“Three down, two to go,” Luke yells and passes another.What is she doing?She’s going to be out cold after five. Cory shouldn’t be letting this happen.Where’s mother hen?My eyes search through the crowd of men, but no luck. She must be hiding away with Nate somewhere. Cheers ring out behind me.
“Who’s next?” Summer asks and smiles while searching for the next victim. When her eyes find me, her smile grows and my body moves toward her without asking my mind for permission. She wraps her arms around my neck and presses her body into mine, the shots already affecting her judgment. Stepping up on her toes, she pulls my head down and moves her mouth to my ear. My mouth goes dry.Please say you want to get out of here.I wrap my arms around her, the palms of my hands gently pressing on her back, bringing her closer to me. It’s like the head massage has destroyed all my brain cells and I’m no longer in control. I know I shouldn’t be doing this, but when she takes a quick sharp breath, I lose all reasoning.
I’m just about to tell her to screw our friendship, when she whispers. “You’re up. Five. Or. Dive?” Pulling her head back, she looks me dead in the eyes. Any effect I had on her has gone. She’s once again cool, calm, and collected. She raises an eyebrow, and I remember she asked a question.Five or what? Oh, the stupid game.I can’t help but smile.
Releasing my hold on her, I step away. There is no way I’m jumping in that pool fully clothed, so… “Five” I reply and my promise to limit alcohol during the season goes straight out the window along with my insane belief that I’d be happy with Summer in the friend zone. I knock back the five shots with barely a breath in between.Stupid, stupid idea.
Summer laughs and leans in to me. “Impressive,” she says, her teeth pulling at her bottom lip. I inwardly groan, and it takes all my self-control not to lean forward and take my own bite.
“Who’s up for beer pong?” someone yells, and I roll my eyes.Ain’t gonna be me.I don’t really care for drinking games and have avoided them all these years until—
“Dylan and I are in,” Summer yells, grabbing my hand and pulling me toward the table. “We’re going to kick ass.”Of course, that was going to happen.
Two rounds later and only three drinks in, wearekicking ass. I have no idea how, considering Summer spends most of the time swaying, and I spend most of my time watching her hips move, but here we are on the last shot.
“You can do this, babe,” I say, and her eyes spring up to mine.Fuck, why did I say that?
She winks and smiles. “You bet your ass I can.”We really need to cool it on the ass talk, because Summer’s looks amazing in those tiny shorts, and I’m already struggling to focus.
She’s still swaying as she lines up for her shot, even worse than before, so I grab her hips to steady her. Expecting her to freeze or push me away, I’m shocked when I hear a quick thank you leave her mouth. Her arms rise and I feel the release of the ball. I sayfeelbecause my eyes may be looking in that direction, but with my hands splayed across Summer’s hips and my fingertips resting just under the top of her shorts, I’m not seeing anything. I only realize we’ve won when her hands shoot up in the air and she turns around, breaking my hold. I take a step back and snap out of it, just in time for her to leap into my arms and wrap her legs around me. Her forest-green eyes lock with mine, and I freeze.What I wouldn’t give to push her up against a wall right now.Heat flashes in her gaze, and I know it matches mine. She rubs her nose against mine, taking me back to the night by the lake, then smiles before screaming “woo hoo” at the top of her lungs and raising her fist in the air. If only she was always this uninhibited around me. She tries to jump down, but when her feet hit the ground, she stumbles and falls into my arms.
“I think I need to lie down,” she whispers and smiles.
“I’ll get you home,” I say, walking her back inside to collect her things.
“You live right around the corner, right, yes, correct?” she mumbles, and it’s adorable. I try not to laugh.
“Yes, but I don’t mind going past your place first. I want to make sure you get home safely.”
“Aww, that’s sweet. But since your place is closer, we’ll just go there.” The words leave her mouth like it’s no big deal.We’ll just go there. What does she even mean?She’s drunk, so I’m obviously not going to take advantage, but does this mean she wants to? I book a cab, and we say our goodbyes. When I wave to Luke, he raises an eyebrow and gives me a disapproving head shake. I know he’s referring to Thomas, but right now, I couldn’t care less.
Summer rests her head on my shoulder and hums, something I’ve noticed her doing before, and a minute after the cab starts moving, she falls asleep. Her soft blonde hair tickles my cheek, but I can’t bear to move her. I don’t want to. What I want to do is grab her hand and curl our fingers together while resting my head on hers, but instead, I stay still and spend the entire trip trying not to wake her. Despite my earlier concerns, I’m pretty stoked that the girls crashed our boys’ night.
After paying the driver, I gently lift her into my arms and carry her inside and straight to my room. Laying her on my bed, I remove her shoes and pull the blankets up, tucking them just under her shoulders. She looks so beautiful and innocent with her soft curls fanning my pillow and her hand resting against her forehead. I could stare at her all night, but I won’t.
Trying to be as quiet as possible, I grab a pair of boxer briefs and move to leave the room, resigned to a night on the couch. Just before the door shuts behind me, Summer calls my name. When I look back, she’s moved to one side of the bed and has flipped the comforter open. All she has to say is “stay” and I’m stripping down and moving across the room to the bed before she changes her mind.
I slip in next to her and roll her over so that her back is to me, pulling her close. When I wrap my arm around her, she connects her fingers with mine and stills. Within seconds, her breathing evens out and she’s once again out cold. Unable to resist, I gently press a kiss to her head and then it’s not long before I join her in sleep.
Chapter Fourteen
Summer
Myheadisthrobbingwhen I wake, and it feels like my body’s being pressed into the mattress.Dammit, Brutus.That mutt has broken into my room for the last…hang on.I quiet my thoughts to allow my brain to catch up with the times.Summer, you no longer live at home, and you haven’t seen the family dog since you left.And I’m back in the present.I barely have time to be saddened by the memory before it occurs to me that if the weight isn’t a dog, then it must be…Shit! I open my eyes and bite my lip before slowly turning my head to look over my shoulder. Sure enough, Dylan is sleeping behind me, arms and legs pinning me down. His long, perfect lashes rest against his cheek, and his lips are parted slightly and dangerously close to my skin. Add to that his messy bed hair and you have a sight that’s difficult to look away from.
There’s nothing comfortable about this situation. Okay, that’s a lie, there isplentycomfortable about this situation. The feel of his hand splayed over my waist, his face buried in my hair, the way his body aligns perfectly with mine…Ugh, stop.I need out, and fast. Slowly and gently, I try to pull my limbs free from his clutches, but it doesn’t take long to figure out that’s not a workable option. Attempt two, roll onto my tummy and slide…
“Keep wriggling like that and you’re going to have to finish what you’ve started,” Dylan whispers, humor lacing his raspy, just woken voice. The sound of it instantly turns me on, and I shake my head to clear my mind.
Sneaking another peek over my shoulder, I see his eyes are still closed. “I thought you were asleep,” I say, trying harder to move out from under him, since he’s now awake, but he doesn’t budge.
“I am still asleep. So,stopmoving.” He doesn’t open his eyes, but the sexiest smile I’ve ever received lights up his face, and it takes everything I have to ignore it and calm my breathing.
“I can’t, you’re on top of me,” I say, with my lip between my teeth to suppress the nervous laugh trying to escape. I wriggle one more time just for the fun of it, making sure that my body presses back into his.I bet that makes him move.
Quick as a flash, Dylan releases his hold on me, but before I have the chance to move, he pushes me onto my back and hovers over me, his hands braced on the bed, one on each side of my face. “You’re wrong,” he says, and I look at him in shock, but furrow my brows in question.He lowers his body toward me and stops right before we touch. I try to hide my sharp intake of breath, but he notices and smiles. This playful yet assertive side of Dylan is new, and I can’t decide how I feel about it. My eyes hold his, waiting for him to continue.
“Thisis me on top of you,” he says. His gaze intensifies, as though he’s searching for something in my eyes. I’m about to look away when he shakes his head then laughs, moving back to his side of the bed.He relaxes into the pillow, arms locked behind his head. “It’s nice to wake up next to you again. It’s been too long,” he says casually, moving this conversation in another direction and confusing the hell out of me.