“A lot’s changed since then, Sky.”
“Whatever. Some things don’t.”
“Like what?” I wanted to sayhis grudgeand ask him if he could let go of it for half a minute to see what was in front of him. But…
“You ruined my case. Nearly ruined my career. And now you’re ruining this trip for me.”
“I’m ruining it for you?” I asked with raised brows. Not sure how he came up with that.
Skyler scowled. “I think you know.” But he didn’t offer an example. I thought he was projecting. “I think you ruin everything by being here. Why are you hanging out with me anyway?”
I’d had enough of his childish complaints. “Skyler. You have been so busy being mad and throwing around that pissy attitude that you haven’t given us a chance to get to know each other. And that’s what this trip is about. Getting to know people, growing closer, and having a good time together. We could actually be having a good time here. We could be friends. I’ve been trying with you.”
When I thought he couldn’t scowl more, he upped his game with a deeper frown and a middle finger. “Let go of me.” He kicked his feet, nearly dumping himself in the water, but he held on at the last minute. He dropped his feet back into the center of the tube and kicked off.
It was still raining but not as nearly as bad as it had been. I watched him paddle off, catching up to another group from our camp. Well fuck. That didn’t go well.
I had no idea how he could hold a grudge for so long. When Drew said he was stubborn, he was underestimating him. Stubborn didn’t even begin to cover it.
Warner and Cody paddled by, so I pushed out from under the trees and caught up to them. “Hey, y’all.”
Cody waived. “Hey. Did you hide under that tree while it rained?”
“Yeah, I’m kinda smart like that.” I winked at the twink, who laughed.
Warner maneuvered his kayak around, bumping into my board. “Where’s your friend? Skyler?”
“Don’t know.”
“What’s the deal with him anyway?”
“I don’t know. He’s being stubborn. I swear he needs a daddy to take him in hand.” Maybe to spank his ass.
“Uh-huh. And I bet that’s going to be you?” Warner looked skeptical.
I chuckled. “Well, if I can manage it. Oh yeah.” I’d love to paddle that boy’s ass until I could see my handprint in pink. Then fuck that ass. I’d probably need to gag him first, but I wasn’t sharing any of that, though.
Warner splashed me with his paddle. “Cool down there, Hot-daddy.”
I flipped him off, but Warner only laughed. He was such a good friend, and I’d known him for so long it was hard for us to truly offend each other. But sometimes, we pushed it.
“Whatever, dude. Let’s leave this grouch alone, Cody, and get on down this river.”
I let them paddle off. It would be good to spend some time examining my motives while enjoying nature.
Chapter eleven
Gone Tubing
How could Crow be so insufferable and so good-looking at the same time? I wanted to like him, but OMG—he was so full of himself. Like he thought he could fix my issues? Well, fuck him anyway. I didn’t have problems for him to solve. He was the problem.
I continued floating along, ignoring everyone else, and honestly, that wasn’t hard to do. Leaning over the side of the tube, I saw fish dart around below me and swim through the long grasses. It was like hovering over an aquarium. Peaceful. Calming. Especially since the sun came back out and started heating up the rain-cooled water. A huge double rainbow stretched across the sky. No doubt about it, the day was turning out to be simply gorgeous.
Levi and his sister, Brianna, floated over. “Hey, Sky!” Levi called out. “Have you met Bri? And this is Lilly and Landon, her kids. They came out to tube with us.” All four of them were on innertubes like mine. Levi paddled toward me, and Brianna grabbed onto my tube, making a chain.
“Hey, I’m Skyler. I’ve met Brianna. Not the kids.” I’d met Brianna at Danny’s wedding, but they hadn’t brought the kids, obviously.
“It’s Bri, please. Are you a lawyer, Skyler?”
