Chapter 23: Shallow Waters

KARA

“Ready to get your ass kicked?” Jess grinned as we made our way into the shallow water. I rolled my eyes at her, slowly walking in until the water was below my hips.

Jason and Quintin ran into the water, splashing it all over us. My body tensed as the cold splashes hit my skin, sending chills down my spine. I narrowed my eyes at Jason.

Our gazes locked, sending another chill through me. The sun gleamed against his azure eyes.

It was hard to focus on anything but him when he was standing just a few feet away, water glistening all over his chiseled chest.

I shuddered, pushing my hormones away before submerging myself underwater to refocus. Once I was deep into the water, Jess and Quintin stood across from us.

“Ready?” Quintin sent me a mischievous grin.

A moment later, something moved underneath the water between my legs, creating a small current. Within a second, I was on Jason’s shoulders.

As he stood firmly on his legs, I gasped in horror as he rocked me in the air. Panic coursed through me, and my fingers found their way to his hair, roughly grabbing on to hold me in place.

Jason’s large hands landed on my thighs, setting my skin on fire. “Didn’t know you liked it rough.” I could practically hear him smirking.

Instead of replying, I gave his hair a rough tug, feeling his laughter rumble through his chest.

My thighs instinctively clenched, and I hated how I was reacting to being on his shoulders—cheeks flushing as the memories crept into my mind.

“On three, okay?” Quintin confirmed while balancing Jess on his broad shoulders.

Jason subtly rubbed his fingers on my inner thigh, letting me know he was thinking about the same thing. The lust heated my core, clouding my thoughts.

“Three,” Quintin shouted, rushing toward Jason. I shook my head, trying to focus on winning against Jess.

But I was too distracted.

As soon as we were within arm’s reach, Jess shoved me lightly, causing me to wobble on Jason’s shoulders.

Before I could push back, Quintin yelped, and Jess tumbled back into the water with a loud splash.

My face twisted in confusion.

Jason let go of my legs, sending my body flying back into the water before I could process. Water surrounded me, forcing me to hold my breath.

I was completely shocked at the sudden rush of freezing water.

Pushing my feet off against the bottom of the lake, I swam up. The first thing I heard as I broke through the surface was Jason’s laughter.

“You can’t hit me in the balls!” Quintin growled from a distance.

“Why would you do that?” My hands reached for Jason’s head, shoving him underwater.

As soon as he resurfaced, Jason retaliated by splashing water on my face. “Because you were distracted.” He gave me a dark smirk, causing my eyes to widen.

I tensed, furious that my body reacted so easily to his touch. And that he ~knew~.

Droplets fell from the ends of his ringlets. Instead of replying, Jason swam toward me, closing the distance between us.

I nervously glanced at Quintin and Jess, who were laughing together by the towels laid out on the sand, and then back to Jason, who was now only inches away from me.

Our legs brushed slightly as he planted his feet. I, on the other hand, could barely stand on the tips of my toes, so I remained above water by pedaling.

“Need help?” Jason watched me struggle. My body was starting to get tired. Glaring back at the reason I was partially out of breath, I huffed and kicked away.

Amusement swirled in his eyes, and instead of waiting for me to cave, he grabbed my hips and pulled my chest to his, skin touching skin. It was on fire.

My cheeks puffed when he began to lower me in the water, and I prepared to hold my breath. Just when my chin began to submerge, I panicked.

My hands gripped his broad shoulders, and I wrapped my legs around his waist.

“Much better,” Jason whispered. I bit my lip, nervous that we were in this position in front of our friends. I glanced at them, but they still weren’t paying attention.

Layla, Milo, Liam, and Charlie had left right before our game to go for a walk.

I gasped when Jason pulled my hips down against his cock, only the thin fabric of my bikini and his shorts separating us.

Snapping my eyes to his, they darkened, letting me know his intentions. A loud gulp visibly passed through my throat, making my heart race in my chest.

I shuddered when his lips grazed my neck, right behind my jaw. When he pressed a soft, wet kiss, my body immediately reacted, arching my back toward him.

“I’m going to make you mine, Kara.” Those words caused me to melt in his arms. I ground my core against his hardened member, giving in to my heat.

Even though I’d never slept with anybody, I wanted him. ~Badly.~

“Not right now.” I didn’t want my first time to be in a lake. The words should be enough to let him know I did want to take this to the next level, just not ~here~.

“Your brother’s coming!” Jess tried to whisper-scream from the shore. An icy shock struck my body not just from her words, but because she saw me clinging to Jason.

Embarrassment flushed through my body. I untangled myself from Jason, confused at the stare he was giving me. The look his eyes held made my stomach turn.

Disappointment.

Was he angry that I didn’t want to do it at the moment? The emotion was undoubtedly held toward me.

I frowned, turning to swim back to Jess and Quintin.

***

The rest of the day flew by, and night finally was upon us. Jess, Layla, and I began tiptoeing down the stairs, putting one of our pranks into action.

Jess hid a plastic spider under one of their sheets while I replaced their cologne bottles with a liquid of my choice.

A while back, I had bought Skunk Spray online to use on Charlie. The skunk spray really wasn’t from a skunk, but it smelled really bad, hence the name.

I never got around to using it, and now was the perfect time.

“They’re coming!” Jess whispered. The three of us scampered out of their room to the living room. We walked over to the couch and sat down, pretending to talk.

I ripped the latex gloves off and threw them behind the couch, making a mental note to pick them up later.

Quintin and Jason walked up to us. It was nearly midnight, and we were waiting for them to go to bed. “I’m exhausted after that hike.”

Charlie walked past, stretching his arms behind his head. “I’ll see you guys tomorrow morning.”

We all said good-night to him as he walked into the room with Liam following.

“Why does it smell like a dead animal?” Charlie asked, sniffing the air in disgust as soon as they opened the door to their room. I couldn’t hear Liam’s answer, but it took everything in me not to burst out laughing.

“So what’s the plan for tomorrow?” I tried to divert their attention. Layla and Jess glanced at each other, hiding their devious smirks.

Jason gave me a lazy shrug. “Hiking? More swimming? Maybe a bonfire?”

“I’m definitely going to be tanning,” Layla stated. I nodded, agreeing with her. There’s no better feeling than the sun kissing your skin on a beautiful day.

A loud scream caused us to jump. We all ran toward Charlie and Liam’s room.

“Kill it!” Charlie screamed, throwing something at Liam.

Liam looked at whatever had bounced off his chest, letting out a frightful yelp. My eyes fell to the ground, landing on the giant tarantula.

Jess, Layla, and I all burst out laughing.

They stopped arguing, eyes pinning the three of us. I straightened my back, grinning at the two terrified boys.

“Guess who just got pranked?” I mocked my brother’s words from earlier, which were still clearly etched in my mind.

The room was dead silent before Jason and Quintin, who were behind us, joined the laughter. My head shook at the two boys who were oblivious to what was coming.

“It’s plastic.” Layla picked up the tarantula and threw it at Liam, who deflected it toward Charlie.

“Sleep tight.” I smirked at my brother, who was glaring at me. Little did they know about what else we had planned.

We made our way back to our rooms, waiting for time to pass.

A few episodes of ~Supernatural~ and a bag of chips later, Layla noted that it was time. Reluctantly, I got up, and we grabbed the things we needed before quietly leaving our room.

We crept down the stairs, stopping once we were outside of Milo, Jason, and Quintin’s room. Jess slowly opened the door.

My eyes adjusted to the darkness as I tried to make my way to Jason’s bed. Once I could somewhat see, due to the moon shining in through the thin curtain, I stared at Jason’s sleeping form.

He looked almost angelic when he was unconscious.

Someone nudged me, and I looked to my left to see Layla holding out earphones and whipped cream. My hand reached out for the can first, and I softly sprayed some on both of Jason’s hands.

They twitched a couple of times, and I tried not to laugh.

I then grabbed the headphones and very slowly placed them on his head, connecting my iPhone to the Bluetooth.

Once I found the song I was going to play, I sent a grin to Layla, who gave me the thumbs-up. I hit play, allowing the music to blast from the earbuds.

Jason’s body lurched up in surprise, and his hands attacked the sides of his head. “Fuck!” His deep voice boomed through the darkness.

As soon as his hands reached for his ears, both sides of his face were covered in whipped cream. I giggled at him as he panicked, trying to figure out what was going on.

“What the—” A silhouette across the room got out of the bed, instantly falling to the ground with a loud thud.

The cabin floors were made of wood, so while I was putting whipped cream on Jason, Jess and Layla put wood polish all over the hard oak floors in front of their beds.

“What’s going on?” Charlie barged into the room.

The girls and I all burst out laughing even harder when we saw Q’s shadow fall straight onto his face.

Lights flooded the room; the three of us were all doubled over, laughing our asses off. My eyes wandered around the room, taking a minute to observe the scene.

Milo and Q were on the floor, processing their fall. Charlie stood by the light switch, shock clear on his face. Jason’s face and hair were covered in whipped cream.

They still had one more prank coming.

“Why do you guys smell?” Milo scrunched his nose up in disgust as Liam stood next to Charlie, most likely woken up from the chaotic incident.

Liam disappeared from sight before returning with an air freshener bottle. “It might be dust? It’s been a while since we’ve been here,” he tried to rationalize.

Charlie grabbed the bottle, spraying it all over the room in an attempt to make it smell better.

I just about peed myself.

“Pass it over; it does smell,” Quintin said in disgust, catching the bottle. This time he sprayed it around his bed, and I couldn’t handle it. I began to cry from laughing so hard, putting my stomach in agony.

“Run,” Jess whispered to us as Charlie sniffed the air, freezing. “Time to go,” she added, and we bolted out of the room.

“What the fuck is this?” Charlie roared as we ran out into the crisp night air.