Page 51 of Best Mistake Ever
Before I can start wading back to where he’s standing, he dips down and scoops up another handful of water.
‘Don’t you dare!’ I warn him, picking up my pace in an attempt to reach him before he has a chance to spray my front with icy droplets as well.
But I’m not fast enough.
He flings the water at me, splashing me all down my front. The water soaks into my t-shirt and I let out an ‘eek!’.
Giving a bark of laughter, he bends down, poised to do it again.
But I’m not having that. He doesn’t get to stay dry whilst soaking me with freezing lake water. So I bend down too, forming my hands into a scoop, then dipping them just below the surface. When they’re full of water, I fling it towards him, catching him right in the face and across the top of his bare shoulders.
He lets out his own surprised yelp at the shock of the cold against his skin, standing up and wiping the droplets from his chin, before turning a playful hard stare on me.
‘You’re going to regret that,’ he taunts me, but the teasing tone in his voice excites me rather than scares me. What’s he going to do? Try and dunk me into the water?
I’m ready for him if he does try that.
My competitive nature is back with a vengeance.
I take a defensive stance, crouching down with my feet planted wide and my hands in front of me, palms forward, fingers pointing down, ready to either deflect any advance he makes or to dip and scoop another handful of water to fling at him. My heart is racing with adrenaline, but it’s giving me alovely, heady sort of feeling of joy. I’ve not played with someone like this since I was a kid. Since before my parents split up.
I realise I’m actually having fun. I’ve had to be the sensible one for so long, I’ve forgotten what that feels like.
And it feels wonderful.
Jonah narrows his eyes when he sees the determination on my face and mirrors my action.
It’s a stand-off. Who’s going to move first?
I jerk forwards in a feint, as if I’m going for the scoop-and-fling, but pull myself back at the last moment. He flinches in response, as if convinced I’m going straight for the offensive move, but when he realises I’m only teasing, he raises his eyebrows in challenge.
‘Hmm, you have spirit, young one. Prepare for battle,’ he goads me.
I laugh at the expression on his face. Now he’s dropped the grumpy act around me, his whole demeanour has taken on a much friendlier, more playful vibe. In fact, he seems like a completely different person. One I like even more, if that’s possible.
My body rushes with a tingly sort of excitement, which I try to squash. I’m only setting myself up for disappointment here. This thing between us is off limits to me.
A sinking feeling of shame returns. I think we’ve done a really stupid thing here, Dee and I. He’s never going to believe that the Dee that comes back is the same woman he’s spent the last week with. She acts so differently from me. I never should have stayed for the extra day. I was tempting fate. Why did I do it? Why?
I know why.
Of course I do.
I couldn’t bear to abandon him.
Because I’ve fallen for him.
‘Hey. Are you okay? I was only kidding around,’ Jonah says, and I realise I’ve been staring at him, probably with a deep frown on my face as my anxious thoughts raced away from me.
I don’t know what to say any more, so tear my gaze away, scoop up a big handful of water and throw it at him.
He takes it full in the face again and, clearly thinking I was only pretending to be stricken, he swats it out of his eyes before retaliating by using the flat of his hand to repeatedly fling big globs of water right back at me.
I hold up my hands in front of my face to deflect it and when it finally stops, I realise he’s moved closer to me, so that we’re standing only a couple of feet apart now.
He’s grinning at me, like he thinks he’s won.
Which he kind of has. He’s totally won me.
