Page 78 of False Start

Her nose crinkled.

“Unless you want to go back to the car and get another set of clothes.”

She considered it. I didn’t.

The walk to the slide was nearly a mile and we had two more stops before we were due at check-in. “And if you do that, we won’t have time to grab a sit-down meal. So, we’d be enjoying another late-night gas station dinner.”

“I need dinner. Especially if we’re skinny dipping.”

“Same.”

She exhaled, body deflating. “Fine. But you go first, and don’t turn around. I don’t want you sneaking peeks.”

“You’re welcome to look as much as you want,” I said with the confidence of a man who hadn’t been completely rejected by Kit the night before.

She turned toward the woods, and I discarded my clothes in a pile. “Do you want me to head up without you?”

“Just go over there.” Still turned away, she waved a hand toward the trail going back up. “I’ll be right behind you. Promise you won’t look?”

I wanted to tease, but anxiety laced her voice. “I promise not to look until you’re coming down the rocks.”

“I’ll be fine. You slide down and climb out. I’ll follow.”

“Absolutely not, Kitten. Tom’ll take away all my points if you drown. I’ll stay in the pool to make sure you get down safely.”

“We better get points for this,” she grumbled.

TWENTY-FIVE

KIT

Don’t stareat Trent’s ass.

Not exactly a hard ask, but I’d found my eyes wandering toward Trent’s rear end more than a few times over the weeks I’d known him. Playing outfield while he pitched. Standing behind him in line for a drink at the bar. And now, completely bare and just a few feet in front of me.

And his ass wasn’t my only problem. Even when I tore my eyes away, they’d end up traveling up his bare back to his shoulders. And damn, if Trent didn’t also have really nice shoulders. Broad, muscled shoulders, too easily obscured under a T-shirt.

“You okay back there?” he asked.

“Great, never better.” My voice pitched up an octave as I wrapped an arm around my breasts, my other hand hovering over my lady bits.

At least Trent stayed true to his word and didn’t turn around. I doubt he’d enjoy the view anywhere near as much. Even though I shouldn’t be enjoying it at all.

“If we’d been smarter, we would have stopped at a store and picked up some skin-colored underwear,” I grumbled.

“Nah, we’re not cheaters.” Trent reached the top of the trail and shuffled onto the slippery rocks by the river. He sat down in a grooved portion of the rock. “Meet you at the bottom?”

His gaze slipped off the river and back onto me, face turning red as he yanked his head away.

“Sorry about that,” he chuckled. “See you at the bottom.”

Without another word, he pushed off, letting the river take him down the rocks.

And he truly had no business looking as graceful as he did on the way down. Trent’s sheer athleticism was nearly always on display. The way he navigated crowds, easily ducked through trails he should have been way too big for and jogged at a speed that was a full-out sprint for anyone else. But naked, muscles straining to stay with the current and lead him down the river, he made it look effortless.

And in thirty seconds, I’d counterbalance his performance by bouncing down the river, body squishy and uncoordinated.

Trent catapulted off the rocks, going airborne for a second before plunging into the pool. I stood on my toes, waiting for him to pop up again.

---