“Okay, fine.” Anthony smirked, irritating me. “What?”
“Jealous, much?” He tipped his head, acting coy.
I rolled my eyes, and his smile widened. I rubbed my hands together to spread the sunscreen evenly before placing them on his chest. He sighed at my touch and began to hum.
“I thought I told you to get spray sunscreen so it’d be easier," I said, feeling my cheeks heat up.
His laugh, once annoying, now sounded cute. “Why would I when I can have an excuse for your hands to be all over me?”
“Anthony,” I whispered, glancing over my shoulder to ensure no one heard him. “Turn around so I can get your back.”
“I’m kidding. Just help me with my front. You know how messy I can be,” he murmured, his voice deep and gruff, sending tingles down to my toes. The sly, devilish smirk on his lips said otherwise. “I can help put sunscreen on you too.”
“No thanks,” I countered. “You just said you’re messy.”
I continued to coat every crevice of his upper body with sunscreen. As my hands traveled further down, Anthony let out another sigh.
“Mm, you always smell so good,” he whispered. I looked up to see his cheeks still pink and half-lidded eyes.
“You already said that this morning,” I said softly.
He blinked his long lashes slowly. “I want to take a bite out of you again.”
“Again?” I nervously licked my vanilla-flavored lip gloss, and he watched every movement.
“Again.” He sighed—almost a soft, breathy groan—as my hands moved lower. “I want to taste every inch of your body with my tongue if you’ll let me.”
“Get a room, you two,” Jonathan said as he walked past us, startling me. “You’re worse than Julie and Andy.”
Our voices were hushed, so he probably hadn’t heard our conversation, but we were standing just inches apart. I wasn’t sure when we had gotten so close, so I took a step back. Anthony frowned and glanced at Jonathan, who feigned a disappointed look and shook his head before walking out to the porch.
“I need to go put bleach in my eyes now,” Sai muttered, following Jonathan out.
“Sounds like a plan,” Jonathan said as he laughed.
My cheeks burned as I looked up at Anthony. He was already bright red. “I think you’re good here. You can do the rest yourself, big boy,” I mumbled.
Anthony raised a brow, his grin widening. “You know I’m no boy, baby. But I’m definitely b?—”
“Stop being disgusting, Anthony,” I said with a grimace.
My comment amused him, and he let out a warm chuckle. “I’m just saying.” He shrugged.
I shook my head and squeezed some sunscreen into his hands. He began spreading it over his abs as I motioned him to turn around so I could get his back. I started with the back of his neck and shoulders, massaging the sunscreen in.
Evelyn walked by the TV room and scoffed quietly when she saw us. Anthony and I turned to her, our eyes meeting for a moment. Tension filled the air before she quickly looked away. We hadn’t interacted with her since the bar last weekend.
She had kept her distance from us all day, which was a relief. I hoped she was embarrassed about her behavior at the bars. But I was still apprehensive about her and her motives.
We were going to be at the lake house for seven full days—all stuck in here all together. I doubt Anthony and I would slip with our fake relationship this late into the game. But anything could happen, and we could still mangle it all up.
If things did unravel, I just hoped Evelyn wouldn’t be there to witness it for her own joy.
CHAPTER 29
anthony
After lunch, we all took a refreshing dip in the lake. But after hours of swimming and cooling down, most of us agreed a lazy late afternoon nap was the best. Julie, Shoua, Andy, and I made dinner while everyone else was still napping around dinner time. Our parents seemed thoroughly surprised to wake up to dinner being ready.