Page 41 of When the Storm Breaks
“I’m sure.”
Still, she hesitated.
“I’m freezing my balls off so if you don’t mind, I’d like to get out of here before they shrivel into raisins.”
That made her laugh. “Okay. In the interest of protecting your manhood, move aside.”
I moved aside, and she pulled herself out of the water. I watched her climb the ladder, giving me the perfect view of her bare ass. She wrapped herself in the towel and then it was my turn to climb out. Not gonna lie. I would have loved to protect my manhood right now. But of course, her eyes lowered, and I couldn’t tell her not to look or make excuses for how inadequate it looked after the equivalent of a cold shower.
“You’re still pretty impressive. But notquiteas impressive as my big boy.”
I growled and stalked toward her. She let out a little yelp then turned and ran, her clothes clutched to her chest. I was buck naked, chasing after a girl and I wasn’t even mad about it. I caught her around the waist, spun her around and tossed her over my shoulder. She weighed next to nothing and she was laughing so hard, her whole body was shaking.
I ran her up to the cabin, leaving a trail of water across the hardwood floors and into the small laundry room off the kitchen. Depositing her on top of the washing machine, I grabbed a towel from the shelf behind her.
“Helps to have local knowledge,” she observed when I wrapped the towel around my waist because like a dumb shit, I’d left my clothes at the dock.
“You still cold?” I asked, rubbing her upper arms with my hands. She was still shivering, and goosebumps covered her skin.
“I’m warming up.” She smiled when I grabbed another dry towel from the shelf, and wrapped it around her shoulders, putting a layer of cotton between her skin and dripping wet hair. “It’s been so long since I’ve had so much fun doing stupid things. Didn’t that make you feel so alive?”
I nodded and flattened a palm on either side of her. “Yeah, it did. You should have fun more often.”
“I know. I really should.” She traced a bead of water down my chest with her finger. “For the past few years... for a long time, really, it just feels like everything’s gotten so heavy. And it feels like I haven’t had time for anything but my music. Not that I’m complaining. I love what I do, and I know I’m incredibly fortunate but sometimes...”
“You just want to let your guard down and have some fun.”
She nodded. “Yeah. That’s exactly it.” She leaned back on her hands and pinned me with a look. “Why didn’t you mention you had a son?”
I straightened up and ran a hand through my wet hair. “Didn’t really come up.”
“That’s such bullshit. You can do better than that.”
I shrugged one shoulder. “I always try to keep that part of my life separate.”
“Separate from what? You keep it a secret from your friends?” she teased, but she sounded hurt like I’d intentionally kept a big part of my life hidden from her.
“We’re not friends, Shy. We barely know each other.”
“Funny. I feel like we were becoming friends. And we do know each other.” She hooked her legs around my waist and locked her ankles, slamming me up against the washing machine.Feisty. “I know what makes you want to cry.”
“Well, now you know. I have a son. And my son’s mother is married to my cousin.”
“Are you still in love with her?”
I didn’t want to talk about this with her. Or anyone. I shook my head. “It wasn’t like that.”
“Maybe not for her but what about for you?”
It wasn’t something I’d ever told anyone. Not Lila. And not Jude when he questioned me. I’d lied to protect everyone involved. Whether I’d liked it or not, Lila had always belonged to Jude. He had staked his claim from the start, never questioning whether it was his right to do so. Maybe in another lifetime Lila could have fallen in love with me. But nah, I was too fucked up to be with Lila and she’d never had the same feelings for me.
Sometimes you had to accept your losses, know when you were beaten, and move on. Which was what I’d done a long time ago. Not just with Lila, but with so many other things in my life that I’d wanted but could never have. Add Shiloh to that list. Because this girl sure as hell wasn’t going to stick around for long.
“Doesn’t matter,” I said, my hand coasting up her thigh. “It’s ancient history.”
“Okay.”
I gave her thigh a little squeeze then unhooked her legs from my waist and backed away a few steps. She was studying my face a little too closely and even though the lights were out in the laundry room, I could see her just fine in the light coming in from the kitchen. “I need to go and get my clothes. Catch you later, Shy.”
