Page 34 of Crazy for this Girl

“Aw, Laynee.” He pushes out his plush and flawless lips as if I hurt his feelings.“You wouldn’t do that to your best friend, would you?”

“What are you talkin’ about? The cold water gave me hypothermia and I don’t remember who you are.”

“It’s not that cold,” he retorts as I reach the boat.

“How in the world am I going to get in this?”

Cal slightly tips it so I don’t have to jump so high into it. “Hold on to the sides and I’ll push you up.”

My eyes bulge. “You can’t hold my weight.”

“Oh my God.” He looks heavenward. “I get tackled by dudes three times your size on a daily.”

“That’s what I mean,” I surmise. “You’re delusional because I highly doubt that.”

“Reese, have you ever been to a football game?”

“Yeah, but I didn’t watch it.”

His brows knit. “Then what the hell did you do?”

Stared at Bradley McYunis from my history class.

“Stuff.”

He props an elbow along the metal edge of our boat. “Stuff. What kind of stuff?”

I avert my eyes, studying the process of how I’m going to get back into the safety of this thing. “Stuff I’ll tell you about after I’m in the boat.”

“You went for a guy.” It’s not a question. “You stalkin’ people, Tone Deaf? I thought that to be above you.” A blanket of heat covers my face as I continue to keep my face away from his prying gaze. “Oh, you’re so freaking busted.”

“How would you know that’s what I did?” I counter back, taking back a little bit of my pride and peering over at him to see a drop of water fall off the sharp edge of his jaw. “You don’t know what I do.”

“I know that you don’t make the first move.”

I scoff. “There would have to be someone I’d want to make the first move on for me to do that.”

“Slim pickings in Hicksville?”

“Oh, yeah. All the hot guys are at the farm because of the tobacco shortage.”

Cal chortles and jerks his head. “C’mon, Tone Deaf, while I’m still young.”

Warily, I place my palms on the edge and try to push myself up. I get half of my body out of the water before Cal’s hand promptly finds my butt and shoves me up the rest of the way.

“Cal!” I can still feel the heat of his touch on me and that blush that formed before is now beet-red with what he just did. “I didn’t say touch my ass while you help.”

“Well, if you would’ve stopped flaying around like a dead fish I would’ve been able to touch something else.”

I turn around in the boat and glare down at him. “You just violated me.” He stares at me like I’m an insane idiot, clearly unapologetic for grabbing my ass. “And the punishment is floating aimlessly around this lake until you find your way back.”

He points to his right. “Home is that way and this lake is small as hell. We’re about a hundred yards out.”

“Alright football star, my bad.” I look around him. “How am I supposed to do this?”

“Um, pull me up.”

I extend a hand to him and he clasps on to my hand before I purposely let go. “Oops.”

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