Breathe With Me (The Breathe Series Book 3) (4 page)

“Whatever. So is Jake going to stay with you two?”

“Oh, yeah…he’ll be here tomorrow,” Judd answers my question, but doesn’t even look up as him and Alyssa get way too comfy side-by-side, eyeing each other like it’s mating season.

“Ok well, on that note…I’m out of here.” I spin around, taking five paces to the door before turning back to look over my shoulder.

Judd and Alyssa are half way making out, with barely an inch of space between them.
Yeah, I’m no longer even here. What the hell.
I roll my eyes and turn back to the door, throwing my hand in the air as I head out.

“Later.”

A muffled bye and a few giggles is all I hear as I pull the door shut and let my eyes instantly wander towards cabin one with a stinging sensation rising into my gut. I can barely even remember what it was like to have that; to want someone so bad you could practically taste it.
Ahhh, who am I kidding…I remember it all too well and it haunts me every single day.

A CAR DOOR SLAMS AS
I step down onto the first step of Grandpa’s porch, take a seat and then casually lean back onto my elbows so I can take in everything around me. Looking over, I’m surprised to see Skylar hopping out of her small burgundy hatchback. I quickly tally up the vehicles in the lot, counting two trucks that I have never seen, and then glance down towards the beach where a massive pile of brush has been gathered. Squinting to see better, my eyes land on the guy from earlier.

Abby runs up in the distance, colliding with her burley boy-toy, Hayden. She laughs and waves her hands in the air, obviously talking about something dramatic while Piper settles up beside the other dude who also looks vaguely familiar; maybe from the same party. Gritting my teeth as he pulls Piper closer to him, I lean my head back and close my eyes.
I better get used to this shit; she’s done moved on years ago. I’ll break his arms if he hurts her though.

“Hey, what are you doing out here all by your lonesome?” Skylar’s smooth, sexy voice hits my ears and I snap my head back up with a grin immediately falling across my lips.

“Just waiting for you.”

She laughs, tossing her head back along with a mass of brown curls that hang over her shoulder. “You didn’t even know I was coming.”

Raising my brows with a you’re-damn-right sort of smirk, I hold my hand out and glance past her for a second. “That you are right…I didn’t, but now that you’re here, you want to take a walk with me.”

Her eyes light up just as another pair of eyes in the distance seem to be throwing daggers at me by the handful. It’s basically the same look I gave the dude that won’t keep his paws off her only minutes ago.

“Sure, let me go throw my bag in Piper’s cabin and I’ll meet up with you,” Skylar yells, already on a mad dash across the parking lot.

I jump up, sliding my hands into my back pockets with a shove. Stepping forward, I wander downhill to the path that runs along the shoreline. My feet tread slowly over the dead grass and hard ground that is littered with soggy leaves and small twigs.

Taking a deep breath, I look back up and Piper’s penetrating stare is almost more than I can take.
Why does she torture me?
I mean, I’m all too aware of the games chicks can play to entice a guy, but this is definitely not one of them. She looks at me like she has something to say, yet for years all I’ve managed to get out of her is a few bitter words, pissy ass comments and a back-the-hell-off attitude. Never in all that time did I get out of her what happened after she left that summer; no explanation why she was no longer going to Rosemore High, where the hell she moved to and up until last summer she never dared to set foot on these grounds. I know without a doubt that my face was shocked when she drove up that day; hers was an astounding sight for me.
Damn, she had changed so much.

Kicking a stray pebble out of my way with the toe of my shoe, my disheartening thoughts are interrupted with soft thuds coming up behind me. I sneak a quick look and see Skylar’s deep blue-gray eyes, subtly freckled nose and high cheek bones.

“Ok, I’m back. I had to grab a jacket. It’s chilly,” she huffs and puffs, out of breath from her sprint to meet me.

Pulling her thin black zip-up hoodie across her chest, she falls into a gentle stroll along side me. My eyes drop to her hands and automatically, I reach out to pull one of them into mine. Although my heart isn’t fully on board, I really like Skylar and have grown accustomed to her company in the past several months. She’s well aware that I’m not out for any sort of fall-in-love-and-get-married type of relationship. I think that’s why we get along so well. She’s easy going, laid back and everything between us is cut and dry; no damn games. She has no hidden agenda or expectation and I sure as hell am one hundred percent honest with my intentions.

She grips my hand back with a smile and starts to swing her hand like we’re two little kids out on the playground. I cock my head to the side and give her a sarcastic glare from the corner of my eyes.
What are we, thirteen?
She arches her right eyebrow, leveling me with an assertive look that says, ‘I can do whatever the hell I want to do’ and ‘act whatever age I want’. I chuckle and resign myself to swaying my arm along with her silent beat.

A brisk wind blows through the air, swinging bare branches with a swoosh above our head and creating a steady ripple pattern over the dark lake waters.

“I really like it out here.” Her chest expands as she gulps down a lung-full of the calm country setting that I have come to call home.

“It’s nice, huh?” I look out at the water, gently lapping against the muddy shoreline. “Back when Grandpa bought it, it was nothing but an empty plot of land where people would come and pitch their tents. Even that over there,” I point over across the large body of water to the hint of cabins that you can barely see. “Even those weren’t built yet. He has a big aerial map in the cabin from before everything was built…just grass, trees and water.”

“That does sound nice. Maybe you can show me the map some time.”

I sigh and take a quick discreet look her way. “I have something better I can show you later.” I keep a straight face as she laughs, but she knows I’m totally serious. “First, I need to check something out.”

Letting go of her hand as we get a few more cabins down, I make a bee-line for the second shower house on the property.

“I just need to check out the breaker box really quick.”

She follows along behind me as I jog onto the dock, pull the keys out of my pocket and unlock the storage closet right outside the door to the showers. Pulling it open, I scan the wall until the latch comes into sight.

“So what are you looking for?” Skylar wedges herself into the doorway behind me, a rich sensual perfume fragrance quickly filling the room.

Scanning the board for an empty circuit that I can connect the new heater to, I run my finger over the few that are on the small board until I see an available one.

“There we go,” I say, slamming the small metal door to the box. “We’re adding heaters to the shower houses since Grandpa is starting to see some mid-season traffic. Don’t want everyone out here freezing their asses off for trying to smell good, do we?”

I flip around, standing nearly flush against her in the small room. Mischief sparks behind her eyes as her hands fall to my arms.

“So, how about that thing you wanted to show me?”

I laugh, shaking my head at how she isn’t afraid of being absolutely direct with me. Grabbing a fist full of her jacket with one hand, I pull her an inch closer and lean over her shoulder, brushing my unshaven face across her ear.

“Patience,” I speak softly, making Skylar’s face flip around directly in front of mine.

“You know patience isn’t one of my strong points.”

Her eyes glaze over with a playful hunger as her hand starts a slow decent over my stomach. For a split second, I glance around taking in the space in this closet. It’s jam-packed with shelves of toilet paper, cleaning supplies, extra fixtures and a huge ass water softener and water-heater against the back wall. If it weren’t for all those supplies and equipment, there would be ample space to get our freak on. A chilly gust of wind blows through the doorway and has my mind abandoning all thoughts of baring anything until I’m in a heated room.

I chuckle and slide out the door, hearing a frustrated gasp huffed out behind me. Reaching over, I grab her hand and pull her out of the room.

“Later,” I enlighten her as she steps behind me on the dock while I lock up. “Come with me a little further so I can check one more breaker box.”

She nods, always easy going and quick to agree.

We wind along the secluded dirt pathway that runs the length of Grandpa’s property and make one more pit stop so I can mirror my actions from the second shower house. Skylar keeps the trip lighthearted and interesting, discussing the land and appealing to my love for this place. Being around her is simple; uncomplicated, like hanging with Judd, only I’ve never had a wet dream about him or fantasized about taking him against a water heater.

Rounding the bend, my camper comes into view and I speed up our pace, eager to get back to the warmth of my small little metal home. As soon as we turn under the skeletons of trees that usually canopy the entire property with a lush green umbrella of foliage, my eyes are automatically drawn back to Piper who is dragging a big log to the brush pile. My lip twitches at the corner as she wrestles with it, but I quickly stare back at the ground in front of me to fight off the flood of emotion that comes with thinking of what has become of
us
.
Screw that.

Looking to my camper and then quickly to a couple of the vacant cabins to the left, I’m conflicted with where to go.

“Come on,” she hollers, dragging me towards my camper.

I suddenly want to root my legs into the ground, unable to imagine another girl in the one place that became mine and Piper’s private haven years ago. Unhinging my hesitations, I look up at Skylar’s giddy and excited expression, and relent.
There’s no reason to let the past hold me back forever.
Staring dead ahead while refusing to look over my shoulder, the familiar presence of her gaze tiptoes over my skin, silently nudging me to look her way, but I don’t.

With quick hands, I swing the rickety camper door open and motion for Skylar to lead the way so that I can partake in the view of her round ass, thick thighs and curvy hips all crammed into a pair of skin tight jeans. A smile crosses my face as I watch her luscious frame sway through the doorway with me a good arm’s length behind her.

She glides over the deep brown carpeted floor of the tiny apartment-style living area that I usually enjoy while out here, to the bed at the far end. Plopping down, she lets out a sigh and looks around, her hands out to the sides slowly petting my unmade bed. I squint, crinkling my brows with unease as I glance behind her to the picture of Piper back when she was fourteen.

“Hey,” I take two strides and lean over her, pressing her body back with mine flush against her. “Time to show you that…ummm…thing.” I wiggle my brows while subtly removing the picture and sliding it beneath my pillow.

“Oh yeah?” her hands fall to my jeans and it’s obvious as usual that we are on the same page.

Standing back up, I pull my wallet out, fiddling with the contents until my hand lands on a single foil package. I keep a good grip on it, but carefully tug at her elbows to pull her up with me.

“Hey, come here.”

“Where? I’m thinking this is where we should be.”

Her eyes glimmer with curiosity and honestly, I see no need to lie, but I also don’t have to make her feel like shit by pointing out that every time I look at this bed, I see Piper’s face.

“Let’s just get up and move this party to another location.” I slide my hand over her elbow and down to her hand, lugging her to her feet and across the room. “That doesn’t feel right over there. How about…” I look around and my eyes land on the small kitchen table that juts out from the side wall surrounded by two soft, ugly-ass plaid cushions. “…right here.”

Pressing her into the table, I fling the package onto it and slide my hands around her waist while kissing the back of her neck.
This is much better.
No way had I ever been in this sort of position or situation with Piper, ever; I wouldn’t have dared.