Page 40 of Best Frenemies

I swear, it’s a true skill how Mack always seems to become friends with everyone, no matter where he goes. We’ve been in Destin for all of three days, and he’s on a first-name basis with the kayak rental guy. Not to mention, when I started bitching about taking the prescribed Vicodin for pain this morning, he threatened to call Dr. Johnson because he has the man’s cell programmed into his phone.

I don’t have a lot of experience with physicians, but I’m pretty sure they avoid giving out their personal numbers to patients.

And don’t forget he’s been texting with your dad, too…

“Well, you’re missing out. Fred is a cool dude.” He continues rambling on about his beach buddy as he picks up one of the life vests that resides near my feet. “And he was nice enough to set up our kayak and everything.” When he starts to put the life vest on me, I swiftly take it from his hands on a laugh.

“I can handle putting on my own life vest, Mack. I’m not completely useless.”

He smirks. “Okay, Katy Ca—” He stops abruptly and finishes his sentence with, “Katy.JustKaty.”

I direct a pointed scowl at him, but I also don’t say anything and finish strapping the flotation device to my chest.

Once his life vest is on, he starts fiddling with my injured foot again. He covers the whole dang foot with another towel and a plastic bag he brought from the condo. Which, considering he wrapped my foot up in plastic before we left, is starting to feel a little overboard.

“I think it’s good,” I say, slapping him away with soft hands. “As long as you don’t flip the kayak over and send me catapulting into the water, my foot should be fine.”

“You sure?” he asks, staring down at me from his perch on the sand. “Are you comfortable like that?”

“I’m good. Promise.”

He searches my gaze for a long moment but, eventually, shrugs and proceeds to toss only one of the paddles into the kayak. “All right, Katy. Let’s do this.”

“Wait…I need the other paddle!” I exclaim, but his hands are already gripping the small rope knotted at the front as he carefully starts to pull me and the plastic banana boat into the water.

“No, you don’t,” he corrects. “You’re the birthday girl. Your only job is to enjoy the ride.”

I want to argue and tell him that I still have one good foot and two good arms, but Mack is a man on a mission, dragging the boat deeper into the water. Since it’s the Gulf, there’s not much action in terms of waves, but the first few feet in jostle the kayak from side to side, and I have to grip the edges to keep my balance.

“Hold on tight, Katy. Just a few more feet and it’ll be calm again.”

When the water hits his knees, he pauses his momentum to expertly hop into the front seat before I can question how in the hell he was going to get in the boat without tossing the whole thing upside down.

Pretty sure those rock-hard abs of his have something to do with that…

“Have you kayaked before?” I ask him as he starts to paddle us toward the horizon.

“Not since I was a kid.”

“Well, color me impressed.”

He chuckles and glances over his shoulder at me. “Let me guess, you thought I wasn’t going to be able to get in without flipping you over?”

I snort. “Pretty much.”

“Katy, you underestimate my skills,” he says, and immediately, my mind reminds me of what Anna said about him… “I’d bet my right tit he has a big cock and he’sreallygood with his mouth…”

Oh, for the love of everything, I cannot go there. Never everever.

I try to shake myself out of my randy thoughts and think about normal things like the way the sun bounces off the water. And how blue the sky looks. And how clear the water is.And how delicious Mack’s back muscles look when he’s paddling.

Instantly, the urge to slap myself across the face is strong.

“You okay back there?” he asks, and I nearly choke on my own tongue when I respond.

“Yeth…Yes.Of course. I’m good.”

“So, you don’t mind if I get us out a little farther?” he questions. “There’s something I want to show you.”

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