The Hazards of Skinny Dipping (2 page)

Dylan turned off the music. So much for
turning it down. “I heard you’re going to Harrison this year.”

“Yeah. I’m actually starting college.” I
continued treading water, praying he wouldn’t move any closer.

“Cool. I’ll probably see you around
then.”

“Oh yeah, I forgot you were still up there.”
Total lie. I was well aware Dylan was a senior at Harrison
University. I hated to admit it, but I Facebook stalked him. I’d
probably have real life stalked him if we didn’t live five hours
away from each other. To say I had a crush on Dylan would be the
understatement of the century.

His expression let me know how little he
believed me. “Yeah. It’s my last year, but Kyle’s going to be a
freshman.”

“Yeah?” I, of course, knew that too, but not
from internet stalking. I couldn’t care less about his brother,
Kyle. It was Dylan who always had my attention. I’d found out about
Kyle’s plans from my mother.

Dylan looked even better than I remembered.
Despite the dim lighting, I could see his slight tan—normally it
was a lot deeper. I guess his summer internship had kept him from
spending as much time at the beach as usual. His brown hair still
had just a little bit of a curl to it. He wore it shorter than I’d
ever remembered seeing it.

“You look kind of cold. Where’s your towel?”
He glanced around.

“Oh, I’m okay.”

“Come on, you can’t stay in the pool all
night.”

I would stay as long as I had to.

“Wait a second.” A small smile spread across
his face. He walked toward the chairs, and my heart sunk. When he
turned back toward me, he had my bikini top wrapped around his
hand. “Are you skinny dipping?”

“Umm, maybe.”

“By yourself?”

What was that supposed to mean? “Isn’t that
part obvious?”

He grinned. “Wow, I never took you for an
exhibitionist.”

“This is a private pool.”

“Now you really need to get out.”

“Shut up. Not until you leave.”

“You’re too cold. You won’t make it that
long.”

“You’re wrong.” I sure hoped he was.

“All right. If you’re not getting out anytime
soon, I’m going to join you.” He pulled off his t-shirt.

Oh my god. Was Dylan Bradley about to get
naked in front of me? I had to be dreaming. This was not the kind
of thing that ever happened to me—at least not when I was
awake.

I was so busy freaking out that I didn’t even
try to stop him. The next thing I knew, he stood buck naked in
front of me. I admired the view in shock for a second before he
jumped in. He swam over to me, but held back. “You’re eighteen,
right?”

“Yeah. Why does that matter?”

He smiled. “Because I’m not getting busted
for swimming naked with a minor.”

“It’s stupid, isn’t it? I mean it’s not like
I magically changed from a kid to an adult on my last birthday.” I
stupidly used hand motions and unwittingly gave Dylan a front row
view of my breasts.

His eyes widened. “You haven’t been a kid for
a while.”

“Yeah, you either.” I cringed. I really
needed to filter.

He laughed. “No, no I haven’t.”

The way he stared unnerved me, and I needed
to keep us talking. “What are you doing here? School starts in like
two weeks. Isn’t this a weird time to come to the beach?”

“I’ve been working all summer. It’s the only
break I’ve had.”

I really looked at him. To be honest, he did
look tired, although it was hard to look at his face when I knew he
wasn’t wearing anything.

He suddenly grinned. “You’re going to be such
trouble.”

“Excuse me?”

“I figured you’d spend all of your time in
the library, but now that I know about this side of you, I have a
feeling you’re going to make things interesting.”

“You make it sound like we’re going to be
hanging out.”

“We’re not?” He moved into the shallow
water.

“Do you usually hang out with freshman
girls?”

“Sometimes.” He leaned back against the wall.
I didn’t need the show he was giving me. He definitely felt
comfortable in his own skin.

“I’m not going to bite, Juliet. You can come
over here. You can’t tread water all night.”

“Not all night, but for a while. I was on the
swim team, and I’m a lifeguard.”

“Come on, don’t be a baby.”

I shouldn’t have let his words get to me, but
they did. I let out a breath and swam over. “Who are you calling a
baby?” Of course, I was on my knees to keep myself under the
water.

“Not you. I’m definitely not calling you
that.” He pulled on my hand, catapulting me through the water and
against him. He slid down, so that I was practically on his lap. Oh
my god. If being naked with him was scary, having the evidence of
his arousal pressed against me was unreal.

I tried to move off him, but all that did was
shift me closer.

“You’re gorgeous.”

I’m sure I blushed. “Oh, thanks.”

“I mean it. I’ve thought so for a while, but
you always seemed so young.”

“Yeah? I thought that about you, too.”

“The gorgeous part or the young part?”

“Neither. I mean. I just mean I always
thought you were attractive.”

He smiled. “I know.”

“You know?”

“I assumed that’s why you always put on the
tiniest bikinis and lay out right in front of us. Unless that was
for Kyle’s benefit…”

“No. It was for yours.” My wardrobe and
schedule had always been strategically planned to result in the
maximum amount of exposure to Dylan. I was pathetic. I’m not even
going to try to deny it.

He grinned. “I knew it.”

He ran his hands up and down my arms. “You’ve
got goose bumps.”

“That’s the problem with the shallow end. Not
enough of you is under water.”

“Want me to fix that?”

“How?”

He didn’t answer. Instead, he gripped my hand
and swam back to the deep end, stopping to anchor himself on the
ladder. “Is this better?” He never released me, but kept me
tethered to him so I couldn’t swim away.

“Much.” I was proud of myself for not
hyperventilating.

“Good.” He pulled me against him. “Maybe this
will keep you warm, too.”

“Umm, yeah.”

“Am I making you nervous?”

“No,” I lied.

“Are you a virgin?” He suddenly got
serious.

“No, of course not.”

“I figured you weren’t.”

“Because I look like a slut or
something?”

“No. But you’re hot, and you’ve had
boyfriends here with you before.”

“Okay, good.” For some reason, even though I
was naked in a pool with him, I was still worried about Dylan’s
opinion about the kind of girl I was.

“Would it be okay if I kissed you?”

We were currently naked together, with me on
his lap, and now he was asking my permission to kiss me? I
nodded.

“Good.” He leaned in, cradling the back of my
head as his lips met mine. His lips moved, slowly for a moment,
before he sped up and pushed his way into my mouth. He deepened the
kiss while using his free hand to cup one of my breasts. I groaned.
That seemed to turn him on more, and his kiss became frenzied. His
hand left my breast and slipped between my legs. I’d wondered what
those fingers would feel like, and they didn’t disappoint. His lips
left mine and moved down to my neck. He stopped. “Touch me.”

After a moment’s hesitation, I reached out to
grab him.

“My house or yours?”

It took me a moment to pull out of my fog and
realize what he was asking.

His hand stilled. “I mean we could do it
here, but I figure you want to use protection.”

“Oh, yeah. Of course. Yours.” There was no
way I was doing it in my grandparents’ house. But oh my god, I was
about to have sex with Dylan.

“Great.” He didn’t waste a minute. He got us
out of the pool, picked up his jeans, and towed me to his house. He
moved so quickly I didn’t have time to worry about how naked I was.
He pulled out his keys and hurriedly unlocked his back door.

“Aren’t we going to get everything wet?”

“Oh, we’re going to get things wet.”

“I meant the house. Because of the pool.”

“I know what you meant.” He pushed open the
door to his room and backed me up to the bed. He leaned over me
until I lay down.

I looked up at him, wondering if this was
actually happening.

“I’m really glad I came down to the beach.”
He hovered over me, kissing my neck while his hand moved between my
legs again. “Are you ready for me, Juliet?”

“Yes,” I managed to squeak.

“Don’t move.” He got off the bed.

I sat up. What the hell was happening?

He returned a minute later. I couldn’t help
gawking at his naked body. He was all muscle—but not in the overly
built-up way.

“I told you not to move.”

“Where’d you go?”

“I knew Kyle kept a stash here. I think he
was waiting for a chance to use one with you.” With that charming
statement, Dylan opened a condom. “It looks like he’s out of luck.”
He moved above me with a grin on his face. “I got to you
first.”

I don’t know what I expected, but this wasn’t
it. I winced when he entered me. It had been a while. I waited for
the fireworks to start, but none did, and I mean none. There was
absolutely nothing special or noteworthy about it—it was just
sex—and incredibly unsatisfying sex at that.

What felt like thirty seconds later, he
rolled off of me. “Fucking amazing.”

Amazing? Did we experience the same thing?
But this was Dylan Bradley. Clearly, the problem was with me.
“Yeah, definitely.”

“I’m so glad you’re going to Harrison. This
is going to be a fun year.”

Was he implying this was more than a one-time
thing? Did he want to actually date me? Of course, that was
something I should have thought about before hooking up, but I was
willing to break my no random sex rule for Dylan.

“No one’s expecting you home, right?”

“No. I already called my parents
tonight.”

“Good.” He pulled me close.

“Do you want me to stay?”

“Of course.” He didn’t say anything else, and
less than a minute later, he was sleeping.

What the hell?

I pushed against his arm. The last thing I
was ready to do was sleep. After a couple of attempts, I was able
to move his arm enough to slip out. I looked down at the ground,
remembering I had one slight problem—no clothes. I decided to
escape to the bathroom. It took my eyes a few seconds to adjust
once I turned on the light. I stared at my reflection in the
mirror—my hair was a wet mess, and my neck and cheeks were red from
his stubble.

I opened the closet and thankfully found a
towel. It was plush and blue and suited my purposes perfectly. I
stopped by the bed to look at Dylan for a second before heading out
the back door. I wondered what he’d think when he woke up, and I
wasn’t there. Most likely, he wouldn’t care. I walked back to our
house still wearing just the towel and poured myself a glass of
water. I took a shower and pulled on my favorite light green
pajamas before finally collapsing into bed.

I stared at the ceiling for a while. It
wasn’t Dylan’s fault it had been so disappointing. It had probably
been because I’d inflated him so much. He was just a guy.
Hopefully, it would be better next time—if there was a next time. I
was almost positive this wasn’t what Amy had in mind, but skinny
dipping before college may have been a good thing—or so I
thought.

To: [email protected]

From: [email protected]

Subject: List Complete!

Dear Amy,

I did it. I completed the entire list. They
were all easy except for skinny dipping, but I did that, too. I
also kind of, maybe, or okay did, hook up with Dylan Bradley.
Crazy, huh? He found me skinny dipping, and one thing led to
another. I’m not sure what’s going to happen when I see him at
school—but it was worth it. At least he finally noticed me. I hope
you’re busy saving people.

Your Favorite Cousin,

Juliet

It was a testament to modern technology that,
even though Amy was halfway across the globe in a developing
nation, I could send her an email. I pressed send, wishing I could
see her face when she found out about Dylan. Of all people, she
knew how much I wanted him.

***

I was in a room with a couple hundred other
girls, all nervously clutching little envelopes. As much as it
resembled a reality dating show, it was actually sorority bid day
at Harrison University. After a week of rush events, it was time to
finally find out which houses wanted us. I noticed a few girls
missing. Supposedly, they called you ahead of time if you weren’t
picked by anyone. The thought of that should have been enough to
make me want to stay away from the Greek system completely, but Amy
had convinced me that a sorority was important because it
guaranteed a social life. I hadn’t exactly been the coolest in high
school, so any social life sounded pretty good to me.

“One, two—”

“Wait, are we opening on three or four?” I
interrupted my friend.

Cara rolled her eyes. “Let’s just open
them.”

“Okay.” I’d promised myself I wouldn’t care
what house I got, but I definitely had a preference.

“Delta Mu! Delta Mu!” Cara jumped up and
down.

I looked down at mine. “Delta Mu.” I didn’t
say it quite as excitedly as Cara, but I was relieved.

“Seriously? Oh my god, we’re going to be
sisters!” She gave me a hug. Her blonde curls bounced as she
jumped.

It was the same sorority Amy had been in, and
I had a feeling the letter she wrote on my behalf might have had
something to do with my acceptance, but who cared?

“Do you realize how awesome this is? We get
to pledge together. My mom said it’s so important to have someone
you can trust in your class.”