“Next time.” His eyes darted to her face, and he grinned and kicked at her shoe. “I promise. I always keep my promises.”
Did you ever promise to behave for your mama?But she didn’t ask. She only pouted more and nodded. His lips stayed tilted, that sweet smile only Rett was allowed to see. The pair sat in the tree until the sun slipped below the horizon, leaving only golden-pink fingers in the sky. She used to love sunrises, but now sunsets were her favorite part of the day. Especially when they were spent with Calum. Though she hated that the sunset meant another day closer to his departure from Oak Creek, she loved the way he looked in the dimming light. His skin grew more bronze, eyes a deeper brown, and his hair darkened to black with the disappearance of the sun. A disappearance he would mimic at the end of the school year.
His gaze found hers, and she forced a smile. She didn’t want to think about him leaving. She’d be left behind, and long-distance friendships never worked. So she planned to make the next eight months some of the best of his life. Maybe he’d want to stay at the end.
Calum’s eyes widened as Rett tugged her shirt over her head. He turned away before she could unbutton her shorts, and she grinned and let them fall to the ground. Yanking her socks off her feet, she clambered up the ladder and dropped into the water on the other side. Calum didn’t follow her.
“C’mon,” she pleaded, shivering slightly in the chilly water. “No one’s home, Cal.”
“How do you know?” he asked without looking at her.
“Because if they were, Rufus would be barkin’ like mad. But he’s not, which means they ain’t home. They always take him on vacation with them.”
“Rett…”
She stood tall in the pool, ignoring the way the water pushed against her skin, and rolled her eyes. He finally looked at her; his gaze darted down then back to her face. She barely managed to bite back a giggle at the struggle so evident on his face. Of course, as a teenage boy, seeing her in just her underwear would be a sight.
“Cal. Calum. The Robertsons are gone, I swear. Now get your butt in this pool before I make you.”
“What about the neighbors?”
Rett couldn’t hold her sigh inside. Why was he trying so hard to find excuses not to do this? He trusted her, didn’t he? She waded to the side of the above-ground pool, rested her arms on the side, and stared at him until he shifted awkwardly. With another slow exhale, she held up her right hand and said, “Isolemnly swear we’re the only people around for almost half a mile. We won’t get caught.”
It wasn’t much, the pool. A simple thing spanning seven feet across, only four feet deep, the owners had purchased and set up the pool for when their grandchildren visited. Mister Robertson had tossed in waterproof lights, and they bobbed in the water with the waves. Calum sighed and reached for the hem of his T-shirt. Rett grinned to herself before lying back. The water kept her afloat, and she moved her arms lazily as she listened to the sound of clothes hitting the ground. Her gaze remained trained on the midnight sky while the ladder squeaked and rocked, sending more waves across the surface of the water.
Katydids screamed in the trees, and crickets chirped in the grass. Yips from coyotes joined the cacophony before a splash interrupted. Rett glanced over in time to see Calum shrinking in on himself. He scrambled back onto the ladder, cursed lowly. She bit her lower lip when he turned accusing eyes onto her.
“It’s freezing!” he nearly shouted.
“Oh, no, it ain’t, you wimp. It’s just not a million degrees.”
A wall of water crashed over her, and she twitched in surprise. She sank to the bottom of the pool with her eyes scrunched closed then came up spluttering. Shoving water towards Calum, she beamed when he laughed as he carefully lowered himself off the ladder. Kellie Marie had been wrong that day, Rett thought. His laugh wasn’t horrible. It was beautiful.Hewas beautiful. His black hair washed out his skin. He had a lithe body and sharp angles, but he was so soft where it mattered—his heart, even if he never showed it to anyone but her. Silver glowed on his skin, and his eyes gleamed, so dark and rich. Rett would never remember what possessed her in that moment. She had never been so forward before.
So interested.
None of the other boys in the tiny town ever caught her attention like Calum had. Growing up with the same kids meant seeing too much awkwardness, different stages of life too intimate of knowledge. The people were too familiar. She knew them as well as she knew the thick summer heats and gossip from the old women who frequented the corner store and walked the streets. She’d heard too much from the old men who sat on the deck outside the diner and swapped fishing stories. Rett could never have found anyone in Oak Creek who she could have imagined a future with.
But Calum was new. He was a breath of fresh air that the town needed though no one would admit it.
She swam toward him and got her feet beneath her again. His brows drew together when she wrapped a hand around the back of his neck and dragged him in. The kiss was tender, hesitant, and the scent of chlorine and spiced cologne flooded her nose. She breathed it in before pulling away.
“What was that for?” he asked, staring down at her with wide eyes.
“Because you’re beautiful,” she whispered back.
His face split with a grin, then he kissed her. Again and again, lazy little things as his hands rested on her waist. She looped her arms around his neck and fell headfirst into the way his lips moved against hers. No longer hesitant, each kiss sent sparks along her spine. Her toes curled against the bottom of the pool, and she shivered when his fingers skimmed along her skin. He moved his lips across her cheek, her jaw, and murmured against her throat:
“You’re beautiful, too.”
The novelty of kissing for the first time in someone else’s pool at midnight faded fast. Rett climbed the ladder first, adjusting her soaked underwear once her feet were on solid ground again. Calum followed behind quickly. Pulling clothes on had neverbeen more difficult for her than it was then: The pair kept stopping to share more kisses, and denim didn’t go well with water. She managed to button her shorts and planted her hands on her hips.
“The night is still young, Cal. So where to now?”
He grinned down at her, straight teeth shining in the moonlight. He didn’t answer, just reached for her hand to tug her after him. They passed a joint between them on the trek back to the heart of town. She leaned into his side, arm snaking around his waist like she’d wanted to for the last couple of weeks, and he held her close. After a few minutes, he pulled her to a stop and dragged in a deep inhale of smoke. Her lips parted beneath his, and she breathed in the smoke he gave. Her skin pebbled when he caught her bottom lip between his teeth.
“Beautiful,” he whispered.
The moon highlighted their way, casting the two teens in its spotlight. Actors in their own show. Take a bow, the moon said, show the world how wonderfully you’ve played your parts. Rett could only hope there was no finale, no ending. Calum had become important to her. He fitted himself a place in her life and flipped it upside down. She always wanted to get out of Oak Creek. There had to be more than the same faces, the same cracked pavement, the same houses she grew up around. She wanted to get out for a brief moment then come back home where she belonged.
