Total pages in book: 82
Estimated words: 79319 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 397(@200wpm)___ 317(@250wpm)___ 264(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 79319 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 397(@200wpm)___ 317(@250wpm)___ 264(@300wpm)
I frowned. “Fuck that.”
“I thought so.” His indulgent smile did something funny to my insides. Like it literally gave me a stomachache.
“You’re really fucking annoying,” I growled.
“Ditto. C’mon, we’ll stop at the swimming hole on the way. They’ll be long gone by now, but—”
“Do you think they left us lunch?”
He snorted. “For us and the bears? I doubt it.”
Oh.
“I have a better idea. Let’s skip the swimming and go find the others. I’m hungry.”
Jake shook his head. “I’m covered in a stranger’s blood. I’m cleaning up first. I have some protein bars and fruit in my bag if—”
“Yeah, yeah. I do too. How far is the swimming hole?”
“Another half a mile.”
“Oh, my fucking God.” I exhaled theatrically.
“My thoughts exactly. So let’s get this over with, shall we?”
We didn’t speak at all on the way to the swimming hole. I grabbed my earpods from my bag and zoned out to classic rock as I followed Jake through the ubiquitously winding trail. I was hot, hungry, and irritable. The louder the music, the better I felt about this fuckery.
But my mind still wandered to weird places. Jake’s shoulders were seriously broad and his waist was tapered, so he looked more like a runner or an Olympic swimmer than a hockey player. His thighs were thick and muscular, though, and his ass was— Whoa!
Okay, yeah…he had a nice ass. Let the record show that I only noticed ’cause I was forced to walk behind him for miles. We were going to have to change that up on the next leg, I mused as Jake pushed through a low canopy of trees and stopped short.
I ran into him and glowered. “What are you—”
“We’re here.”
I stepped around him, mouth open. “Wow.”
The swimming hole was an idyllic lagoon surrounded by impossibly tall trees on three sides and a sheered-off crater on the other. Water trickled down the rocky formation, feeding fresh water into the large pool. Chirping birds, the rustle of leaves in the summer breeze, and gentle whirling water were the only sounds. The rope swing hanging from a low branch was the lone nod to civilization.
“Incredible, huh?”
It was more than incredible, it was surreal. I felt as if I’d stepped into an impressionist painting with the softest shades of blue sky, wispy greens, and deep shades of indigo.
“Yeah.” The footprints on the muddy water’s edge were the only hint that our campers had been here recently. “It’s so clean.”
Jake dropped his backpack on a rock and stripped off his tee.
“There’re strict rules about leaving trash behind. Whatever you bring, you have to take with you. That swing is the only thing allowed to stay. My dad was responsible for that. He hung one for me when I was five or six. He’d bring me and my friends out here to swim and play pirates and stuff. We loved it.” He kicked his shoes aside and unbuckled his belt. “But the forest rangers wrote him up for littering and destruction of property, or something ridiculous, so he had to remove it. The following year, he petitioned to install a new swing with the understanding that it would be taken down by the end of September. It’s an annual tradition now. Smitty built that one. I helped him and Dad put it up and—”
“Dude. Great story, but why are you nuding up?” I intercepted, tearing my gaze away just as Jake hooked his thumbs under the elastic band of his black boxer briefs and pushed them low on his slim hips.
He snorted. “I have swim trunks. Relax.”
Relax. Right. Why had I asked that?
We were athletes, for fuck’s sake. We changed in locker rooms in front of dozens of guys every day. Our old goalie, Petey, had no shame whatsoever. He’d waltz around with his junk out, toweling off as he gave his version of the game’s highlights. No one paid any attention. We were all mini exhibitionists, and no one cared.
But my heart was beating too fast again. If I didn’t know better, I’d think I was having a reaction to…Jake.
No, that was hunger. I needed to eat something. Anything. Now.
I rummaged through my bag for a protein bar, glancing up just as Jake stepped into a pair of Hawaiian print trunks. His wiggled his hips, lifting the thin fabric over his perfectly round ass.
And my mouth was suddenly as dry as the Sahara.
I tore open the package and chomped a bite of some peanut butter concoction that tasted like dust, my pulse skittering wildly. Low blood sugar was no joke. I must have been on the brink of madness. Nothing else made sense.
“Could you go any slower? I’m tired of looking at your butt,” I groused around a mouthful of protein bar.
Jake gave me a WTF look as he pulled up his trunks and headed for the rocks. He climbed to the top of the biggest one, gave an up-nod, and took a flying leap into the dark water.