Page 63 of Playing Games

Sunday July 5th

Blake

“I can’t believe you talked me into this,” Lexi says as I carefully guide the canoe off the dock in the pitch darkness of an eerily still night. “If we end up in the water, I will be so mad at you, Blake Boden.”

“I promise we won’t.” My laugh is quiet as I use the paddle to guide us toward the center of the lake, my sights set on a discreet bank I noticed this afternoon. It’s about half a mile from where we are and on the opposite side of the lake, but it’s a spot Ace said his dad and Lexi’s uncle Jude had cleared out just for their Fourth of July fireworks antics. There are chairs and a firepit and even a fucking electrical outlet they had put in a few years ago so they can play music.

It’s well after two in the morning, and after the wild day of celebrating and shooting off fireworks without any casualties, everyone is asleep inside the house.

I was almost asleep too—until I got the text. Lexi’s name lit up my phone with the simple demand:Meet me at the dock.

Tiredness evaporated, I didn’t hesitate to leave a snoring Ace and Gunnar to sneak out of the house and give in to her demands.

“Where are you taking us exactly?” she asks, and I glance over my shoulder to where she sits behind me.

“Just a little spot I know.”

“A little spot you know?” She laughs. “How many times have you even been to this lake house, again?”

“Just this once, but I’ve really gotten the lay of the land.”

She rolls her pretty eyes at me, but I just turn around and focus on paddling.

“Only a few more minutes, Lex, and I’ll have your grumpy little ass safely on land.”

“I’m not grumpy,” she counters, her tone sharp with wit. “I’m simply being pragmatic about the probability of our capsizing and sinking to the depths of an unlit lake at two in the morning. Dive teams may find our bodies, but given how much effort I’ve put into living, that doesn’t seem like much consolation.”

I smirk but concentrate on easing the canoe toward the bank, careful not to jostle us too much as the front bumps into land. Since her whole ramble was based on the need for me to keep us safe, I think it’s a fair use of my skills of prioritization.

Without delay, I hop out, willingly tolerating the water that’s soaking my sneakers, and reach forward to lift Lexi into my arms before I grab the blanket I brought from the house and toss it over my shoulder.

“Oh my God!” she exclaims on a giggle. “What are you doing?”

“Keeping my promise,” I tell her, smiling down at her as I carry us toward dry land. “After all that complaining from your pretty little lips, there was no way in hell I was going to let even a drop of water get on you.”

She rolls her eyes at me again, but fuck, it’s so adorable that I can’t stop myself from leaning in and pressing my lips to hers. Our kiss lasts longer than I expect, and I have to stop my forward progress because it’s so fucking distracting.

A little moan escapes her throat, and I swallow it down as I kiss her harder.

“Lex?” I whisper against her persistent mouth. “What are you trying to do to me here, babe?”

“Convince you to have sex with me.”

“Convince me?” I say, leaning back to meet her eyes. I’m smiling like a fool. “I can assure you I’m already convinced.”

She just stares at me, her big blue eyes searching mine. “Prove it.”

When she asked me to meet her on the dock and I got the idea to come to this bank for privacy, I didn’t have this in mind. But I didn’tnothave this in mind either.

Without overanalyzing the whys and hows of holding back from having sex with the fucking girl of my dreams, I know the effort hasn’t been made in vain. The looks, the texts, the begging—Lexi has completely left her avoidance in the past, and I know I have taking it slow to thank for the change.

Still, for all the success they’ve achieved, the past two weeks have been nothing short of a master class in restraint. And even for a guy like me who prides himself on his discipline, Lexi Winslow has tested every ounce of it.

But she’s not just another girl. She’s not even a maybe-this-could-turn-into-something girl. To me, she’sthegirl.

And once I have her—fully, completely—there’s no coming back from it. For meorher.

It’ll be real, and with the way Lexi’s track record with me has been skittish from the start, I can’t risk rushing this and losing her.

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