Jared appeared from the path winding through the trees, looking impatient, and then surprised, and then knowing. Jo had never wanted to punch the guy so much. And maybe a rock. And maybe herself.
Never let them see you sweat. Never admit you’re wrong or show you have an ounce of shame. She never had before, and damn if she was going to now. Working past the lingering unsteadiness, she rose and looked straight at the asshole before picking her way across the rocks to her discarded clothing. No one spoke, and any chill seeped from her bones, replaced by the heat of the air and the heat of pulling on her shorts and tank like this, while two men watched.
Behind her, Adam cleared his throat. “Um. Yeah. Just… we’d lost Jo, and—”
“Looks like you found her,” Jared said with a laugh.
Jo hated being laughed at.
Her feet were wet, but she didn’t care. She dried them off the best she could on her overshirt, then tugged on her socks and shoved her feet into her boots. By the time she looked back at him, Adam was standing next to Jared and not making eye contact. It made the pit of her stomach roll even worse than it had before.
“Shall we?” Jared asked.
Yeah, they certainly should. With a huff, she made to stalk off toward the path Jared had appeared from, but before she could get very far, a hand closed around her wrist. A familiar hand, broad and strong. One that had rescued her and that was still not letting her fall.
“Hey,” Adam said, holding on.
“What—”
He pulled, and she turned around to face him, feeling topsy-turvy. Off balanced and unsettled, her instincts screaming at her that it was time to walk away.
“Hey,” he repeated, and he smiled. It was a fragile thing, not his usual self-assured grin. It was more than that. It was the kind of smile she could nearly see to the bottom of, as deep as the sea and as warm as his eyes. “No more wandering off alone. Remember?”
She remembered how it felt, watching them all swim and play and feeling like if she did leave, nobody would notice.
For the first time in a very, very long while, it didn’t feel that way. Not anymore.
Not after he came for her and held her when she shook apart. Not when he refused to let her go.
Not when he was holding on still.
Beer in hand, Adam wound his way from the bar toward the giant table they’d finally gotten set up in a corner of the restaurant. A few of the others had already sat down, and he paused, looking back toward the bar. He thought about it for a moment. It was risky, but…
He nodded at Jared, but instead of taking his usual seat beside him, he headed for the other end of the table. Leaving a seat open between himself and Carol, he pulled out a chair and sank into it. Turning to the door again, he sought out Jo, catching her eye when she paused there. He tipped his head toward the space next to his in invitation.
He really didn’t expect her to take him up on it, and when he considered what he was doing, it was kind of a dick move. Jo usually sat as far away from everyone else as she could, and if she couldn’t, she ended up next to Carol. In his head, this had been about making her as comfortable as possible, but if she didn’t want to sit with him, he hadn’t exactly left her with a lot of good options.
Shit. Maybe he should move.
Only… she’d been sticking pretty close to him the last few hours. Ever since he’d stayed behind at the waterfall, after noticing she wasn’t with them anymore.
After she’d asked him for help and let him give it to her. Let him hold her, and pressed her mouth against his flesh, and God. He was really fucked now. If Jared hadn’t come along, he didn’t know what he would have done with that kind of opening, buzzing with adrenaline and pretending he wasn’t scared out of his mind, body humming and blood begging for it.
He might have taken it. And he didn’t know if that was right. Not when he was still all tangled up inside. Not when she went from inviting to distant in the space of a millisecond, at even the slightest hint of hesitance on his part. Not when his goal for the summer had been to avoid any additional complications.
Across the room from him, she paid for her drink and wrapped those pale, hard lips around the tip of her straw. His heart rate picked up just looking at them, and he shifted beneath the cover of the table as she strode their way. Her hips didn’t sway—nothing as obvious or seductive as that. Oh no, her gait was as steady as it ever was, only he knew what lay beneath those shapeless clothes now.
Purple panties edged in lace and ink that did indeed flow all the way down her spine to the small of her back, for all that he’d yet to get a good enough glimpse to see what it depicted. Soft, round breasts held tightly to her chest, and a trim waist, and strong, muscular legs that had gone on for miles beneath the water.
And all of them were headed toward him.
It was almost anticlimactic, the way she folded herself into the chair beside him with hardly a glance of acknowledgment, picking up her menu and burying her nose in it. He furrowed his brow and stared at her, waiting for her to say something, to do something.
Except… that was her knee, pressing against his under the table. A shot of electricity danced up his spine, and his throat bobbed. He still didn’t know how he felt or what to do, but this was only the latest in a series of advances. Every time he shied from one, she shut him down. Turned cold and hard and mean, and that wasn’t her. Not the real her. He was confident of that much now.
Jared called Adam’s name, and Adam turned to him, falling into conversation the way he always did. Like everything was normal between them. But where no one could see, he slipped his hand under the table and placed it, carefully but unmistakably, on her knee. He held his breath for what felt like the longest time. Then her hand settled over his with a quick, brief squeeze, and he exhaled in a rush. She wanted this. Wanted something.
So he spent the next hour torturing himself and testing his own patience. Tracing patterns on her skin.
Adam had been riding in P.J.’s SUV all day, so as they emptied out of the restaurant, that was the direction he headed. Only, Jo had ended up in a different car on the way over. She lingered for a moment on the sidewalk, as if uncertain which way to go, and somehow it seemed only natural now to brush his hand against hers and motion for her to come with him.
“There’s room,” he assured her.
There was. The middle seat in the back had been empty, and it would drive him crazy, but she could squeeze into that space, her whole side pressed up against him.
Carol shrugged, as if granting her permission. “More room for the rest of us in the van if you do.”
“Whatever.” Jo tugged her hand from his, but she headed toward P.J.’s car.
They clambered in, Jared in the front seat and Kim and Jo and Adam in the back. It was just the way he’d imagined it, Jo’s body up against his in the darkness, and he’d been too optimistic, thinking this would only make him crazy. She was all warmth and sharp angles and subtle curves, and he shifted, twisting around so he could drape his arm out over the back of the seat. Letting his hand hang casually, like he didn’t know his fingertips were dragging across her shoulder. She smelled like sunscreen and lavender and rum. She’d taste like sin, he thought. Wet and hot, and his patience with his own uncertainty was wearing thin.
Shannon—Shannon didn’t call him. Didn’t e-mail him or text him or want him, and he was tired of waiting for her to care as much as he did. As much as he used to. He didn’t know what Jo wanted him for. Maybe just a night, or a few nights. Maybe just for some comfort and company, but it would be something. He couldn’t deny it any longer.
He rubbed a little harder at her shoulder, pressing his thumb into the point of her collarbone. She didn’t pull away. This was going to be the longest ride home ever, but as he gave in to it, the anticipation melted into a steady, simmering buzz, one that made him feel loose and heavy in his bones.