Page 22 of Puck Your Friend

I dive in, needing the chill to calm me down. When I come back up, she splashes me in the face.

I laugh and lunge at her, dunking her under before she kicks up and grabs my shoulders to pull me down as well. We both go under the surface. It’s clear enough that I can see her across from me, her hair almost ethereal as a few curls come loose from her bun and drift upward.

We surface again, laughing.

She runs a hand over her face as we wade. “Dunking is cheating.”

I smirk. “I don’t remember rules being called. You started it.”

Then an all-out splash war erupts. We both give it everything. She’s surprisingly good at getting waves to form. Soon we calm and move to to the shallows so we can breathe.

She allows herself to float in place, head tilted back with her eyes closed. The sun catches the reds and yellows in her hair.

I never understood my dad when he said Mom is the most beautiful woman in the world, when I had seen a lot of prettier women, but now I get it. The urge to kiss her comes back, and this time, I’m not sure I can suppress it.

“Frankie.”

She rights her legs and looks at me. “Yeah?”

I reach for her under the water, my fingertips ghost over her hip and up to the curve of her waist. I give her the chance to pull back. She doesn’t. Her gaze focuses more on mine, and she drifts a little closer.

I curl my fingers around her side and pull her to me. My heart hammers so hard I’m certain she can hear it. Leaning down, my lips hover over hers, allowing one more chance for her to stop me.

To my surprise, she closes the distance. Our eyes close as her arms wrap around my shoulders and she comes even closer.

The kiss is clumsy at first. My teeth knock against hers. I pull off, using less pressure as I tilt my head to the side and try brushing my lips over hers. She does the same to me, and a thrill goes up my spine.

Holy shit, I’m kissing Frankie, and she’s not pushing me back with disgust.

I can’t believe this is happening.

Voices echo down the trail. The guys are on their way here. We pull apart so fast, putting distance between us. Her gaze meets mine as she licks her lips and turns toward the sound.

Ford’s voice carries, followed by Logan’s deeper one and Jace’s easy-going laugh. They crash into the clearing in their usual way, already stripping down.

None of them notice the silence between us.

They dive in, shouting and splashing, and she joins them without hesitation, acting as if the last minute didn’t happen.

I stay back for a breath longer, watching her. That was my first kiss. And damn it, I want to do it again. I much rather do that than swim.

My gaze travels to the guys, and my stomach sinks to the bottom of the lake. It’s no secret Ford likes Frankie, and I would bet money Logan and Jace do, too. I feel as if I broke an unspoken rule between us.

Shit.

They’re never going to forgive me for this.

Dusk falls outside our cabin. We’re all up, waiting for bunk count to finish so we can sneak out and meet Frankie. It’s become a nightly thing. The five of us meet at our spot and stare at the stars.

Jace and Logan are across from me, talking about a book they read.

Logan sighs and rubs his temple. “It’s not the Csestriim, it’s the Csestriim.”

Jace grins. “That’s what I said. Cess-tree-um.”

I glance over. The ass knows exactly what he’s doing. Logan loves his fantasy novels and brought a stack. He wants Jace to get into them, but I don’t think I’ve seen him read for longer than a page or two.

Logan pinches the bridge of his nose. “No. KESS-tree-ihm. Hard ‘k,’ soft ‘s,’ and the ‘i’ isn’t silent.”

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