Page 25 of It Starts With Summer

It was too late now.I couldn't very well go back over there and tell him I'd decided I'd missed a few spots, could I?Could I?I shook my head, irritated with myself as I grabbed my things and jogged back to the cabin, my heart stopping when I realized that both Ben and Sutton were gone.Ben had told me he was spending the break with his family, and Sutton had travel plans, which left me and Parker alone for three days.

And three nights.

twelve

Parker

Ravi’sthingswerestillin our cabin, but he was nowhere to be found, and I needed to find him.For once, it wasn’t just about sex — I wanted to make sure that he was okay.He’d rushed out of the shower in such a hurry that I was worried I’d done something wrong.

I didn’t want to look too desperate, but somehow knew that Ravi wasn’t one to judge me for that.So I wandered around camp looking for him.Maybe we’d simply ignore what had happened and scrounge up some dinner together.

Okay, I wouldn’t be able to ignore it.I knew what he tasted like now, and how he kissed, and what he looked like when he came.That wasn’t something a guy could ignore with someone as sexy as Ravi.

He was on the beach, in a flat, wide sandy area where he practiced his wushu when the grass was wet or occupied.And that was what he was doing, doing a series of complex, beautiful movements — kicks and punches and acrobatics that I knew made up one of his martial arts forms.I’d grown to love watching him practice.I’d sit on a quiet bench, pretending to read, waiting for him to come out and take a few minutes to do his stretching and warm-up routine.

I paused a few meters away and watched.He’d told me a week or so ago that this was something he did when he needed to calm down, and I knew he was doing it just for himself.Still, I loved catching him practicing when he thought no one was watching.Everything about it impressed me: his graceful, fluid movements, his precision, and his flexibility.

In this moment, Ravi was the most beautiful person in the world.Against the perfect backdrop of Eagle Lake, it was something I could watch for hours.

He’d set his glasses on a table nearby and was wearing a loose pair of black pants and a fitted white t-shirt that showed off his muscles.His movements were at once elegant and fierce.He was strong, flexible, and capable, and it turned me on like nothing else.I watched him for a moment in silence, trying to memorize the scene, wishing I had my phone with me.

After a while, he noticed me and stopped mid-punch, smiling sheepishly.He acted as if what he’d been doing was something dorky and embarrassing, not the sexiest thing I could imagine.He turned and sat on the sand, glancing back over his shoulder at me.I took that to be an invitation, though with Ravi, you couldn’t always tell.

I kicked off my flip-flops and walked across the sand, then sat beside him, bumping his shoulder with mine.

“You okay?”I asked.

“Why wouldn’t I be okay?”he sounded confused, but not nervous or upset.

“Well, I had you in my mouth.And now you’re hiding on the beach.”

He glanced around the wide-open beach, then raised an eyebrow at me.“If you think this is hiding, you must have been terrible at hide-and-seek.”

I bit my lip to stop myself from laughing.“You do wushu to calm down.You told me that last week.”

“Sometimes.I also do wushu because I compete in wushu and I need to keep up my practice.I’m calm.Stop looking at me like I’m not calm.”He narrowed his eyes at me and elbowed me.

I giggled.“The way you ran when I suggested we shower together, though.”

“Ah,” he ducked his chin, resting it on his knees.“I was so embarrassed.I can’t believe you asked me to join you in the shower and I responded by telling you I was already clean.I’m so oblivious sometimes.”He glanced at me, smirking.“It took me a few seconds to realize that you were flirting, and by then I’d already spoken.And I didn't know how to tell you I wanted to join you.”

Well, that put a new spin on his earlier rejection.Grinning, I scooted just a little closer to him, and rested my cheek against his shoulder.He sighed and unfolded his arms, looping one around my waist.And it was perfect.

“I wish I could stop saying the wrong thing,” Ravi said with a sigh.

“No!What?I love your randomness.”I snuggled closer.He obliged and tightened his arm around my waist.“I never have to wonder for too long what you’re thinking or feeling.”

“Even if it’s something insulting?”

I thought about it for a moment.“How about this?If you say something, then realize you meant to keep it in your head.We can have a code word.”

“A code word?”His eyebrows furrowed together, adorably confused.

“I don’t know.Open sesame.Abracadabra.Potato?”

“Potato?”He was staring at me like I was insane, which made me laugh.

“Well, now it has to be potato.”

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