Diving In (4 page)

I turn to him and snicker when I hit a switch
that reveals recessed lighting around a big octagonal mirror on the
ceiling.

“If the boat’s a rockin’…” he jokes.

“Yuck!” I laugh.

“I hope this is cool,” he whispers as he
pulls his t-shirt shirt off and starts unbuttoning his jeans. “Chad
sent me a text that said how much they loved meeting you and I
wanted to take you out here with me anyway, so I thought they could
come too.”

“I’m psyched,” I smile. “I think this was a
great idea.”

“Really?” he grins with pride.

“Really,” I nod and put my hands on his
shoulders as I lean up to kiss his cheek. It makes him look
adorably bashful and I love it. Modest James is such a
sweetheart.

He slides his jeans down and I blush a little
bit, assuming I shouldn’t stand there and stare while he changes
into his trunks. I turn away from him and pull my dress over my
head, leaving me in a bikini and flip-flops. I take the hair tie
from my wrist and start gathering my hair into a ponytail when I
catch a quick glimpse of James in the reflection from one of the
many mirrored surfaces. He’s totally naked, chiseled to absolute
perfection, and he’s looking up and down my body as I attempt to
tame my hair. He’s just so … sexy. It gives me a little shiver to
think that such a beautiful guy is checking me out, but I shrug
inwardly when I remember that the beautiful guy in question is my
best friend, not some hottie boyfriend.

James and I emerge from the bedroom to find
Chad and Alejandro on the back deck, Chad soaking up the sun at the
patio table and Alejandro preparing the grill.

“Damn, girl!” Alejandro grins when he sees
me. “You’ve got a body by Gucci!”

I laugh loudly and curve forward a little in
an attempt to hide my huge boobs, which must be what he’s referring
to. They’re way too big for my body and I’ve been self-conscious
about them for years, but Alejandro’s being playful and it’s
cute.

“Come over here, Hottie Boombalottie,” Chad
says, patting the chair beside him. “Come sit next to me.”

I happily oblige, squeezing out a dab of
sunscreen from the bottle on the floor and lathering it on.

Captain Scott fires up the motor and we start
heading out into the water. Once we’re sufficiently far from the
shore we park—probably not a boat term, but still. Alejandro tells
us to leave the grilling to him and go enjoy the sun on the main
deck, so the three of us head up to the big deck on the front,
which Chad says is actually called a foredeck. I’m so not a boat
girl and James laughs whenever I joke about starboard sides and
going aft.

“Here, I have towels if you want to lay out
and tan,” Chad says, handing me a towel.

I unroll it on the deck and recline back,
letting the sun soak into me. James grabs one and lies next to me
so I’m between him and Chad like the focal point for our
conversation.

“So,” Chad asks, “how did you like the party?
Did you meet any sex-crazed porn stars?”

I laugh and shake my head. “Only some
regular, boring ones. I was half expecting orgies and a giant fuck
fest to break out, but everybody was so sweet and nice.”

“Well, orgy night was last week,” James
smirks.

“Yeah, that’s right,” Chad laughs. “I took a
raincheck on that one, but I’ll have to remember next month’s Orgy
Friday.”

I giggle and I notice James giving me a big,
pearly white smile. He doesn’t think he’s being obvious, but his
eyes are making quick little darting movements over my body like
he’s trying to be as discrete as possible, but not exactly pulling
it off. He’s checking me out. James is checking me out. It’s so
funny and flattering. He’s seen me in underwear and stuff—hell,
he’s seen my boobs before—but he seems so captivated today.

“Everybody there was nice, except for those
two girls,” I add.

“Who?!” Chad excitedly asks. “I have to
know!”

I laugh loudly and bite my bottom lip before
revealing, “Lexi and Tara. They were sort of catty, just that girl
tone where they talk down to you. It was weird because I don’t know
them, I’ve never met them, and they were acting a bit bitchy to me.
It felt like high school bullshit.”

“They’re jealous,” Chad says without even
pausing to think about it. “Porn’s most eligible bachelor walks
into a party with a really pretty girl on his arm and they go
apeshit. They have a crush on him, you know,” he points to
James.

“They do not,” James chuckles and shakes his
head.

“They do and you know it!” Chad teases.

“Very interesting,” I smirk at James. “So not
one but two porn stars are into you, eh?”

“Shut up, the both of you,” he laughs, his
smile sweet and embarrassed.

“Lexi’s been in love with him ever since
their first scene together,” Chad mercilessly continues, much to my
delight. “Word on the street is that she said he’s the best fucker
in the biz. And Tara, I heard she yelled at a girl she was doing a
scene with and told her to get pussy licking lessons from
James.”

“No way!” I gasp with loud laughter.

“That is so not true!” James protests.

“It so is true,” Chad retorts. “It’s him,
he’s a heartbreaker. Every girl who’s done a scene with him falls
in love with him.”

“So, you got that going for you,” I poke at
James and Chad laughs.

“Don’t believe a word of it,” James smiles at
me. “He’s a smart-ass and he’s bullshitting.”

“Or am I?” Chad grins at me with an
exaggeratedly raised eyebrow.

I laugh loudly and roll onto my stomach so I
can prop myself up on my elbows and look at both of them.

“Who to believe …” I smirk. “Such a tough
call.”

“Is it?” James grins in his classic,
beautiful, enticing, troublemaker style.

In a flash, he’s up and sitting on me,
immobilizing me with his weight as he tickles at my ribs. I’m flat
on my stomach and there’s nothing I can do but laugh
hysterically.

“Ok!” I gasp between bouts of laughter. “Ok!
You win!”

“Good,” he says.

Chad’s laughing when I turn my head to look
at him and give him a “this kind of thing happens all the time”
shrug.

“Did you put sunscreen on your back, young
lady?” James says.

“I was lying on my back, your highness,” I
reply.

“Chad, will you hand me that bottle?” James
says.

Chad does it and, with no preamble, James
starts rubbing sunscreen onto the hot skin of my back. His touch is
soft, but there’s a slight aggression to it, like he wants to
assert his possession of me, pinning me to the deck beneath
him.

I lower down until I’m flat on the towel and
absorb the strong, soothing feel of his hands. This is no mere
sunscreen application, this is becoming a full-on massage. I love
it.

“Can I untie this?” James asks, tugging on
the string of my bikini top where it joins across my back.

“Ok,” I say before I realize what I’ve agreed
to. That kind of question really should make me a lot more nervous
than it does.

His long fingers deftly unfasten my top and
he smoothly brushes the strings off my back, affectionately rubbing
sunscreen across my bra line. His touch is reverent and soft, like
I can feel his appreciation coming through his hands.

Once he’s done, he moves off of me and back
onto his towel, leaning over to kiss my shoulder sweetly before he
lies down.

I look at him with a big smile and he gives
me a wink as he crosses his fingers behind his head and stretches
back, allowing me the chance to watch those amazing abs flex as he
breathes. I almost hate myself for how attractive I find him right
now. He’s my friend and I shouldn’t feel this way about him at all,
but I have eyes and I can’t deny what I see.

The three of us chat for a little while
longer when James volunteers to see how Alejandro is doing with the
food. He gives me a little smack on the butt as he gets up and then
disappears off to the rear deck where Alejandro is grilling.

“He’s such a sweetheart, isn’t he?” Chad
smiles at me.

“Definitely,” I grin. “He looks big and
tough, but he’s so adorable sometimes—of course, he can be a
smart-ass too, but I like that.”

“You two get along so great,” he says. “I’m
surprised you haven’t dated. When James used to tell us about you,
I always kinda thought you were his girlfriend. He just went on and
on about how you were beautiful and how he used to stop other guys
from hitting on you.”

“He told you that?” I laugh loudly. “I’m glad
he’s taking ownership of it now. He’s been building a brick wall
around me for ages and he always used to act like I was crazy when
I’d call him on it.”

Chad laughs and smiles warmly. “He cares
about you. He wants to protect you. It’s so sweet, really.”

“It is pretty sweet,” I shrug. “Even when it
annoys me, I know his intentions are good. His heart’s in the right
place, even if he’s making sure I don’t ever go on a date with
anybody.”

“Maybe you should go on a date with him,”
Chad grins.

“Are you trying to orchestrate a little
maneuver here?” I giggle with a sly smile.

“I’m just saying I think you’d be cute
together. Christ, you already adore each other and it’s obvious
that he’s into you.”

“Is it now?” I say through a big laugh.

“You didn’t see him when he first moved
here,” he smirks. “Every five minutes we had to hear about how he
missed you and how he hoped you weren’t hooking up with some guys
back at your school.”

“Bullshit!” I reply.

“It’s so true,” Chad says. “How do you think
me and Alejandro know that you almost got felt up at a school dance
but James intervened? How would we know that he once punched a guy
in middle school for making a remark about your boobs? How would we
know that he says the happiest moments of his life are when he
sleeps in bed with you?”

“He says all that stuff to you?” I say, my
eyes wide with amazement.

“All that and then some,” Chad nods. “See?
Told you he’s into you. Can you guys just please hook up already?
Me and Alejandro need to pick out what we’re gonna wear to the
wedding.”

That cracks me up and I roll onto my back and
hold my stomach as I laugh.

“You’ve never thought about it? You’ve never
considered going out with him?” he asks me.

“Well, I mean, not seriously. Obviously he’s
gorgeous, that’s clear as day, but I don’t think he’s the dating
type. James has always been a "casual hook-ups and fuck buddies"
dude. He’s never really had a girlfriend, in the traditional
sense,” I explain.

“But people can change,” Chad shrugs. “People
can do crazy things when they love someone. Who knows? Maybe
everything would be different if you two went for it.”

“I don’t know,” I reply. “He’s amazing,
beautiful and sweet. He cares about me a lot and I totally adore
him, but I just don’t see that being a thing. I mean, he’s a porn
star—no offense—”

“None taken.”

“I just think we’re on such wildly different
pages when it comes to our views of intimacy and sexuality. I don’t
see how those two paths could meet. I mean, you and Alejandro are
both in the industry, so you both know exactly what it’s like to
have this unique job. I’m just some girl in college all the way
across the country and James is here doing three-ways and double
anal penetrations.”

Chad throws his head back and laughs loudly.
“Those can be fun, you never know,” he jokes.

I giggle. “Yeah, I think I’m about 10,000
years away from that. If this was the scale of sexual evolution,
I’m the fish that just grew legs, meanwhile James has opposable
thumbs and is constructing the microchip.”

“You mean you’ve never …?” he raises an
eyebrow.

I shake my head and my cheeks turn red.

“Never?” he says again, his mouth agape with
surprise.

“No, never … you know … done the deed,” I
reply.

He sits up and leans back like he’s really
taking me in. “I should get my camera,” he jokes. “Working in this
business, I don’t even remember the last time I met a real life,
bona fide virgin.”

I roll my eyes and laugh. “If you have a
Sharpie, I’ll give you an autograph.”

“It makes sense, though,” he says, nodding
like he’s come up with a brilliant theory. “James is protective of
you because you’re probably the only virgin he knows, and you’re
really pretty, which must make him a nervous wreck. He’s afraid of
guys flirting with you because he doesn’t want anybody to deflower
you, so he pulls a Rapunzel and locks you away in a tower so nobody
can get to you.”

“That’s shockingly accurate,” I chuckle.

“It’s sweet,” Chad smiles. “He’s protecting
your innocence. It’s a romantic notion, really.”

“Romantic?” I smirk.

“Yes!” He grins broadly. “Think about it. He
doesn’t want anybody to get to you because he doesn’t think anybody
deserves you. Nobody’s worthy of you in his book, so he takes it
upon himself to save you from horny guys who have one thing on
their minds.”

“What about if they don’t just have one thing
on their minds? What if some of them actually like me and want to
get to know me but he blocks them?”

“Sweetheart, all guys have one thing on their
minds,” he says, lowering his sunglasses to give me a devilish
grin.

“Fair point,” I laugh.

“I think it’s adorable,” he smiles. “James
loves you so much that he’ll do anything to protect you from all
the horny men of the world who can’t wait to get into a pretty
young thang’s pants.”

I snicker and shake my head. “It’s kind of
sweet,” I concede. “It’s neurotic, but sweet.”

“I still think you guys would make a cute
couple, though,” he grins, sitting up and reaching for his
flip-flops. He offers me his hand and helps me up before adding, “I
think you’d be an adorable, sexy pair that would make other couples
jealous.”