“This isn’t Bar-they-lona anymore, Dorothy,” Liam teases, saying Barcelona with a spot-on Spanish lisp.
I narrow my eyes and walk in between them, glaring, and turn away to tiptoe over the grass to stroll out onto the empty deck by myself. They stand there still staring at me, and I want to laugh at how ridiculous they’re being. Looking back, I know that I’m a silhouette, so I reach back and unclasp my bra, holding it up and letting it hang from my fingers, yelling out, “I thought you liked bad-decision Donovan.”
Grey
THE SPLASH DONOVAN’S BODY MAKES diving into the water is like an alarm sounding, waking me and Liam. We kick out of our clothes and push each other as we jog to the deck in nothing but our skivvies.
“Fuck it’s cold,” he laughs, pushing me as we near the end of the dock.
“You coming in or what, losers?” Donovan taunts from the water.
The moon’s made rings on the ripples of the water, highlighting her skin as she cuts through the shadows, swimming toward the floating dock in the distance. We used to try and race to it when we were little, never making past the buoy unless we intended on drowning, but now it would be easy.
“Ready?”
“No time like the present,” I answer, as we both run, flipping off the deck and splashing down into the freezing cold water.
“Shit. Fuck,” I yell, coming up and shaking my head. “It’s cold as hell.”
“It’s not as bad as I thought it’d be,” Liam chuckles, blowing water off his lip. “Top or bottom?”
“You have to ask? Bottom.”
We dive under and swim toward Donovan as she gets near the buoy. Liam swims up, calling her name, and I sneak under the pitch-black water and nab her legs. I can hear her scream from under the water before I come up laughing.
“You’re such an asshole,” she giggles, splashing water at me.
Donovan grabs a hold of the steel handle on the floating tower, sandwiched between us. She hangs on with one hand and wipes the other over her locks.
“You’ve got a piece of hair—” I offer, reaching out to brush it off her eye with my middle finger.
She looks flawless in the moonlight. A siren luring men to their deaths. Knowing she’s topless and inches away from me feels like the gates of heaven, so maybe I’m already dead.
“Thanks.”
Her voice is breathy, set against the lapping of water and the clanging from the buoy.
“I have a surprise for you,” Liam says from her other side.
She smiles and keeps herself facing the buoy while we face her. “You mean swimming semi-nude wasn’t enough?”
“Well, that wasn’t my idea. Although remind me to thank Ethan.” He smirks, leaning closer to her.
She giggles and dips her lips under the water and back up.
“I had the groundskeepers set up the dock.”
Donovan looks out behind me over at the shore, but I shake my head and motion to behind Liam, feeling my body move inches closer to hers.
“That way, Cherry.”
She cranes her neck, straightening her arms to push up and away, seeing the deck in the distance decked out with chairs, blankets and a fire pit.
“I love it. It looks amazing, but what if we’re too tired to swim back? Who’s giving me a ride?”
Liam tilts his head to stare at her like he’s lost in his own thoughts. The way he looks at her, like he’s hanging on her every word, makes me want to hold him under, but I can’t blame him, because I am too. She dips her head backward into the water, making it sleek and barely exposing the tops of her breasts. My eyes dart up from her chest, locking with Liam’s irritated glare, but I smile back, cocky and undeterred.
Neither of us want to share something we don’t have claim over. We’re fucking pricks.
“Well? Hello…how do we get back without drowning?”
“It’s on a pulley, Van. Grey and I did it last summer. We’ll pull us back in.”
“Sweet. Race you. That is, unless you were hoping to get another shot at looking at my boobs.”
She pushes off, shouting, “Pervs,” and makes swift strokes over the water as we look at each other laughing. This girl is one of a kind. I should’ve known that if I was beginning to like her, he would be too. The three of us never could do anything without the other.
“She was talking to you, dick,” I laugh, diving in.
“No way. That was all about you.”
We shove off, quickly trying to catch her, but by the time we do, she’s holding the small ladder and climbing onto the dock, each hip rocking up as she climbs, exposing her bare ass and slender frame. She wrings out her wet hair and grabs a towel, wrapping it around her chest and making her way over to an Adirondack.
I lift myself onto the wooden deck and walk next to where she’s snuggled up in the chair. Grabbing another towel, I dry my face first and run it over my chest.
“I didn’t notice that the other day,” Donovan muses, running two fingers down the side of my torso. “Is it Latin?”
“It is. If you can decipher it, I’ll give you a prize.”
“Look at who’s being mysterious now?”
“You can dish it out but can’t take it, huh?”
Liam squats down by the firepit and brings it to life. The fire begins to instantly warm the space around us. But he squirts the can of lighter fluid on it, anyway, making the fire roar. Cheers erupt from the shore, and Liam holds his arms up and yells back, “Fire, motherfuckers!”
Donovan laughs and reaches out, wiggling her fingers. I twist my head around and spot a flannel blanket, so I swipe it up and toss it to her. I secure the towel around my waist and sit down in the seat across the fire from her. I like to look at her, watch her reactions. Being in this spot makes it easy.
Liam stretches his arms out wide, then drops them down and looks to the sky. “Beer me.”
I reach into the cooler next to me and hand him a beer, pulling one out for me too.
“What about me?”
Donovan looks at me expectantly from over the fire, and I smirk. “No more rule following?”
“I’m topless on a deck with two guys…I feel like a beer is mandatory.”
I hand it to Liam, and he passes it to her, twisting the top open first. Silence surrounds us as we sit, Liam standing, looking at the stars and taking swigs of our beers and just being us.
“I missed this.”
She says it to no one in particular, but Donovan’s already looking at me when I connect with her over the fire. Liam walks over and stands her up, sitting down in her chair and bringing her back onto his lap. He tucks his chin onto her shoulder, closing his eyes.
“We missed you,” I answer, keeping my eyes on her, and take another drink.
Liam wraps his arms around her like she’s a lifeline and opens his eyes to stare at the fire. She twists her head to try and see his face, but he holds her in place.
“Hey, you. What’s going on?”
“Same thing since the last time you knew me.”
“Your dad?”
I see his head nod, and my eyes shift between the two of them. I hate that she’s on him, but I’m not jealous, more selfish. But mostly, I’m happy he can talk to her because I’m sure as hell not sitting on his lap.