Page 23 of The Only Goal

The summer before senior year…

“Ah! Stop it!” Tammy laughs, lifting her hands to cover her face as I push another wave of water at her.

As soon as I stop, she retaliates, and the water fight continues until we’re both spluttering and wiping droplets out of our eyes.

“Okay, truce! Truce!” I call it, swimming over to her and lifting my hands so she knows I meant it.

She laughs, coughs up some more water, then jumps on my back. Her slippery legs wrap around my waist, and I try not to notice how hot her boobs feel squished against my back as I swim us to shore.

It’s the perfect summer afternoon.

We have the swimming hole all to ourselves. The sun is shining, the sky cloudless, the breeze just cool enough to make the heat bearable. I couldn’t have picked a better way to spend my last afternoon before I go visit my grandparents out of state.

I’ll be gone for nine whole days.

I moaned and complained about spending my last week of the summer break that way, but Mom wouldn’t let me get away with it.

“You can leave Tammy for one week!” She’d thrown her hands up and gotten all exasperated. “I told you she can come with us.”

“Her parents won’t let her.” I’d frowned and gotten a sympathetic smile.

“You two can survive without hanging out. Knowing you, you’ll be texting each other the whole time anyway. Or messaging or snapping or whatever it is you do.”

I didn’t try to correct her, still too caught up in being annoyed that my grandparents lived so far away.

“You’ll see her the night before school goes back and then drive her in the next morning.” After that, she cupped my cheeks and got all mushy. “My big boy, your last year of high school. I can’t believe it.”

I endured the attention, because I’m an only child, and I knew Mom needed to lavish me with all her motherly love. It also got me out of lunch with the Johnsons and meant I could spend the afternoon chilling with my favorite person.

“Where do you want to go, TT?” I ask over my shoulder.

“Over there.” She points to a patch of grass just below the boulder we like to jump off.

I breaststroke until my feet hit the bottom, then keep her on my back. Water cascades off our bodies, the breeze making her legs ripple with goose bumps.

Placing her down, I plonk beside her when she takes a seat and stretches her body out. She’s gotten taller, leaner, yet curvier in the last year. Her boobs have popped. It’s impossible not to notice, and it takes maximum effort not to stare at them any chance I can get.

The blue bikini she’s wearing is so not helping. I mean, she’s definitely not as big as some of the girls in our grade, but those triangular bits of fabric are housing some pretty sweet melons. Or mangoes. That’s what Heston called them at junior prom. I thumped him with the back of my hand and told him to stop being a dick.

“So fucking protective all the time,” he grumbled, straightening his jacket and giving Tammy one more look before frowning at me. “It’s not like she’s your girlfriend.”

But I wanted her to be.

Oh man, I’ve wanted that ever since I’ve been old enough to understand the concept.

Do you think I’ve found the courage to do anything about it, though?

I hate what a coward I am, but I can’t risk losing Tammy. She’s my best friend—my only real friend—and I’d be lost without her. I can’t go making a move and screwing things up.

“Aw, man, I want this day to last forever.” Tammy tips her face up to the sun.

I follow the line of her neck, rolling to my side and leaning on my elbow so I can pick grass blades and look at her.

She’s stretched out like a swimwear model, and I snap a bunch of mental pictures that will no doubt keep me company in bed tonight.

I want to skim the pads of my fingers up her glistening leg, wipe the last of the water drops away, and then suck the end of my finger. Maybe then I’ll know what she tastes like.

Would she freak out if I did that?

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