Near and Far

Josie flicked her fingers in my face, splashing me. “After that bout of bitchiness, I’m beginning to wonder.”

“Why wonder when it’s so obvious?”

Josie and I swam in the general direction of where my top had gone under, and someone kicked up beside us. “Helloooo, ladies.” Jesse had an exuberant expression which meant he must have come out the victor in the dunking war. “Need some help?”

“Yeah. Finding my top,” I said.

Jesse’s eyes twinkled. “I believe I have some experience with that.”

If I was a blusher, I might have just from the look he gave me. “You’re a regular search and rescue pro.”

“I got this, Josie. Why don’t you go save your cousin from Garth? He’s got that look in his eye.”

Josie’s head whipped back. “If he even thinks about getting that look in his eye with Jolene, I might take Rowen up on her idea and inject him with the Ebola virus.”

Jesse quirked a brow at me.

“It was a figure of speech. That’s not how I meant it,” I called after Josie, who was paddling back. Garth had pulled himself out of the water and was helping Jolene out with, indeed, that certain look in his eyes.

“That’s how I took it,” Josie shouted back. From her tone, I guessed Josie hadn’t missed that gleam in Garth’s eyes either.

“Let’s see if we can find your top. As much as I might not want to.” Jesse winked before disappearing into the water.

We’d swam so far away from the dock we were almost to the other side of the swimming hole. A curtain of willow branches draped into the water . . . and that’s when I got an idea. I was already swimming toward the branches when Jesse resurfaced.

“Nothing.”

“I think it’s more this way,” I replied, smiling.

“What? Really? You think it flew that far?” Jesse paddled after me.

“Farther.” When I was a couple of feet in front of the branches, I dove and swam a few strokes before coming back up. The branches extended so far into the water, they created a good-sized pool. They provided such a barrier I could barely make out Jesse on the other side, let alone the three back on the dock. If I couldn’t see them, that meant they couldn’t see us . . . I’d just moved a bit closer to shore when Jesse joined me inside the private world.

“There’s no way it went this far,” he said, moving my way.

“I know.” Jesse gave me a confused look. “Use your imagination.”

“Oh, I am. Big time.” He was grinning like the devil when he stopped in front of me. His arms went around my waist, and he pulled me close. “But you know, my male, hormone-driven imagination might not be syncing with your much more innocent and sweet one.”

“I doubt that,” I whispered right before covering his mouth with mine. Tracing the seam of his lips with my tongue, I waited for him to respond. I didn’t wait long.

One hand went lower and the other went higher, and when they both found what they were looking for and gave a gentle squeeze, I swore I was about to drop my head back and cry out. Last night’s abstinence was making the afternoon’s make-up session especially intense.

When Jesse’s mouth lowered to my neck, I wove my fingers into his wet hair. “I bet you’re all right with my swimsuit top going missing now, right?”

“I really can’t imagine being more all right with anything else right now,” he said against my neck, giving another gentle squeeze to prove his point.

That time, a moan escaped my mouth. When Jesse’s grip tightened over my backside, successfully fitting my southerly region tighter against his, I came so close to orgasming, I could have been labeled the female two-pump-chump equivalent. “Jesse, oh my god, yes.”

I felt his tell-tale smile move into place, and then his hand left my breast. Practically dying from the anticipation of where it would move to next, I hadn’t expected the alternative: it had been busy removing his swim trunks. When his fingers slid my swimsuit bottoms aside and I felt something that, yet again, put me one second away from orgasming, I flinched my h*ps back.

How my brain was able to remember anything right then, I didn’t know, but it was all curse and no blessing. “Jesse,” I hissed.

“Yeah?” The skin between his eyebrows lined as deep as I’d ever seen it go. Understandably so. When it came to that piece of our relationship, I’d never been one to hit the brakes. Or I hadn’t been until last night.

“Forgetting a certain bet you made with a certain someone?”

Jesse grimaced. “I was about point two seconds away from forgetting my first name.”

That would make two of us.

“Come on, Rowen. He won’t know. I won’t tell, you won’t tell, and even if he did find out, who cares? It’s just some stupid bet.”

“Some stupid bet you agreed to with a guy I can’t let win at anything. It’s in my genetic code or something.”

He sighed. “Just forget I ever mentioned it. There’s no bet. I don’t even know a guy who would be so idiotic to enter into such a bet.” Jesse’s arms tightened around me, pulling me back into position. “I need to be close to you, Rowen.”

“It feels more like you really need to be close to me,” I said, gliding my hand down him. His eyes might have rolled back in his head. I jolted when Jesse’s finger slid just inside my bottoms, circling a certain spot.

“And it feels like you need to be really, really close to me.”

I didn’t have a single doubt if I flat-out told Jesse I wasn’t in the mood to have sex, he would have backed off immediately. He would have switched from high-drive to being happy making out or just lounging beside me. He’d never forced, guilted, or manipulated me into hav**g s*x, and I knew he never would. His tortured look and reaction was a result of him wanting to have sex with me. Wanting and waiting.

The thing was, I really wanted to have sex with him. He’d been correct when he said really, really. It wasn’t just about satisfying an overwhelming desire either, though that was present. It was about feeling his love. It was about feeling the physical expression of love that was for no one’s eyes but ours. It was about me worshipping him and him worshipping me, and the two of us finding a release together that we couldn’t experience apart. At least not in the same way.

It was about being in the moment, and living that moment to its fullest. It was about feeling infinite in those few moments we rarely got to share together due to location and obligation. It was about loving each other in such a way we could have been drowning in it.

“Hold that thought.” I lifted my finger as my desperate mind searched for a solution to the whole “bet” mess.

Jesse gave me a look as I swam the opposite direction of where he obviously wanted me to be going. “Looks like I’ll be holding something.”

I tried to stifle my laugh, but I guess I wasn’t really up to the task of stifling. “Just a minute. I’ll be right back.”

“Don’t worry. I’ll be fine. I’ll just be here. Wet. Naked.” Jesse moved into shallower water so I had a nice view of that wet nak*dness. “Ready.” Turning to face me, he gave me another view of the “ready” part.

I glanced away and swallowed the flames crawling up my throat. “Well, it looks like you’ll have plenty to entertain yourself with while I’m gone.”

“I’d rather have you entertain myself,” he called before I dropped below the surface.

I wasn’t a good swimmer. Decent sure, but I wouldn’t have received any medals for form. Speed, however, was a different story. Especially when the faster I swam, the faster I’d be able to get back to what I was practically trembling to get back to.

Another flash of the wet nak*dness waiting for me fifty yards back urged me ahead even faster. The threesome Jesse and I had escaped from were spread out on the dock, soaking in some sun. Josie and Jolene were sharing a towel, and Garth was sprawled out on the splintery wood.

“Hey, Black!” I hollered when I was a dozen strokes back.

“Hey what?” he replied, sitting up. He was still in his tight, black jeans. Even his belt buckle was still in place.

“Forget your swimming trunks?”

“No. I don’t wear trunks, shorts, or anything else that might think it’s okay to go above my ankle. I’m a cowboy, god dammit. We don’t wear shorts. Might want to relay that to the swim short wonder over there in the trees. What a disgrace.”

“As much fun as this little spat could be—because, come on, you and I know we could go on and on about this real cowboys don’t wear shorts thing—I’m kind of pressed for time.” Pressure definitely had something to do with me searching out Garth. Swimming up beside him, I crossed my arms over the dock and met his stare. “I need you to do something for me.”

Garth smiled like the Grinch hatching his Christmas Eve plan of terror. “I’d ask what that favor would be, but given you’re still topless and I’m guessing the poser in hiding’s probably lost his shorts, I think I know what’s on your mind. Plus, you’ve got that general look about you that says your head’s going to explode if you don’t get a little vitamin J in you soon.”

I splashed Garth in the face, thankful Josie and Jolene had their earbuds in. At least they were able to block out the filth that came from Garth’s mouth. “Cuss, already. You know you want to. I can tell from that look on your face that says your head’s going to explode if you don’t scream a FUCK YOU! at the world soon.”

Hearing those two words, Garth almost sighed in contentment, followed by a small tremble. Probably from withdrawal. “Now why would I want to do that when I’d say you and Jesse are about one bikini bottom of restraint away from giving me the win?”

“Cuss, Garth.”

“No.”

“Garth . . .”

“Rowen,” he deadpanned back. “Either go enjoy Jesse or yourself because I am not losing this close to the end. I cuss now, and two weeks of not cussing will be for nothing. I’m not losing because not only would the losing part suck, but then you two would celebrate your win by playing hide the snake. Where’s the fairness in all that?”

“Garth . . .” My nails were digging into my palms so hard I had to be close to drawing blood.

“Rowen,” he mimicked, sticking out his tongue.

“Dammit! Why do you have to be so difficult?”

“Are you looking for an actual explanation? Or was that one of those rhetorical questions?”

Unbelievable. He was smiling, all calm like.

“That was an I-don’t-care-why-you’re-so-difficult-just-show-me-how-I-can-beat-it-out-of-you kind of question.”

“I’m sorry, ma’am, I’m fresh out of I-give-a-darn. Why don’t you check back next century?” Garth tilted his head and waved.

“Fuck you.”

He lifted his eyebrows. “My, oh, my. You suck your boyfriend with that filthy mouth?”