness, but I’m a great swimmer - earned through years at the Cape - and I surface without issue.
Bryson is nearby, standing in chin-deep water, laughing.
“I’m going to get you!”I holler, and begin to swim toward him.
“Counting on it, babe,” he says, when I get to him.He reaches out for me, but I evade his grasp and swim around to his back.I push my feet at his hips, drawing myself upward and out of the water, then sits on his shoulders and dunk his head underwater.
Bryson bucks me off easily, which I assumed, but even though I’m tossed in the water again it’s still worth it to see him sputtering and wet like a retriever when his head surfaces again.
“You got me, Carleigh,” he crows happily.“We’re even!”
“Mm.We’ll see.”I swim closer to him and paddle myself in a slowly narrowing circle until his guard lowers.Then I kick backward, splashing a broad spray of water in his face.
“Oh god!”he exclaims, turning to shield himself.“Uncle, uncle!”
I laugh and stop kicking.I've got a good front crawl and I’m back at his side quickly.“Truce?”I ask, treading water in front of him.
Bryson sweeps his hair back again.“Truce,” he agrees.“Come here.”
I glance over at Bishop and Quinn.They’ve somehow found a beach ball - they definitely hadn’t brought one with them, so I’m not sure how that happened - and are tossing it back and forth where the water is shallower.I can also see Sawyer and Molly still on the beach, both with reading material - though if I know my best friend, I’m sure Molly is actually watching us.
But Molly knows now, so I figure it’s safe enough.I swim to him and slips my legs around his waist.The water is buoyant enough for me just to loosely hang onto his shoulders, but he still supports me with an arm around my hips.
“Hi,” I say.
“Hey, Carleigh.”Bryson’s smile is almost warm enough to soothe the sting of the cool lake water.
I let one of my hands fall under the surface.I slide my palm onto Bryson’s chest, the way I’ve been imagining since earlier, and give him a sly smile.“It’s a good thing I had sunglasses on earlier,” I say softly.“Couldn’t stop staring at you when you took your clothes off.Wish I could kiss you.”
A muscle twitches in Bryson’s jaw.“Speak for yourself, babe,” he whispers.He brings a hand to my waist under the water and drags his knuckles across my stomach.“There’s lots of things I want to do to you in this thing.”His index finger traces the cup of my bikini top.His eyes are watching my face intently.
My breath catches.“Bryson."
“They aren’t looking, Carleigh,” he says, but he doesn’t go in for a kiss.He does palm at my breast carefully, watching me the whole time.
My eyelids flutter closed.God.Even here, with the barrier of water and the fabric of my suit between us, his hands are incredible.I want so much more.But we’re in a lake with our friends.So - “We should stop,” I say, unwinding my legs from him.
Bryson nods and drops his hands obediently.I swing myself around to his back and slip on, hanging my arms around his neck and my chin over his shoulder.“To higher ground!”
“You’re um - you’re going to have to give me a sec,” he mutters.His hands tighten around the back of my knees.
Oh.I bite my lower lip and wait patiently.I rest my cheek on his shoulder, not caring at this point, and look out at the lake.It really is beautiful; I just might get used to this.