“She patted my hind end once at a restaurant. Something like that might work.”
I gave all my concentration to swinging the rope above my head, working up a momentum and a rhythm that felt as natural as possible, with Jake Evans standing behind me, talking about the possibility of me frisking and spanking him.
“Or there was that one time?—”
He broke off as I let go, and we both watched the rope fly. I held my breath, and to my utter disappointment, excitement, relief, and embarrassment, the rope missed the steer completely. It wasn’t even close. I was a fraud, and it showed.
“Any last words?” Jake said, his arms folded across his chest as he watched me.
“Before what?”
“Before you make me blush.”
We stared at each other, both of us attempting to hold back a smile. Both of us failing. But somewhere between the rich brown of his eyes and me wracking my brain for an idea to put Jake in his place, a strange sadness filtered in the space between us. On my end, it was full of aching and longing and attempting to catch all the sand from falling out of an hourglass. Our summer was coming to an end, and I wasn’t ready. My time with Jake had become a haven of sorts for me. It didn’t feel fair that I had to leave. But it was more than that. Now I was looking at Jake and wondering about all the things that could have been. That couldbe. But was he?
Dragging a hand through his hair, Jake cleared his throat, breaking the spell between us.
“Alright, Tuck. What’s it going to be? A sound frisking or a good spank? Or maybe something else?” he taunted with a smile as he buried his hands in his pockets and waited for me to make my move. Still with those sad eyes.
My move.
I wasn’t sure what kind of move I would try on Jake to make him blush. I had a feeling it would take a lot to get him to do so. Physical affection was easy for him. It wasn’t always for me, which was probably why this made it a great final exam for me. But I wasn’t one to go down without a fight.
And maybe there were two ways to play this game.
I tucked a strand of hair behind my ear and took a deep breath. Turning to Jake, I closed the distance between us, enjoying the slow smile appearing on his face as I approached.
I kept my eyes trained on his as I took the final step into his space. My hands settled lightly on his chest. The heat from his body warmed my hands. He hesitated only a moment before his arms wrapped casually around my waist.
“You ready for this?” I whispered, bold and unflinching, though my hands were shaking slightly.
His eyebrows raised a notch. “I don’t know. Am I?”
Before I could chicken out, I rose up on tiptoes and leaned forward, bypassing Jake’s lips until I neared his ear.
“You’re the best,” I whispered.
He started to pull back, but I grabbed his shoulders, keeping him there.
“Every one of your friends loves you to pieces.”
“Tuck,” he growled, but I pushed forward.
“You make everyone feel safe. People can be completely themselves around you, and you love them for it. And you have a knack for making everything fun.”
He tried to pull back once more, but I lightly swatted the back of his head. “Hey, this is my move; you have to stand here and take it.”
“Figures your move would be talking.” He breathed out an uncomfortable chuckle, and I brought my lips to his ear once more.
“As much as it pains me to admit this, I know you sometimes lose bets on purpose to make me feel better.”
“Just assume that if I ever lose, that’s the reason.” There was a smile in his voice, but he held his body stiff.
He was brushing off my words, but I wasn’t stopping until I said everything I was suddenly dying to tell him. Everything my friend needed to hear, even if he didn’t want to hear it.
“Growing up, you used to tell everyone you knew how awesome I was. I really wasn’t that great, but that didn’t matter. Jake Evans thought I was, and that made all the difference.” A warm heat stung the backs of my eyes, and I blinked it away.
He stepped back before I could stop him and shot me an exasperated look while a flush rose up his neck. It could count. I could stop, but I wasn’t quite done. Not yet. Truth rang from every word I spoke, and I wanted him to feel it. He reluctantly allowed himself to be dragged closer to me once more.