Page 62 of Playing Games

Ace and Julia laugh at something Blake says as he points toward the canoe full of crazy and fireworks, and a part of me wishes I were down there with them, listening in on whatever Blake is saying.

To distract myself from my FOMO-style envy, I pull my phone out of my pocket and discreetly type out a text before hitting send.

Me: Whatever you do, don’t get in that canoe.

I suck my lips into my mouth, holding back my smile when his response comes in a moment later.

Blake Boden: You worried about my safety, Lexi Lou?

Me: I’m worried about everyone’s safety when Thatch and Gunnar have fireworks.

Blake Boden: You want to come down here and go for a swim with me?

Me: Pretty sure that would make it a little obvious to everyone.

Blake Boden: Make what obvious to everyone? That you like me? That you can’t resist me? That, faced with the opportunity, your hands have absolutely no choice but to fondle me all over?

Me: Maybe you should stick to the fishing you can do with a pole. We are on a lake after all.

Blake Boden: When it comes to you, Lex, I’m fishing for anything I can get. All the fucking time.

Me: *rolls eyes*

Blake Boden: Just admit it, Lex. You like me.

Me: Don’t be so painfully naïve, BB. It’s beneath you. You KNOW I like you, as you have evidentiary support in droves.

Blake: *clutches pearls* Lexi Lou…are you…talking about all the dirty things we’ve done in bed while using legal speak??? And is it turning me on?

Me: You DID admit the other night thatLegally Blondeis one of your favorite movies. So, I wouldn’t be surprised. Should I continue?

Blake: FUCK YES.

I start to type out another message, but a hand to my shoulder startles me so much I bobble my phone in my hands.

“Ha, shit. Didn’t mean to scare you, Lex,” Finn says, his face morphing into a curious but soft smile.

Quickly, I slide my phone into the back pocket of my jean shorts and turn to face both him and Scottie. He stands behind her wheelchair, his hands gently gripping the handles, and Scottie smiles up at me.

“We just wanted to say thanks,” she says, and I tilt my head to the side.

“Thanks?”

“Yeah,” Finn chimes in. “For talking to your dad about Scottie. He’s already reached out and wants to do a consultation when he’s back in the States.”

“Oh,” I answer with a little shrug. “It was no big deal.”

“Actually, itwasa big deal,” Scottie says, and she reaches out to gently grip my forearm. “I know the odds of him being able to do anything are probably slim, but any opportunity is an opportunity, you know?”

I nod. “For sure.”

But as the words settle in, my gaze drifts back toward the dock, almost instinctively. Blake is there, standing at the edge, his silhouette outlined by the golden shimmer of sunlight reflecting off the lake.

Any opportunity is an opportunity.Scottie’s words echo in my head, but they’ve taken on a completely different meaning now.

The thought of finding secret moments with Blake this weekend—moments hidden away from prying eyes, when it’s just the two of us, like it’s been night after night in the quiet intimacy of our apartments for the past two weeks—sends a heady rush through me.

And maybe, just maybe, this weekend’s secret moments will include the one thing I can’t stop fixating on—having actualsexwith Blake.

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