“Yeah, real fun.” If she only knew. “I mean I love him and everything. He’s my dad, he’s a good dad in the sense of the word, but he just wants to live his dream through me and I’m over trying to be what he wants. It’s nice to be out here away from his constant glare of disapproval.”
“What dream?”
“Huh?” I ask, a little distracted by the thought of my father.
“His dream? That he wants to live through you? What is it?”
Shit, did I say that? “Uh,” I stammer, panicking a little. I look around as if I’ll find words to speak somewhere in the water. “Being in a fraternity, college, the whole thing. He went straight into the service after high school and I guess he always wanted to go. So he’s had this big dream for me ever since I was little. Perfect school, perfect fraternity, you know.”
Whew.
Skyler chews on her lip for a minute before hopping back on her board. She lies back, sprawling out and letting the sun tan her skin. She reaches out her hand and like an idiot I just stare at it.
“Hold me so I won’t float away?” she asks, smiling.
I grab her outstretched hand in mine. The minute our skin touches, that same familiar spark generates, only this time it’s a dull electric current that keeps running between our interlaced fingers.
“So, if it were up to you, would you be in a fraternity?”
God, I hate lying to this girl. “Maybe, I guess I don’t really know. It’s just always been ingrained in me that I would go to college and be in a fraternity. I’ve never really had the chance to think if I’d actually like it. But, at least being here, I can do what he wants and still do what I want, too. I don’t have to live under his scrutiny, his constant judging of whether I’m doing the right thing or not.”
“I think you’ve got life figured out, Kip Jackson,” she says, exhaling a long breath with her face still turned up toward the sky. “At least, you seem like you do. You know what you want to do in life, you’re not afraid to be who you want to be – I think your dad should be proud of you.”
Her words slam into me harder than they should, but I’ve never heard them in the same sentence before and the combination makes me dizzy. Dad. Proud of you.
“You know, I liked the you that came out last night,” I say, trying to move the conversation to her. “The care-free, I-don’t-give-a-shit Skyler.”
She shakes her head. “I still can’t believe I let you take me around town in my freaking sweat pants.”
“You looked hot in those sweat pants,” I say, running my thumb along the inside of her wrist. “And I dare you to tell me you didn’t have fun.”
She looks over at me, holding up her free hand to block the sun’s glare. “I did have fun.”
I lift my brows in a see? manner and hop onto my board, still keeping Skyler’s hand in mine. I lie the opposite way she does, my feet at the front of my board where her head lays on hers. We hold hands and float on our backs, letting the sun warm our skin from the coolness of the water. I stare at the sun through my shades until my eyes hurt, then I close them and let my brain focus on how Skyler’s hand feels in mine.
And how much I’d like to feel other parts of her body.
“It makes sense, you know,” Skyler finally says. “The screenwriting thing. I can tell you’re into Dr. O’Neal’s class.”
“Yeah, it’s not a bad class,” I say, which is half true. I like Dr. O’Neal and the assignments he’s given us for the semester, but I honestly feel like I’m ready for more advanced topics than what he’s serving us. I’m ready for UCLA.
“What do you want to write? Movies and stuff?”
“I’d rather write television shows, actually,” I say, adjusting myself on the board. I’m starting to sweat a little, the sun winning against the water’s attempt to keep us cool. “Not shitty sitcoms or anything, but like the dramas that people rave about. The kind of shows that draw you in more than a movie does and you can’t wait until next week’s episode. The kind that make you want to buy the seasons after they’re cancelled and watch re-runs your whole life.”
“Like Grey’s Anatomy?”
I smile. “Yeah, like Grey’s Anatomy. Except probably a little more R-rated. I picture myself writing for HBO maybe. Or Showtime.”
“Oh! I loved Dexter,” Skyler says, sitting up on her board and letting my hand drop. “My mom and I watched every season together. She even waited for me to come home after last spring semester before she watched the last season.”
My brows shoot up in response. “I never would have pegged you for liking Dexter.”
She scoffs. “What? I don’t seem like the blood and revenge type?”
Shit, I hope not.
“You did reference Grey’s Anatomy first.”
Skyler shrugs. “Well, I like both. I like romance and drama and cursing and blood.”
“My kind of girl.” I wink.
She hops up on her board. “Let’s go. I want to wear you out and sitting on this sandbar isn’t going to do it.”
“Well shit, Skyler, if you wanted to get me in bed that bad we could have skipped this altogether.”
“Shut up and grab your paddle,” she says, glaring. I pretend like I’m going to stand, but then jump off my board and bring her down into the water with me. When we emerge from the water, she shakes her head and spits salt water off her lips.
“What the hell, Kip?!” I laugh and she doesn’t even try to fight it this time, she just laughs with me, splashing water up into my face. “You’re such a jerk.”
Our laughter fades and my hand finds the small of her back as I pull her closer, bringing her chest to mine. I feel her heart beating hard against her rib cage as I lean in, bringing my mouth close to hers. She closes her eyes, her sunglasses lost during our tumble, and I let my lips barely touch hers before lifting my hand slightly and tugging the string of her top.
She jerks back, grabbing her chest as her top loosens and frees her breasts. I laugh, running away from her toward my board. “Oh my God! Kip!”
“Race you back!” I yell, jumping onto my board. Her face turns red but she’s still smiling as she frantically ties her top back on. I’m already twenty feet ahead when she finally jumps on her board and chases after me. She catches me quickly, though, and ends up beating me back to shore.
“You work pretty well with your clothes off,” I tease as we drag our boards up the sand. She shoves me with her shoulder and shakes her head.
“You know you’ll pay for that, right?”
I shrug. “We’ll see.”
And in a way, I’m kind of looking forward to her paying me back. My mind is racing with the possibilities.
We get to my apartment around noon and I throw together a couple of turkey sandwiches for us. By the time we finish eating, we’re both exhausted – both from paddleboarding and from not sleeping last night.
“Why don’t we take a shower and watch a movie?” I suggest as Skyler yawns.
“I don’t have any clothes here besides the ones I have on now and they’re all sandy.”
“You can borrow a pair of boxers and a shirt of mine.”
Skyler chews her lip, unsure. “I don’t know, I’m pretty tired.”
“So am I,” I say, standing and pulling her up with me. “So maybe we watch a movie and maybe we take a nap. Don’t leave yet. I barely see you during the week and I know there’s not many weekends where you don’t have sorority stuff going on.”
“I actually have a sisterhood event tonight.”
“See?” I pull her wrist and lead her toward my bedroom, which really is just my bed separated by hanging curtains on a rack. I rummage through my clothes until I find a clean shirt and pair of boxers, tossing them to her and pointing to the bathroom. “Towels are above the toilet in the cabinet, shampoo and shit’s in there.”