Page 39 of Boys Like You

I cut him off. “Guys, it doesn’t make me uncomfortable at all. In fact, it’s the opposite actually; I feel safe. It’s not like you’re groping me.”

“I’m not opposed to groping.” I laugh and the guys tell Rocky to shut it.

“We just wanted to make sure after Levi couldn’t control his… You know. We didn’t want to cross any lines where you thought we were taking advantage of you or being inappropriate.” Mercer looks more uncomfortable than I do right now.

“Seriously, it’s fine, now how about we talk about something else?”

And we do. They tell me about their school and what subjects they all do. Maximus seems to have the biggest workload. His full scholarship depends on his grades, but he plays it off like it’s no big deal.

Mrs Watson brings the milkshakes out on a tray. They certainly weren’t joking; these are not regular milkshakes. These are in mason jars that look to be overflowing with toppings. She places the tray on the table next to ours and hands them out.

“I made you a cookies and cream milkshake.” My eyes go wide, there is a whole cookie on top of my milkshake.

“Wow, this looks amazing. Now I see why the guys come all this way for a milkshake.”

“Enjoy. Don’t forget to use your spoon this time.” She looks directly at Rocky and winks.

The drink is like heaven, just the right balance of chocolate and Oreos. You can’t complain about that.

After we finish up, the guys want to take me to see the rock pools below. It’s only a ten-minute drive from the café, most of which is one long dirt road off the highway. We seem to drive past a continual stream of trees until there is no more road left. Parking the cars, we climb out and look around.

“I don’t see any water. If this is just a ploy to finish me off, just whack me on the back of the head so I don’t see it coming.”

“Not funny,” Levi snaps at me.

“Well, I thought it was,” I add with a giggle.

“From here we walk.” Rocky can’t be serious; the trees look thick. “There’s a trail over there.” He points to a small clearing to our right.

“I love walking,” I say sarcastically.

“Here, get on.” Rocky squats down in front of me. I hop on his back wrapping my arms loosely around his neck while he wraps his arms in a loop around my legs.

“I’m excited I get to ride you.” Rocky goes still underneath me, and Rory snorts. “I’m sorry, it just came out wrong. Giddy up, let’s go.”

It doesn’t take long to break through into a clearing. There’s a small pool at the bottom, but it looks like if you walk up over the massive rocks there could be more. Rocky puts me down so I can look around. The guys follow me as I walk along the edge until I reach the massive rock on the far side. Levi, Rory, Maximus and Mercer all sit, and I watch as Rocky looks around, removes his shirt and walks to the edge.

“You will freeze.” He just looks at me and smiles.

“It’s a nice day, we didn’t even need to layer up and the sun is out.” He gestures up at the sun like just because the sun is out that is supposed to mean it is warm enough to swim. I look at him like he is insane. “And don’t forget I train all year round.” With that, he runs and bombs into the water. I wait for him to resurface and say how cold it is. When his head pushes through the water, he shakes his hair and smiles.

“You should get in, it’s nice.” He bats his eyelashes and smiles up at me, I’m considering it because he looks so damn adorable right now.

“I wouldn’t listen to him, he lies.”

“Mercer says you lie.”

Rocky laughs and swims closer to the edge of the rock. “I would never lie to you.”

I think about it for a second and think stuff it, you only live once. I step back from the edge and remove my shirt, glad I had the foresight to wear a black sports bra. It’s no more revealing than a bikini. I slide my three-quarter jeans down my legs and add them to the pile.

Rocky calls out to me, “JD, I changed my mind, it’s freezing in here.”

“Too late, my pants are off now. Move or I will land on you.”

He swims out far enough that I won’t land on him. I take a few steps back and make a run for it, leaping from the rock. I scream because it’s freeing, but when I hit the icy cold water, my lungs almost forget how to work and my bones feel like they want to break. I push myself to the surface, letting out a string of curse words.

“Are you okay?” Rocky asks, swimming towards me.

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