Beyond Doubt (16 page)

I looked around the property and saw people beginning to emerge, rubbing sleep from their eyes and massaging their heads reminding me that I was in good company. After all, that’s what this trip was all about, letting loose and forgetting the stresses from home.

I walked toward the house and saw the front door swing open, with Mason peering out the hole.

“Hey, sleepyhead. Looks like you got a nice rest,” he said, laughing. “Ready to hop on that Jet Ski?”

“How do you know about that?” I narrowed my eyes at him, climbing the stairs.

“Are you serious? You don’t remember?”

I let out a sigh and shook my head. “No. Afraid not. But I don’t care what I said or did last night, I’m not hopping on one of those machines.”

“Aaron and Lily guessed you’d say that so they had me take this.” He reached into his back pocket and whipped out his phone. “Here’s the video.”

He tapped the screen with his finger and turned up the volume and sure enough, there I was standing in front of the fire with a beer in each hand, giving a speech about facing my fears and flying fancy over the water. Aaron was in the background, telling me not to promise anything I’d regret and the next thing I saw, I was hopping on him giving him explicit instructions to drive me around on the piece of equipment, telling him it was part of the buddy pact. I couldn’t see Lily in the footage, but I heard her laugh echoing throughout the video. My parting words were that if I didn’t get on a Jet Ski on Saturday, I would be leading a skinny-dipping expedition Saturday night. The crowd was cheering right before the video went blank.

I looked up at Mason, completely horrified. “That couldn’t have just been the beers.”

He nodded. “You drank out of the Keg on our porch here, right?”

“Yeah. I think so.”

“Well, that’s the strongest beer there is. Every cup was probably the equivalent of one and a half of the lightweight stuff you’re used to.”

“Kill me now,” I said, walking past him.

There was no way I would ever go skinny-dipping. Ever. So if to save myself from the horror, I had to putt around on a Jet Ski, fine. I could handle that. I bent under the yellow caution tape and quickly ran up the stairs and into the master. Lily was already showered and dressed and flashed me a huge grin when I entered the room.

“Well? How was everything with your friend or wait…I mean buddy?” she teased.

“Everything was just fine with my friend, and I’m looking forward to my ride on the water later today,” I said, pushing by her to get to the bathroom.

“You don’t remember a thing, do you?” she called through the door.

“Not a single thing.”

I turned on the shower and grabbed a towel. Once the steam was rolling over the top of the shower curtain, I tested the water and stepped in. Feeling the water droplets penetrate my hair snarls, I let the warmth trickle down my scalp as I tried to do a recap of the previous night’s events. A buddy pact? What the hell was that? Did drunk Brandy gravitate to first grade? Was Gabby anywhere around when I was acting like a fool and did it even matter? It didn’t sound like she cared if one of us turned out to be interested in her brother. Although, I was sure she would never suspect it would be me out of the bunch.

“So where’d you sleep?” Lily popped her head into the bathroom.

“I think you know exactly where I slept and sleeping was all I did.”

“I don’t doubt it. You really put Aaron in his place,” she laughed.

“How so?” I asked, unsure of wanting to hear the answer.

“It started with you explaining the first Google search you conducted on him, which led to the next Google result and then the next. I think by the end of it, you made your point clear that you never wanted to turn into one of his bimbos and all the sweet talking or not-so-sweet talking—as you put it—would ever convince you to look at him as more than a friend. You were more responsible than that and had more respect for yourself than anyone he’s ever been out with. And then I think that was about the time you sat on the stump and fell asleep.”

“Oh. My. God.” I turned off the water and grabbed the towel from the rod, drying myself off quickly. “Was Gabby around?”

“No, she and Jason were long gone. He doesn’t drink so I think they had plenty of other things to keep themselves busy.”

“I think by the sounds of it, I should stop too,” I confessed, wrapping the towel around my body.

“Don’t be hard on yourself,” Lily said. “I know what’s really happening here and I think once you admit it, you won’t keep trying to run from it. Or I mean him.”

Lily sat on the bed as I quickly dressed and twisted my wet hair into a clip. I grabbed some mascara and lip gloss and decided that was good enough.

“I think the best part of the whole show was the fact that you had all of the Google sites, you showed, bookmarked.”

“Oh, Lord.”

“On the bright side, you weren’t the only one who was completely blitzed so it’s doubtful anyone else will remember.”

“Maybe, I should just admit that I can’t stop thinking about him and act like an adult.”

I heard the shower turn on down the hall and then the sound of someone rummaging through a closet, the wrong closet. It must be Aaron.

I darted to the hallway and sure enough, it was him.

“Hey, friend. The towels are in the other closet.” I pointed in the other direction and he turned around, grinning.

“Thanks,” he said, opening up the other door.

“I guess I’ll meet you at the water later?”

“You saw the footage?” he asked.

“That I did.” I smiled, feeling the warmth spread through me as he looked at me with those beautiful eyes.

“I wouldn’t mind if you reneged on your agreement there,” he said, his eyes holding promise.

“I bet you wouldn’t. But I hate to break it to you. I’m not a skinny-dipper.”

He grabbed a towel and nodded as he went into the bathroom.

“I hope you don’t blow it, Brandy,” Lily whispered from behind.

I turned to Lily and nodded. “No more beer for me this weekend and I think I’ll be fine. But I do need some coffee to get this pounding headache gone.”

“I think it will take more than coffee but that’s a start.”

I followed Lily down to the kitchen and watched her prepare her special brew, which never worked but we didn’t have the heart to tell her. I slowly sipped the mixture of Gatorade and Alka-Seltzer, grinning and nodding as I did.

After the last gulp, I placed the mug on the counter and Lily smiled.

“You’ve got it bad.”

I shrugged, dismissing her comment and wandered onto the property toward the lake. I spotted Jason holding Gabby on the makeshift pier as they stared at the water. That was what I wanted, someone to hold me in an embrace and just enjoy what the world had to offer, together. I glanced back at the house to see Lily and Aaron walking down the steps. He caught my stare and gave a quick nod as he listened intently to Lily.

Gabby called my name and waved me down to where they were standing, and I gladly took her up on the offer.

“I heard you had a pretty interesting night last night,” Jason teased, letting go of Gabby.

“Word certainly travels fast,” I said, glancing over at her.

“Well, I’d say either Aaron or Jason would be the best to drive you around, and I already claimed Jason.” She gave me a wink and hugged Jason, who was beaming down at her.

“You’ll be fine. Aaron’ll take care of you,” Jason said, grinning.

“Are you ready?” I heard Aaron call down to us.

I spun around just in time to watch him tug his shirt over his head. I nearly died right then as the length of his torso extended toward the sky, exposing the v-definition leading down to his swim trunks. He tossed the white t-shirt onto the ground and looked up, catching my gaze.

Nodding, I looked back at Jason and Gabby, who ushered me forward, and Lily, who was already picking out a life jacket for me.

“This ought to do,” she said, shoving the hot pink and black vest in front of me.

“Thanks,” I said, grabbing it from her.

I slipped my arms through the holes and began adjusting the straps. But before I had a chance to tighten any of them, Aaron’s fingers slipped over mine, and he began pulling and tugging on the black straps.

“It has to be tight or there’s no point in wearing one,” he instructed. His fingers sliding in between the nylon fabric and my skin. The trail of goose bumps his touch left behind was a dead giveaway that he did more to me than I wanted to admit. The thought of wrapping my arms around him—even with the life vests creating a barrier—completely warped my insides as my mind flashed back to the kiss.

I looked up into Aaron’s eyes and simply muttered a quick thank you before half-waddling-slash-walking to the shore.

Gabby came up to stand beside me as Jason and Aaron walked out into the water, untying the Jet Skis and bringing them back in for us.

“You will love it,” Gabby whispered. “I promise.”

“I’m scared spitless.”

“Why?” she challenged. “What’s the worst thing that could happen? If you fall off, so what? You’re landing on water and you’ve got a life jacket on. You’ll pop right back up. Plus, we’re in fresh water not salt water so if water goes up your nose, it’s not that bad.”

“You might want to stop while you’re ahead,” I teased.

But, she was right. It’s not like I’d be landing on cement. I felt my arms steady as I slid my hands out from under the vest and watched Aaron bring the Jet Ski as close in as he could get it.

“You think you can reach up and slide on?” he asked, quickly maneuvering onto the front portion of the seat. “You can grab onto my hand.”

I nodded quickly and reached for his hand, giving a little hop as my chest hit the back of the seat. Without even realizing what was happening, he hauled me into position and I was upright.

“Woohoo,” Lily yelled from the shore as a crowd gathered, including my two brothers. “No skinny-dipping for my girl.”

A chorus of male boos from the shore boomed into the air as Aaron started the engine. I caught both Ayden and Mason smirking on the beach next to Lily, and I wondered what they were thinking.

“Ready, babe?” Aaron asked over his shoulder.

My heart skipped a beat, and I slid my arms around his waist.

“Yeah, but go slow.”

“I’ll try, but I can’t promise anything.”

We slowly began to move through the water, and I was no longer able to distinguish the source of the butterflies. I had no idea if they were from taking off on the Jet Ski or being so closely wrapped around Aaron. The firmness of his body as it flexed with the rhythm of the machine created an internal distraction. I barely noticed that we had sped up until the cool water began splashing on my legs.

“How are you holding up?” he asked over the crashing sound of water.

I looked around to see the trees and shrubs whipping by as we followed behind Jason and Gabby. My muscles slowly began to relax. The tension in my shoulders and arms dissipated as I realized how truly fun this was.

“I’m kind of glad I made the bet,” I admitted.

I felt his body shaking slightly and wondered if he was laughing.

“I still don’t remember much of the bet or last night actually, but the only other time I was close to that amount of drinking was right after I met you. I made poor Gabby go out to a club, telling her it was so she wouldn’t think about Jason.”

“Is that so?” Aaron’s body shuddered as the laughter left his lips.

“The real reason I dragged her out was so I could try and forget about you.”

Aaron’s body stilled and his laughter went silent.

“I hope you won’t try to forget about me anymore,” he said, his words almost inaudible over the beating wind.

“I don’t think I could no matter how hard I tried.”

He slowed the Jet Ski to a stop and let Gabby and Jason get far ahead as ours bobbed in the wake. Turning slightly on the seat, so that his eyes locked on mine, made my entire body tense up.

“I hope you meant that,” he said, gently tracing his finger along my jawbone.

“I do.”

He leaned forward slightly, and it felt like he was going to kiss me. But he stopped short and smiled.

“I think we need to go slow. We’ve had a lot of false starts,” he said.

Disappointment was quickly filled with relief when I spotted Jason headed toward us. I might be ready to start contemplating an us with Aaron, but I wasn’t sure I was ready to let Gabby know just yet. I gave a quick wave to Gabby as Jason made a quick turn on the Jet Ski, drenching us completely with spray.

“Okay,” Aaron yelled at Jason. “It’s on.”

He slid back into position, and I held on tight as the watercraft took off at a high speed.

“Hold on, babe,” he hollered, and I nestled in feeling freer than I had in a long time.

For once in my life, the fear completely dissolved as I felt the breeze running over my wet skin and blowing my hair in the wind. If riding a motorcycle felt anything like this, I could see why it would be so tempting. Maybe with Aaron by my side, there would be another side to life. One that I never thought I’d want to explore.