“It’s ninety-six degrees and rising today. Before the month is over this will feel like bath water.” I made an attempt not to appear mesmerized by the way her long eyelashes got all spiky when they were wet.
“Yes, I remember. I’ve spent as many summers in this lake as you have,” she said, trailing off as if to remind us both whose lake we were swimming in. I wanted her to be comfortable with me. If talking about Sawyer would help then I’d talk about him. Besides, it wouldn’t hurt to keep me reminded who she belonged to.
“Point taken. Sorry, this new Ashton doesn’t resemble the Ash I once knew. I sometimes forget Sawyer’s perfect girlfriend is the same girl who used to start mud fights with me up there on the bank.”
“I wish you’d stop acting like I’m a different person, Beau. I grew up but I’m still the same girl. Besides, you changed too. The old Beau wouldn’t have completely ignored me because he was too busy making out with his girlfriend to acknowledge my existence.”
“No, but the old Beau wasn’t horny,” I shot back with a wink and splashed water in her face. Her familiar laughter made my chest ache a little.
“Point taken. I guess having someone built like Nicole all over you is a little distracting. I can see where an old friend would rank under getting laid.”
If I’d known Ashton had wanted it at any point I would have pushed Nicole aside and given her my undivided attention. But most of the time she was wrapped in Sawyer’s arms and I needed the distraction Nicole provided.
“Nicole isn’t very modest,” I replied, trying to lay the blame on her.
The dimple I’d been fascinated with since the day I’d met Ashton appeared as she gave me a full smile.
“Nicole doesn’t even know the definition of the word modest. Now, the word vulgar, I’m pretty sure she’s got a grasp on.”
Was it my wishful thinking or did she sound jealous of Nicole?
“Nicole’s not so bad. She just goes after what she wants,” I replied, wanting to test Ashton’s reaction.
An annoyed frown came over her face and she stiffened. I couldn’t keep the smile from forming on my lips. I liked the fact it bothered her when I defended Nicole.
“You’ve got bad taste in women, Beau Vincent,” she replied. I watched her swim over to the pier and pull herself out to sit on the edge, giving me an extremely pleasant view of her barely covered ass. It took me a minute to remember what we’d been talking about. Ashton’s wet body on display was all my single-minded brain seemed to focus on. I shook my head to clear my thoughts and remembered her comment about my bad taste in women.
“I suppose Sawyer has better taste?” I asked and swam over to join her. She frowned and bit her bottom lip. That hadn’t been the response I was expecting. I’d meant to make her smile.
“Maybe because I don’t rape him in public, but we both know he could do better.”
What the hell did that mean?
“You think so.” I managed to sound casual.
She glanced over at me with a sad little smile. The late afternoon sun was directly behind her, causing the long blonde curls framing her face to softly glow. The effect made her resemble an angel. Untouchable unless you were the perfect Sawyer Vincent.
“I’m not blind, Beau. I’m not saying I think I’m ugly. I know I’m passably cute. I’ve got good hair and my complexion isn’t bad. I don’t have big blue eyes or long lashes but my eyes aren’t bad. I’m not exactly exciting or striking. Sawyer is perfect. It’s hard to believe he wants me sometimes.”
I turned away from her, afraid the incredulous expression on my face would tell her more than she needed to know. I wanted to tell her how her green eyes made guys want to defend her or the way her sweet pink lips were mesmerizing or how that one single dimple caused my pulse rate to soar. I wanted to point out how those long, tanned legs caused guys to trip over themselves and when she wore tight shirts I fought the urge to go cover her up so every male who saw her wouldn’t go home and jack-off with her image in their head. But I couldn’t say any of those things.
Forcing my expression to remain casual I glanced back at her. “I don’t think you give yourself enough credit. Sawyer didn’t just choose you because of your looks.” That’s all I needed to say.
She sighed and leaned back on her hands. I had to turn my head away from her again before my eyes could zero in on her tits. I didn’t need to study them to know they were perfectly round, soft, plump, and tempting as hell.
“I’m not always good. I try really hard to be good. I want to be worthy of Sawyer, I really do, but it’s like there is this other me inside that is trying to get out. I fight it but I’m not good at it all the time. Sawyer has to keep me in line.”
Keep her in line? Wait . . . what? Shaking my head to clear my thoughts from how sweet her ni**les would be, I forced myself to focus on what she was saying instead of how she would taste. She didn’t think she was good enough for Sawyer? Had Sawyer made her think something was wrong with her? Surely he didn’t know she felt this way.
“Ash, you’ve been nothing but perfect since you decided to grow up. Sure, you used to help me put frogs in people’s mail boxes but that girl’s gone. You wanted to be perfect and you achieved it.”
She laughed and sat back up. I chanced a glance over at her. The dimple was there as she gazed down at the water.
“If you only knew,” was all she said.
“Tell me.” The words are out of my mouth before I could stop them.
“Why?”
Because I want you. Just you. The girl I know is in there, hiding from the world. I want my Ash back. I couldn’t say it like that. She’d see too much. I had to protect myself.
“Because I’d like to know you aren’t so perfect. I’d like to know the girl I once knew was still in there somewhere.”
She laughed again and pulled her legs up to rest her chin on.
“There’s no way I’m admitting all my faults to you. Considering most of them are just in my thoughts and I’ve never acted on them.”
“I’m not asking for your deep dark secrets, Ash. I just want to know what you could possibly do wrong that makes you feel Sawyer’s got to keep you in line.”
Her cheeks turned pink but she kept her eyes straight ahead. After a few minutes of silence I stood up and stretched.