Page 39 of Fall Hard

“Together?”

Her fingers closed around mine and squeezed, so I took that as a yes as I bent my legs and we leapt into the water.

I lost my grip on Bryn but found her treading water next to me when I surfaced, water droplets caught in her eyelashes and her hair slicked back from her face, darkened by the moisture.

I shivered a little and swam in a lazy circle to keep warm. The water felt good after being in the hot car for so long and with the sun overhead, we wouldn’t get cold any time soon.

“Thank you for doing this,” I said quietly to her as we floated on our backs next to each other, hands intertwined once more.

“Felt good, huh.”

“Yeah.”

I could hear the smile in her voice when she replied. “I’m glad.”

Something brushed my leg and I jumped, losing my balance and dipping under the water until I resurfaced, coughing and spluttering, in Bryn’s arms. Her skin was slippery but warm as she held me.

“Relax! It was just my foot.”

I laughed and suddenly I couldn’t stop. Bryn joined in, and with us standing so close together it felt like all I could see was her smile. Her eyes sparkled, a few shades lighter than the water we stood in, her arms keeping me pressed to her chest and sliding up and down my arms as I began to shiver.

“Are you cold?” Her voice was low, husky, and my eyes dropped to her lips and didn’t move as I shook my head.

“No,” I murmured and our heads tilted.

“Me either,” she whispered and then her lips were on mine, tasting and devouring, warmth infusing me from every spot our skin touched. It was a slow exploration, a parting of mouths and a teasing tangle of tongues as I took in every touch, every sound that passed her lips.

She pulled away first and I let her.

“Sorry,” she said at last, slightly breathless as she dipped under the water and came back up again. “I don’t know what I was thinking.”

I didn’t know what to say, so I said the only thing I could. “It’s alright.”

She nodded slightly and I looked away as she pulled herself up and onto the pier where she’d left us a couple of towels each. As I watched her walk away, I had to hope that I hadn’t just ruined another good thing in my life.

I followed her out of the water, grabbing the towel she’d left behind, and sat down a decent distance away from her under a tree in the shade. She’d brought the food and drinks out of the car and laid them out on top of another towel and I reached greedily for the grapes at the same time as her, our fingers brushing before I pulled back and studiously stared out at the water.

There was probably only one thing that would help make this less awkward.

I went back to the car and rummaged in Jamie’s glove compartment until I found her stash. “Okay, I have no idea which flavor is what, but I doubt we could tell the difference anyway.”

I lit the end like I’d watched Jamie do a hundred times, with the joint in my mouth to encourage the flame as I burnt off the end of the paper.

“Now what am I doing with this?”

Bryn smiled but it didn’t quite reach her eyes. “Inhale into your mouth, hold and then inhale again, then exhale. Start small,” she warned and I nodded as I followed her instructions, re-lighting the joint and promptly coughing as I tried to inhale. Eyes watering, I looked to Bryn who nodded encouragingly. “Go slow. There’s no rush. You’ll cough a lot at first.”

“Do you smoke much?” I would be surprised if the answer was yes, I’d been living with her for a while now and never seen her smoking.

“No, I just asked Jamie what to do because I knew you’d have questions.”

That was… very sweet, actually.

I tried another drag, smaller this time and only coughed a little as I offered it to Bryn. She took it from my hand awkwardly, pinching the end as she inhaled and then coughed so hard that I quickly handed her a drink.

We passed it back and forth until I started to feel a little funny and waved her off when she tried to pass it back.

“I think I need a break,” I said and then giggled.

---