Page 81 of Shattered Rhythm

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Chase

I swim beside Liv, not watching the fish but her. I don’t know why I’m so fucking obsessed with her, but I think the fact that I can’t have her makes my obsession even worse, day by day.

Suddenly, she surfaces, spluttering and splashing. I’m the closest, so I swim over to her and pull her to me. She wraps her legs around my waist and her arms around my neck while I tread water. She pushes her goggles up her forehead and coughs out some water. The guys have already gathered around us.

“I thought you told River you can swim,” Jaxon says with a grunt. I use one of my hands to support her upper thigh and the other to keep us both afloat. She weighs next to nothing in the water, but I want to make sure she feels safe and steady.

“There was a huge stingray,” she exclaims, eyes wide.

“They do nothing baby,” Ryder says with a chuckle. “I saw it too. He just hangs out there on the ground in the sand.”

“That’s the thing that killed Crocodile Dundee!” Liv exclaims, shaking her head.

“You mean Steve Irwin, beautiful,” River says, smiling, but she just points a finger at him.

“But it killed someone!” she points out.

“I don’t think it was this one in particular doing the killing,” Ryder says, swimming up behind her.

Liv makes a face at me as if I said it, but Ryder puts a hand on her belly and pulls both of us closer to him. I’m not accustomed to being part of the sandwich thing Ryder and River seem to enjoy, but Ryder gives me a mischievous look, daring me with his eyes. I let my hand wander from Liv’s thigh up to her lower back, slipping my fingertips under the seam of her rash guard, while Ryder does the same at her stomach. Liv’s breath catches in her throat as she gazes up at me with uncertainty.

“Do you feel that Chase? How soft her skin is?” Ryder whispers, leaning into us. He plants a kiss on the nape of her neck, where her shirt and hair leave some skin exposed, and Liv starts to pant. She looks around us, but we’re all alone and the closest people are far away, so she relaxes a little. Her eyes become hooded when I feel Ryder’s hand make its way down her body, sliding into her swimsuit bottoms. Liv’s eyes widen again, and she lets out a whimper.

“What if I told you that her pussy is even softer, with not a single hair to be found,” he says, smirking at me.

I groan in response, feeling Liv cling to me even tighter, which makes my dick hard. I haven’t had sex in weeks, which is the longest I’ve ever gone without, so just being this near to her makes me feel like I could bust a nut. The back of Ryder’s hand presses against my boner, but he just chuckles.

“Don’t worry, I get it. I’m having the same problem back here,” he tells me.

His hand continues moving in Liv’s briefs, eliciting more quiet moans from her, as she presses her chest even closer to mine. The combination of the sounds she’s making in my ear and Ryder’s hand moving against my crotch nearly brings me to the edge. I grip her ass tightly with one hand while Ryder increases his pace. Liv digs her nails into my shoulders as her moans become more frequent until she reaches her climax, calling out my name. I’m powerless to resist, and I come along with her, muttering a string of curses.

“Well, that was entertaining,” River says from behind us, laughing, while Jaxon coughs. Ryder kisses the back of Liv’s head and pulls his hand out from between us, releasing her and smirking at me, but I’m still in shock over what just happened.

“Don’t worry, Chase, no need to reciprocate,” he says. “But you do know where I live if you want to send me flowers.” He winks, and I flip him off.

“All right, let’s get back to snorkeling,” Jaxon says, and I’m thankful to him for breaking the weird tension. Liv is blushing hard as she pulls down her goggles before letting go of me.

We all start swimming around once more. They’re admiring the colorful fish and coral, while I’m stuck in my head, hearing her call out my name on a loop. Liv, on the other hand, seems to have regained her composure and is swimming effortlessly beside me.

We continue to snorkel, until River swims over and points out a group of sea turtles swimming in the distance. Liv gasps in awe and starts swimming towards them.

“Can we touch them?” she asks eagerly.

“No, we can’t touch them,” Jaxon says, sounding like the responsible adult.

“But we can swim beside them,” River adds, and Liv nods excitedly. We spend the next hour swimming with the sea turtles, but I’m still reeling at what just happened between Liv and me. I don’t think I can stay away much longer.

But what if I fuck this up for all of us?

CHAPTERFORTY-ONE

Liv

I’ve been on cloud nine since Sunday, so it’s been difficult to concentrate in my classes. Monday passed by in a blur, with me attending lectures, catching Ryder’s performance at Café Bloom while drinking a latte with River, and then returning home to study. Although I try my best to pay attention in class, my mind often wanders to thoughts of the guys.

Leaving my class, I see a girl on campus wearing a backpack with koi fish on it, and I immediately think about Gunner. I haven’t heard from him since our night out last week, even though I texted him four or five times to say thank you and check on him. Everything that was happening with the guys pushed my worry about him to the side for a bit, and I feel guilty, so I decide to just knock on his door.He can’t ignore me when I’m standing right in front of him, right?

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