Jax chuckles, probably at my social terror over the opinions of silly mortal young adults. “We’ll tell them whatever we want to. Or nothing at all.”
He’s barely finished that thought when everyone runs over, a stampede of stylish teenagers, faces agog.
“What happened?”
“Oh my god, the freaking lake’s steaming!”
“Where’d all the ice go?”
“It’s the temperature of a hot tub, you guys! We have to get in!”
Their voices all clamor for attention and it’s absolute chaos. Jax looks over their heads at me, laughing at mynervous expression. How is he not worried about explaining this away?
“But how did this happen?” Pryor looks around, frowning, not nearly as enthusiastic as everyone else. “How is the lake hot now when it was frozen just a moment ago?”
Oh god. I could swear he’s looking right at me, as if he can see my guilty thoughts above my head like a cloud. “Um, it’s, um—” I look at Jax helplessly, but then an annoyingly arrogant senior named Ellis interrupts me to mansplain.
“Probably a weird weather pattern. I’ve read about those... When it’s extremely cold, it can actually create a pocket of superheated air that can then melt ice and warm up large bodies of water.”
What? His explanation makes no sense whatsoever, and Pryor doesn’t look totally convinced. But then Jax says, with a twinkle in his eye as he looks at me, “Yes, I’ve heard about that, too, actually.”
Ellis looks a little surprised at this—probably because he knows his theory is bullshit—but then nods quickly.
“Oh, who cares?” Lilian says, grabbing Pryor’s arm and laughing. “The water’s amazing! Let’s get in! Nia, Jax!” She turns to us, her eyes shining. “Do you guys want to get in the lake? It’ll keep us nice and toasty while we wait for the blood moon to crest!”
I look down at my dress. “I don’t want to ruin this.” It was expensive—for me. Lilian probably spends as much on eyebrow waxes every week.
“We’re not getting in in our clothes,” Lilian laughs. “Juststrip down to your underwear. Come on!” She runs off with Pryor.
I turn to Jax, my cheeks no doubt a shade of scarlet very close to the fabric of my dress. “Um, wow. I did not see that coming.”
Jax laughs lightly, but I notice his breathing is a bit quicker than it was a minute ago. “Would you like to join them in the lake?”
I gaze up at him. His eyes are like the night sky—infinite, beautiful. “I feel like asking you to do that is way, way beyond the call of duty.”
“Oh, I don’t know.” Jax looks over my shoulder at the lake. A number of scantily clad couples are now in the water, all laughing and screaming. He turns back to me. “A dip in hot water sounds lovely, actually.”
I lick my suddenly dry lips and he watches, as if mesmerized. “O-okay. Yeah. I think that sounds nice, too.”
“Good.”
“Good.”
We stare at each other for a long minute until, finally, Jax reaches for the hem of his sweater and pulls it up and over his head. He lets it drop to the snow and catches my eyes just as I’m staring at his perfect torso. My cheeks get even hotter. Jax smiles a little and unbuttons his jeans, letting them fall as well. His underwear is the only thing between him and the cold night air. He is... magnificent.
“Your turn,” he says, his voice low, his eyes hungry in a way that makes the pulse jump at my throat.
The people in the lake are loud and cacophonous, but it’s as if there’s no one here except the two of us. I wonder if Jax feels that way, too.
I take a deep breath and then push the sleeves of my dress off my shoulders. Then I slide the dress down and step out of it, letting it lie like a puddle of gleaming blood in the snow.
For a minute, Jax stares at me as if there’s nothing else in the world. Then he blinks and looks away. “Let’s get in the water.” His voice is gruff.
I follow him in silence as he leads the way into the now-heated lake. Once we’re submerged, we turn to each other like we’re in a synchronized dance. I try on a smile, even though my blood is fire and there’s definitely an energy shift between us, now that we’re hardly wearing any clothes. This is intimate in a way that leaves me breathless.
I say the first thing that comes into my head. “I’m, uh... Thank you.”
Jax holds my eyes. “For?”
