I grimace.
“Here?” I laugh to myself as I take off my shoes and socks.
“Yep.” She nods, throwing my jacket back to me before slipping off her stilettos and hooking the straps over her wrist, her smile wide. “It’s perfect. Come on.” She runs forward and I follow, curling my toes into the sand as we move closer to the water, the glow of the moon lighting our path.
“How aboutyoudance and I watch?” I question. “I wouldn’t want to break tradition.” I offer her my coat one more time and when she shakes her head no, I spread it out onto the sand, making myself comfortable. “See.Thisis perfect.”
Giggling, she drops her heels beside me and gathers her dress into her hands, draping the delicate material over one arm.
And then she dances.
Like the free spirit she is, she sways her hips to an imaginary beat, waving her hand in the air, her eyes closed as she loses herself to the moment.
Grabbing my phone, I scroll through my music and bring up “Shape of You,” by Ed Sheeran, remembering she once mentioned that she loved him.
Her eyes widen before she giggles again, changing her moves to match the new tempo.
She’s carefree and happy…until she’s not. “This isn’t working,” she huffs, letting her dress fall as she sulks over to me.
“What’s not? You looked pretty content to me.”
“I was. I am. But this dress.” Her gaze falls to my bag and her eyes light up. “I was saving the clothes in case we got wet but…why not.” She squats down, rummaging around in my bag, locating the tee I’d mentioned earlier. And before I can speak, she’s unzipping her dress, letting the material cascade down her body as she turns to face the water.
My gaze drops to the curve of her thong-covered ass and I slam my eyes shut, working hard to erase the image until Hayley’s giggle permeates the air.
“I’m decent. I promise. You can look.”
Not sure I can trust her, I open my eyes slowly and internally groan. She’s covered. She’s not lying about that. But she’s anything but decent.
Hayley’s not a short woman, but since I’m still much taller, my T-shirt hits the top of her thighs, barely covering her panties.
I force a smile when she laughs, then change the song to distract myself, selecting a random playlist, too fucking flustered to concentrate.
We joke all the time about being attracted to each other, but I’ve never felt the pull I do now. I’ve never wanted to throw caution to the wind and risk our friendship like I do at this moment. And I can’t for the life of me figure out why.
Everything about her is sucking me in—her joy, her laughter, her body.
Fuck, her legs are begging to be wrapped around my waist while I slam into her, and God-fucking-dammit.
Seemingly unaware of my internal flip-out, Hayley resumes dancing, swaying her hips to whatever song I put on. I can’t even tell if I’ve heard it before.
When her eyes flutter shut, I take the opportunity to really watch her, to drink her in without getting caught, but when the tempo changes, she raises her hands above her head and I do everything I can to shift my focus, praying I have the willpower to avert my gaze.
Staring up at the stars, I count backward from a thousand, willing my thoughts into safer waters, and I’ve just reached nine hundred and thirty-five when Hayley drops down beside me, nudging her shoulder into mine.
“It’s beautiful out here.” She squeezes my hand. “I barely saw the stars where I lived in Sydney. Sure, they were there, but it was nothing like this.”
“It can get like that here too. But near the ocean, it’s a different story.”
“Do you watch the stars often?”
“Me? All the time,” I lie unconvincingly. “I’m especially fond of the Running Back and the Wildcat constellation.”
Throwing her head back, Hayley laughs out loud, biting her lip before she spins to face me. “That just so happens to be my favorite too. What a coincidence.”
“Nothing’s a coincidence,” I blurt out, having heard that many times in my life without really thinking about it.
“I may have heard that once or twice.” She smiles. “Does that mean our relationship is meant to be?”
