Love Song(101)
But Gigi’s right. I need to figure out what we’re doing. Whether Blake is truly on board with saying goodbye in a few weeks.
Blake? mocks the voice in my head.
Okay. Me. I need to figure out why the idea of going our separate ways fills me with so much fucking anxiety.
But what’s the alternative? Blake is returning to Briar for her senior year. I’ve got an album to record. Are we going to have a long-distance relationship? A relationship, period? I don’t fare well when it comes to relationships. I always screw them up.
My mind is a jumbled mess as I make my way down to the dock. It’s a gorgeous, sunny morning, so everyone is either in the water or lounging on the beach. The Golden Boys are executing backflips off the swim platform. All I catch is flashes of tanned skin and wet hair as a bunch of rowdy hockey players hurl themselves into the lake. Nearby, Blake and Kate float on their backs, long hair stretching out behind them like strands of seaweed.
I find Tucker napping on a lounge chair, a red baseball cap brandishing the logo of one of the gyms he owns covering his face. I don’t want to disturb him, so I settle on the chair farthest from him and scribble in my songbook for a while.
Around noon, my mother shouts down from the railing saying lunch is ready if anyone’s interested. I hear a happy shriek as AJ grabs his girlfriend’s hand and they both jump off the platform to swim back to shore. Gray and Stella follow suit, diving cleanly into the water, but Blake goes to the ladder rather than jump, gripping the rungs as she climbs down.
I can’t tear my gaze off her. Her skin is golden brown from being out in the sun all summer, and her teeny white bikini only emphasizes that tan. I watch as the bottoms ride up on her ass, baring one perky cheek. My dick stirs in my trunks. I want to smack the hell out of that ass.
There’s a blur of motion as Beau dives off the platform without noticing Blake descending the ladder. His left foot clips her temple, and my heart slams into my ribs when I see Blake’s head jerk back a second before she goes under.
And doesn’t come back up.
I don’t think. I don’t hesitate. Instinct takes over. I’m off the lounger and diving off the dock before I even realize what I’m doing. I swim toward her at a breakneck speed, arms cutting hard through the water.
“Blake,” I shout and inhale a mouthful of water.
For one terrifying second, I see nothing but bubbles and ripples near the ladder, but then she surfaces with a cough, flinging out her arm to clutch the side of the platform.
My dramatic dock dive and shout caught everyone’s attention, because I suddenly hear concerned voices from the sand. I ignore them and close the distance between us, pulling her against my wet body as we tread water and hold on to the wooden edge.
“Are you okay?”
She blinks water from her lashes, rubbing the side of her head. “Yeah.”
“Can you swim?”
When she nods, we push off from the platform and swim toward shore. We stumble onto the sand, where I cup her face with both hands, gently rubbing her temple. My body is still experiencing phantom fear, pulse racing, skin ice-cold in response to that moment she went underwater and how it felt like my entire world had stopped.
“Fuck, baby. When I saw you go under…” I take a breath.
“I’m fine,” she says, shoving wet hair out of her eyes. “I just got stunned for a second and then disoriented. I wasn’t sure where I was.”
“That scared the shit out of me.” The relief coursing through my veins has me leaning down to give her a quick kiss, just to make sure she’s really there.
She makes a strangled noise when our lips touch. At first, I mistake her reaction for anger.
But then I realize it’s panic.
And that’s when I remember we’re not alone.
I called her “baby.”
I kissed her.
And we’re not alone.
Someone clears their throat, and I turn my head to see every single person we know on this earth staring back at us.
DAD CHAT
DEAN DI LAURENTIS
So. That happened.
JOHN TUCKER
JOHN LOGAN REMOVED GARRETT GRAHAM FROM DAD CHAT.
DEAN DI LAURENTIS
Real mature.
JOHN LOGAN
Fuck off, Dean.
COLIN FITZGERALD
DEAN DI LAURENTIS
JAKE CONNELLY ADDED GARRETT GRAHAM TO DAD CHAT.
GARRETT GRAHAM REMOVED JOHN LOGAN FROM DAD CHAT.
JOHN TUCKER
Add him back, G. The father of the penis needs to grovel to the father of the vagina.
DEAN DI LAURENTIS
Agreed.
COLIN FITZGERALRD
I dunno…
DEAN DI LAURENTIS
I see you, Fitz. You’re only saying that because you have 4 penis sons.
GARRETT GRAHAM
That’s bs. I’m not the one who has to grovel.
JOHN TUCKER
I’m putting up a poll.
All right, submit your votes.
Description
A continuation of the ‘DAD CHAT’ interface. It displays a conversation involving Dean, Garrett, and John Tucker. A poll created by John Tucker asks ‘WHICH FATHER SHOULD GROVEL?’, with results showing ‘PENIS DAD’ leading with 7 votes against ‘VAGINA DAD’ with 2 votes. System text shows further adding and removing of members (Garrett and John Logan) from the chat.