“Okay, Canada, whatever you say,” he grinned, and I scowled playfully. I wanted to join him, only now, with him sitting right in front of me, I was suddenly self-conscious that he was about to see me strip down to my bikini.
Why had I chosen a damn bikini? Was it too risqué or suggestive for an early morning dip with your friend?
Was I overthinking and consequently still freaking staring at him and his damn smirk which was only growing by the second.
“Evermore,” he breathed and my jaw fell open.
“What?” I whispered, certain I’d misheard. There was no way he’d calledEvermore. Something I hadn’t heard him say in almost eighteen years, when we stood at the fence line of our backyards, and he’d dared me to kiss him.
Myfirst kiss. And I think his too.
“You heard me,” he said with a confidence I liked more than I would ever admit. “You’ve got about twenty-seven seconds left to get yourself in here.”
“Is that a dare?” I asked, already kicking my shoes off.
“I called Evermore didn’t I?” Oh, God, I liked this version of Corbin. Was there something in that water that turned my friend into a banter fuelled, sex-God?
Maybe I was still drunk from all the wine we’d consumed.
Either way, I did my absolute best to ignore the way his gaze was burning my skin and slipped out of my shorts before pulling my shirt up and over my head. He moved towards me, reaching out his hand to help me in, and I pretended not to notice the way his eyes lingered on my turquoise bikini.
I guess it was the right choice of clothing if it was eliciting an appraisal like that.
Stepping into the water, the heat wrapped around my limbs, loosening my muscles and melting the tension inch by inch. Tiny bubbles rose from below as I settled in next to him, only then realising I was still holding his hand.
“Can’t believe you called Evermore,” I muttered, emphasising my pout as if I was truly put out by his use of our shared game.
“Didn’t think you were going to get in otherwise,” he joked, and with a final squeeze, I retracted my hand from his. I moved my hands in front of me, sighing as the water tickled my skin with a reminder that this place was alive. A pulsing offering from the earth itself, which was always moving, always dancing for those who dared to venture into its calm.
“Do you remember the last time we played?” I asked, feeling braver now I was wrapped in the water and not staring directly at him.
“I do,” he answered matter-of-factly, only his voice was a little deeper. His bravado from a minute ago evaporated in the steam above and I closed my eyes, remembering it again myself. The way his hair was sweaty from the game of chase we’d been playing. The humour in those green eyes when he said, “kiss me” and the slight terror on his face as I leant in, as if he also couldn’t believe I was going through with it.
“That was my first kiss,” he laughed softly, finally giving voice to the answer I’d waited for, and the sound of it sank straight into my bones.
I didn’t dare open my eyes, knowing if I did, he would be able to read my mind. He would know that I was wondering what it would be like to kiss him now.
Only not for three seconds and not because of a dare.
“I used to think about it every night just before I went to sleep,” he spoke, his voice clear enough for me to know he was close. “I would wonder if you were thinking about it too at that exact moment. If we would ever get the chance to do it again.”
I let out a long breath, my chest rising and falling as my nipples hardened at his admission.
Oh, God.
When his fingers grazed across my hand, my eyes shot open and I looked towards him, not prepared for the heat of his gaze. Not prepared for the feeling of longing which shot to my core, awakening something in me which had been dormant for so long.
I couldn’t remember the last time I was attracted to someone enough to want them. But that was exactly what my body was screaming as I pulsed between my legs with every swipe of his thumb across my wrist. He lifted his other hand out of the water and turned my chin towards him, my whole body following along as if it too wanted to be touched and moved by him.
He was going to kiss me!
Corbin was going to kiss me and there was absolutely nothing I wanted more.
He leant over, his thumb and forefinger holding my chin as my lips parted in anticipation of the feeling of his mouth on mine. He waited, an unspoken question in his eyes, his patience only making me hungrier. Time fell away, the world beyond us non-existent as the inches left between breath and touch eviscerated everything other than him.
He tilted forward and my hand reached out to graze his chest, a touched approval to hurry up and ease the trembling of my body by giving me exactly what I’d dreamed about. He was so close, our heavy breaths combining, our chests pressed together as he closed the distance - until the gasped excitement of a child shattered the moment.
“We made it!” The little girl screamed as the crunch of multiple shoes on the ground followed. When a family came into the clearing, it was as if the last few minutes had never occurred. Corbin was again sitting next to me, both of us looking at the new visitors who’d interrupted what could have been. And for a second, I wondered if I’d fallen and hit my head, imagining the entire thing. We didn’t speak as we watched them get into their own springs, listening as they talked about how warm it was, taking photos and breaking the quiet with their own joy.
