Page 38 of When We Were Reckless
She grabbed the back of the seat, and after a few more tries, she managed to lever herself up and onto the Jet Ski.
“Impressive.”
Quinn made a muscle and smirked at me. “I do a lot of planking.”
Huh. It was only then that it dawned on me. She was in the driver’s seat.
“You wantmeto be a passenger?”
“You don’t have to ride with me at all. You can ride on the boat.” She shrugged one shoulder like it didn’t matter to her one way or the other
“Jesse,” Tasha called.
“Go finish your beer,” Quinn said.
I ignored Tasha and climbed on behind Quinn, then put on the life vest Mason tossed me. With the way Quinn drove, I’d need it.
“If you insist on riding with me, make sure you hold on tight.” Now she was giving me orders.
“You don’t have to tell me twice. I’ve seen how you drive.” I placed my hands on her hips.
“This feels weird.” She looked at me over her shoulder.
I dug my fingers into her hip bones, wishing I could feel her skin instead of nylon and Spandex. “Feels pretty good to me.”
Her eyes locked on mine for a moment—the sun highlighting the green and gold in her irises. “You need to loosen your grip, Jesse. That’s your problem, you know. You’re holding on too tight.”
The way she said it, I knew she wasn’t only talking about my hands on her hips. How did she know I was holding on too tight? “Maybe I don’t want to let you go. Maybe I want to hold on tight.”
Her lashes lowered, and she let out a breath before she turned and faced forward again.
“Get ready. I’m going to take you for the ride of your life, racer boy.”
I was laughing when she pushed the throttle in. This girl. She was so damn cool.
I forgot she’d lied to me. I forgot about the boundaries. I forgot all my problems.
“It feels like we’re flying,” she yelled. The joy and sheer excitement in her voice put a smile on my face.
I didn’t point out that 25 mph wasn’t even close to flying. If I did, she might be tempted to go faster, something I wanted to avoid at all costs.
Let’s face it, Quinn was a shitty driver, barely in control of the Jet Ski. I was so tempted to wrap my hands over hers and show her how to steer into a turn and increase the speed. But I didn’t want to curb her enthusiasm. She was having too much fun, and I loved seeing Quinn happy and loving life. And if this guy, Walker, made her happy, I guess I’d have to find a way to live with that.
But that didn’t mean I had to like it.
* * *
The sun was setting behind her as she walked out of the cedar-shingled lake house. The lighting made her hair shimmer gold. She smiled, her teeth so white against her lightly tanned skin, cheeks slightly flushed from all the sun she’d caught today.
“See you tomorrow,” Mason told me. Thankfully, he hadn’t caught me staring at his sister. “Drive safe.”
I nodded to acknowledge that I’d heard him and understood. I was carrying precious cargo.
Mason fist-bumped me before he walked over to Quinn. He pulled her into a hug and kissed the top of her head. “It was fun hanging out with you today, Bean.”
She tipped back her head and gave him a big smile. “Yeah, it was a good day. I’m glad we did it.”
That put a smile on his face. Earlier, he’d asked me if I thought she’d change her mind about California. I’m sure it wasn’t the only reason he’d come up with the plan to spend the day at the lake, but I suspected it had played a part.
