Page 93 of Crazy for You

But that was ridiculous. Wasn’t it?

She floated nearby, watching him from those bright, blue eyes.

“What was that about up there, about not saying good-bye?” he asked.

“I just…I used to think I wanted to leave Haven behind and start over somewhere else, but now I’m not sure I do.”

“But your degree…”

“I had this crazy thought just now.” She kicked her feet, floating closer. “What if I don’t need a degree after all? Maybe I could just start my own landscape design firm here in Haven and hope for the best.”

His stomach had gone all tight and cramped. “Emma, this is your dream. Don’t you dare give it up because of?—”

“You?” she said, her eyes sad. “I wouldn’t give up my dream for anyone, Ryan. Don’t worry. But sometimes dreams change. Sometimes once you start chasing them, you realize those dreams represented who you were ten years ago, not who you are today.”

He stared at her, completely blindsided. “What are you saying?”

She looked away. “I don’t know, really. I’m just having some second thoughts.”

“You have to go to Georgia,” he said. Because he’d known Emma forever, and she’d always wanted this chance. She’d planned and saved for years for this opportunity. And no matter what she said, he had an uncomfortable suspicion that part of her current change of heart had to do with her feelings for him. Because they’d been together awhile now, and fuck, what had he been thinking?

This wasn’t casual, not for either of them, and now he was about to derail her future.

No way. He couldn’t live with himself.

“You need to go,” he said again. “Try it. If it doesn’t feel right, drop out. But you should give it at least a semester. You’ve worked too hard for this chance to let it slip away, Emma.”

“A semester. I like that plan.” She started kicking toward shore.

He swam behind her, totally distracted by the flashes of pink from her bikini through the water. She pulled herself out onto the rock, wet and glistening and so fucking gorgeous. He hauled himself out beside her and pulled her into his arms.

“How did we get here, Ryan?” she asked softly, her lips pressed against his neck.

“I don’t know.” His voice sounded gruff because he knew what she was asking. How had they gone from friends, to friends with benefits, to this? Because this felt like something he was terrified to put a name to. It felt like whispered confessions as she leaped off the cliff. It felt like things he had no business thinking about, not with Emma.

She’d never been his, not really. They’d just been fooling around. Having fun.

And now her lips were on his, and he was kissing her until all the madness in his head stopped, until all he could think about was the way she tasted and the feel of her wet skin on his. Her hands were on his back, her fingernails skimming over his skin, driving him mad. He dropped his left hand to the red poppy on her hip, as soft now as the rest of her.

“I packed something else in my backpack,” she whispered.

“What?” He hardly dared hope.

“Condoms.”

“Is that so?” His cock surged against the confines of his trunks.

“You haven’t properly scandalized me until you’ve had me outside in broad daylight,” she said with a wicked grin.

“And you want to be scandalized, do you?”

“I do.” Her hands slid inside his trunks, squeezing his ass.

“Well then, I’d better give the lady what she wants.” He glanced around, spotting an area behind the rock that was sheltered from view of the path in the unlikely event anyone else came along. He bent and spread out the oversized yellow towel Emma had packed for him.

She came up behind him, a foil packet clutched in her palm. She tossed it onto the towel and gripped him through his trunks. He hissed out a breath as she slid her palm up and down his length, working him into a frenzy.

“Strip,” she whispered.

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