Page 49 of All Roads Lead to You

“Not getting naked this time?” Logan teased.

“Only if you want me to.” I winked, enjoying his blush. “But maybe it’s best not to be with so many other campers nearby.”

“Wise beyond your years,” he deadpanned.

“So they say.”

“No one says that.”

We both laughed, and I fucking enjoyed this side of Logan. I’d never seen him playful in my life, which was so much better than the brooding one. Just think that all this time, we could’ve lived like this as brothers. The years seemed rather wasted, but we couldn’t do anything about it other than make up for lost time.

The sun sat between afternoon and dusk in the cloudless sky, but humidity created a light haze over the horizon.

After changing into our swim trunks, Logan rested a hand on my shoulder long enough to feel the weird tingles through my body. I didn’t understand my reactions to him. Was a damn kiss all it took to get me to react like that? And I wanted to do it again, but this time, would it be about helping him or me?

“Race you,” he said.

Chapter 15

Nick

Logan took off toward the water before I had a chance to react, but it didn’t take me long to catch up. Being a former quarterback, he was fast, but I was more lithe.

He dove into the water, and I was close behind, jumping on his back and dunking him. But fuck, was he strong. Logan quickly tossed me off him and dunked me back. All his years playing football and getting sacked had paid off.

We were soon grappling, shoving, and splashing each other like we were little kids again, not that Logan and I had ever played like that before.

When he grabbed me again, I didn’t think about his smooth, slick skin or how hard his body was at all. Not once. Liar. It felt like a rock, really. In fact, it affected my libido a little bit too much, and I didn’t know why. Why now? I needed to shut it right down because it was weird, right?

“Fuck, it’s a good thing we’re getting exercise because I’m not able to get any tennis in on this trip.” Yeah, great conversation starter, Nick. Way to look like a moron.

“Didn’t you have a month-long tennis camp already?”

“Well, sure, but if I want to keep playing and stay on the team, I need to practice, but I’ll work my ass off once I get to Stanford. More like they’ll work my ass off.”

We were panting from fucking around in the water, but the air suddenly grew heavy with the awkward silence. Logan’s body was submerged in the water up to his mouth, with only his nose and eyes resting above the surface. He was staring out over the horizon as the sun started to go down. Then his hazel-green eyes, which were so light against the sun and sparkling water, pinged to me, looking almost ethereal, with flecks of yellows, browns, and even a hint of red.

“What?” I asked stupidly.

He raised his body enough out of the water to speak. “Can we… ah… practice again?”

“Practice what?” Yes, I was intentionally being obtuse.

He rolled his eyes. “Never mind.”

I smirked to hide the nerves tightening inside me. “I’m teasing you, but I think you’ve got it down, Logan.”

He nodded and furrowed his brows as his cheeks pinked. “Oh… yeah. Okay.”

Regardless of what I’d said, I was so doing this. If he wanted another kiss, I’d be more than happy to give it to him. And I highly doubted he wanted to do it for more practice. He’d gotten his first real kiss from a guy, so I could understand him wanting more, but that didn’t explain why I wanted more, because I was definitely not into guys.

“But… if you feel you need more practice, we can.”

Logan scanned the lake and camp, assuming he didn’t want anyone to see us since it wasn’t dark out yet. I reached for his face, which needed shaving, weirdly liking the scratchy feeling on my palm, and turned him to look at me.

“No one’s close by, Logan.”

We stood on tippy toes in the muddy, rocky water, our faces so close I could see every tiny freckle on his skin from being out in the sun and every little drop of water clinging to his thick eyelashes. They reminded me of the sweet nectar sticking to the stamen of a honeysuckle flower Caleb and I used to suck on. And there my mind went to sucking other things.

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