Page 65 of Ace of Spades
My stomach rumbles at the mention of food, and I make sure to shoot a quick text to Rhonda to thank her for thinking of me. Setting my phone down on my shorts, I walk over to the ledge and toss down a few bottles, the guys catching them without a problem.
It’s a bit hard to see in the dark, but I can’t seem to spot Weston among the group, and I can’t help but wonder where he went off to.
“By the way, Hails—you’re last in the water. You know what that means?” Chance smiles up at me, a mischievous look on his face.
“What, that I’m a wet chicken? What does that even mean?” I ask.
“This,” Weston murmurs in my ear, somehow having snuck up behind me. I don’t have time to react as he wraps both arms around my middle, lifting me into the air as I let out a squeal. He throws both of us over the ledge, the cold enveloping us as we hit the water.
Our heads break the surface at the same time and I take a gulp of air, frantically latching onto Weston for dear life.
“You good, Sorrels?” he asks, laughing as he runs fingers through his dark hair, his free arm reaching out to help hold me up.
“You could’ve given me a warning!” I yell at him.
“What fun would that be?”
“I’m not a strong swimmer, and I hate being in water when I can’t see the bottom,” I admit. “Can we just go back to the shallow end where I can stand?”
“Scared of storms and bodies of water? Dang, Sorrels, we gotta toughen you up a little bit,” he teases, his breath hot on my ear as he pulls me into him.
“Weston,” I growl.
“Just hang on to me, I got you,” he says, his voice low and sultry, He pulls me up so that my legs wrap around his middle, his free arm treading water to keep us afloat, the other one wrapped around my waist as he gently rubs circles along my lower back. “See? Now if any sea monsters come up from the depths to eat our toes, they’ll get to me first.”
I can’t help but chuckle, my face tucking into the crook of his neck, and I force myself to relax as we bob up and down in the water. Chance swims a beer over, opening it for me before handing it over.
“You know, you’ve gotta have some fears too,” I say. “Nobody is afraid of nothing.”
“Nope. I’m not scared of anything,” he tells me.
“Don’t let him lie to you,” Dakota says as we swim closer to the group, my arms latching around Weston’s shoulders like a spider monkey. “He’s terrified of snakes. Works on a ranch, and yet he’ll scream like a girl if he sees one.”
“Okay, it is completely rational of me to not want to come across a snake, that doesn’t mean I’m scared of them,” Weston argues.
“Sure,” she rolls her eyes.
“Dakota’s scared of clowns,” he tells the group.
“Who isn’t!” she yells back.
“Yeah, I’m with her on that one,” Chance says, Chelsea clinking her beer with his in agreement.
“That would have been good to know before I hired a clown entertainer for Weston’s birthday party next weekend,” Rafe says, taking a sip of his beer.
“What?” the three of them exclaim, all turning towards him. A sly grin creeps across his lips, a rare sight coming from the usually broody cowboy.
“He’s fucking with you guys,” Beau tells them, turning to give his girlfriend a kiss as she hangs onto his back.
“I still can’t believe we got a booking on the first day. How wild is that? Hailey, you’re amazing,” Chelsea tells me.
“Yeah, there’s no way we’re letting you leave us any time soon,” Beau adds. “Best social media manager ever. And you’re pretty cool, I guess,” he throws in a wink.
“Cheers to Hailey,” Chance says, lifting his bottle in the air as the group follows suit.
Weston’s arm tightens around me, his thumb brushing up and down my back as if in agreement with the group. I force a smile, a pang of guilt hitting me in the chest.
“Thank you,” I say, my heart thumping loudly. “But there’s something I need to tell you guys.”
