She folded her arms over her yellow triangle bikini top, only making the problem worse. Her breasts looked remarkably bigger than when I’d seen her last.
“Jami,” she said with a laugh. “Stop looking at my boobs.”
I groaned and found her eyes again. “I’m sorry. I just can’t get over how much you’ve changed.”
She laughed again and shook her head. “I was only gone for one summer. You act like you haven’t seen me in years.”
“It feels like years,” I told her with a coy smile. “How was your summer anyway? You haven’t said much about LA.”
She shrugged. “Not much to report back. Gravity was amazing though.”
I frowned, wishing that name rang a bell. “Gravity?”
“That’s the name of the dance studio I studied at, silly. Gravity Dance Complex. Keep up.” She nudged my side with her elbow. “Most of the dancers there are already professionals.” Her eyes glazed over, all dreamy like. “They’re my age too. I can’t even imagine it. Booking gigs left and right while they’re still going to high school.” She shook her head. “It’s incredible. But anyway”—she laughed—“you’re probably sick of hearing about dance by now. It’s all I ever talk about anymore.”
I reeled back, offended. “Am not. I’m your biggest dance fan.”
She laughed and rolled her eyes like she didn’t believe me. “Okay, well, I officially want to run my own dance studio one day.”
“Really? Instead of booking gigs like all those other people?”
“Absolutely.” She sighed and raised her eyes like she was floating off to dreamland. “Dance has always been my favorite escape, but we have nothing here like what I experienced in LA. I want to create that here on the San Juan Islands. On Orcas Island. At this very camp.” She nudged me again, this time playfully like I wasn’t listening to her dropping hints. “Maybe your dad will consider letting me teach dance here one day.”
I pondered the thought, ready to make my pitch if that was seriously what Violet wanted. “I can plant the seed.”
“Really?”
I loved the way her eyes sparkled with excitement whenever we talked about what she was passionate about. And I loved the way I had something to do with it. “Of course.”
She hugged my side. “Now tell me about your summer. I’m sure the stories are far more interesting.”
I shrugged. “You didn’t miss anything exciting.”
Violet’s dark eyes bore into mine. “You’re full of shit, Bexley. The Reeves’ sisters told me how you kissed both of them at Trevor’s lake party last month. You’re so gross.”
She unfolded her arms and pushed against my arm, drawing my eyes back down to her breasts. But I retracted my gaze just as fast, in fear of being scolded. “They’re the ones who bet on who could kiss me first. Someone gave me a heads-up, so I decided to play along.” I adopted a coy grin to benefit my story. “Like a true gentleman.”
Violet rolled her eyes and kicked at the water. “A true gentleman wouldn’t have dated Genevieve for three weeks and then broken it off with her through a game of telephone.”
My eyes widened. “How did you hear about that?”
She shrugged. “Word travels fast in Orcas Island. You know that.”
“Well, then you’d know that it was Trevor who passed that message around in the game, not me. I was going to wait until after the party to tell her it was over.”
She made a sound in the back of her throat. “You’re such a make-out slut.”
I chuckled, knowing she wasn’t wrong. “You jealous?”
“Not a chance.” She stood to adjust her swimsuit bottoms. They were yellow just like her top, and they barely covered her ass like they used to. My friend was filling out, and without even trying, I’d committed every single curve to memory.
My gaze traveled the movement her fingers made as they glided beneath the surface of the fabric, triggering forbidden thoughts. Violet had been my best friend for years. We didn’t like each other like that. But I could admit that my best friend was hot and steadily gaining the eyes of my guy friends. For some reason, that bothered me.
Her dive into the water was perfect. The way her body lengthened then bent at the waist with her toes pointed just right. She moved through the water like a mermaid glittering beneath the surface. When she finally came back up and turned to float on her back, I felt my attraction to my best friend’s body stir in my shorts. Hurrying to cover it, I slipped into the water and made my way over to her.
“And who did you make out with this summer?” I asked when I came up for air. “I’m sure those LA boys are smooth as butter.”
Violet smiled but didn’t open her eyes while she continued floating. “LA boys are cocky as hell. I wasn’t interested in kissing any of them.”
“Bullshit. You were afraid.”
Her eyes shot open, and she scrambled to tread water beside me. “I’m not afraid.”
I narrowed my stare. “Liar.”
Violet’s skin flushed red as anger lit her eyes. “I’m not lying. I’m not afraid of kissing. I just…” She averted her gaze.
“Tell me.” My tone became less teasing, softer, knowing that she was clearly afraid of something.
“I don’t know how. I’ve never kissed anyone before, and I didn’t want to fuck it up.”
Strange feelings hammered away at my chest while I took in her words. “It’s not that hard, you know?”
She swam over to the end of the dock and held on to the edge. “Not for you. You’re a guy, and you’ve kissed dozens of girls.”
“Not dozens,” I argued back, not that I should care how many girls she thought I’d kissed. “I could show you if you want.” I raised my brows while I waited for her reaction. “Then you won’t have to be afraid next time.”
She blushed deeply, her naturally creamy skin turning a shade of pink that reminded me of an Alaskan salmon. “Wouldn’t that be weird?”
I shrugged. “Maybe. But who better to be weird with than your best friend?” I met her at the edge of the dock and smiled in a way that she couldn’t ever resist. A cheesy grin that lifted her own lips into a smile. “It’s really easy. You’ll see.”
My palm cupped the back of her neck, and I tried to ignore the awkwardness of the moment. She tensed against me until I started to release her, then she pulled her body closer to mine. “Okay fine. Just do it. But you can’t make fun of me if I’m bad at it.”
“That’s what practice is for.”
Our lips were merely an inch apart when I felt the first burst of electricity. It shot through my body like a warning, but I was never one to heed a warning. I closed the gap, my mouth pressing to hers slowly. I didn’t want to simply teach her how to kiss. I wanted her to know how good it could feel. So I kept one palm supporting her neck while I parted her lips with mine.
The moment my tongue touched hers, a tiny gasp slipped up her throat. I wanted to laugh at her surprise, but I was too caught up by the way her mouth felt against mine. Her lips were soft at first, almost too plushy as she kissed me, but over time they firmed with confidence, matching my every move until she was flicking her tongue against mine.