“Did you think I didn’t know that?”
I fight back an exasperated sigh. “We don’t have to sleep in this exact spot. It’s not like the guys will know if the tent isn’t right here.” I tilt my head toward some normal looking trees that don’t scream death. “How about over there?”
“Fine, I guess you’re right.” Jarrod picks up our bags and moves them under the cluster of trees. “The guys just said we had to sleepbythe scorched tree, not directly next to it.”
Wait a minute. Did Mr. Know-It-All actually admit I was right? Score one point for Ian.
I pull out two bottles of water, offering one to Jarrod. “Care for a drink?” He gratefully accepts, then raises the lip of his black tank top and wipes his face. His abdominal muscles, gleaming with the sheen of sweat, clench and flex. I feel myself grow rock-hard in an instant, hypnotized by the view of Jarrod’s exposed torso.
“Ian, did you hear me?” he asks.
“Sorry, what?” I try to blink away the cloud of desire swirling in my head. “I must have zoned out.”
“No worries. I was saying we should go for a swim.”
I tear my eyes away from the dark trail of curls that dances down to the waistband of Jarrod’s shorts. “Swimming?”
“Yeah, you know. That thing you do in water. Paddling, kicking one foot behind the other.” He makes a show of moving his arms and legs to demonstrate. “They call that swimming.”
My cheeks feel flushed. “Right, of course.” I try to conceal my protruding wood by holding the bottle of water in front of me. If Jarrod notices, my secret will come out. “I didn’t bring any swim trunks.”
“Swim trunks. Bro, seriously?” Jarrod laughs and takes a swig of water. I watch his glistening lips tighten around the bottle top. “You don’t need swim trunks. We’re out in the wild.”
Wild.That’s what I feel when I imagine skinny dipping in the creek with Jarrod. Suddenly spending the night in the haunted woods doesn’t seem so scary. There are darker disasters that loom on the horizon.
I fear I’ll never make it to dawn.
CHAPTER 2
Jarrod is already peeling off his shirt before we get down to the water. He hops on one leg as he pulls off a shoe, then the other shoe, and then slides down his socks. He makes quick work with the rest of his clothes, and in the blink of an eye, everything he wore is carelessly abandoned in the grass. All I can comprehend is a whirlwind of perfectly sculpted muscles dressed in dense body hair. Just before he’s out of sight, I catch a fleeting glimpse of his thick butt cheeks.
He splashes into the water with a relieved howl. “Ahhh, that feels so much better.”
I stand awkwardly on the creekside, willing myself to go soft, and kind of wishing he’d somehow forget I’m there. But no such luck. His penetrating eyes fixate on me. “What are you waiting for? Come in and join me. The water feels great.”
“Yeah, okay.” I raise my shirt over my head. My nipples grow stiff when a breeze kisses my bare chest. My roommate’s eyes remained focused on me, and insecurity consumes me. “Dude, stop being gay,” I snap. “You don’t have to watch.”
“Damn, sorry Ian. I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable.” He turns away quickly.
I feel guilty for my angst-ridden outburst, but at least I’ve bought myself some privacy. I quickly undress, look down and see that I’m still half-hard. Thankfully Jarrod keeps his face turned, looking off into the distance. I leap toward the creek and swim out until the water rises past my waist.
“Sorry,” I say, wading over to Jarrod’s side. “I didn’t mean to be rude. I was just...you know, self-conscious. You look like you—” I gesture across the expanse of his body. “And I look like, well, me.”
He smiles assuringly, though I’m not sure I deserve his kindness. “No need to be self-conscious, man. You have a great body.” He studies me in a way that makes my heart tremble. “You’re so smooth too. Do you shave?”
“No.” I cross my arms across my chest. “I’ve just never been very hairy.” Most of my body is naturally smooth, and the fine blond blades on my arms can barely be seen. “I kind of wish I had more hair like you.”
“Are you kidding? I feel like a grizzly bear.” Jarrod points to the dark swirls that circle his pink nipples. “I’ve tried trimming it all off but then I just feel prickly. And it itches like hell too.”
I nod. “Yeah, I guess that would suck. But still—”
“Like I said, you’re a real catch,” Jarrod adds with finality. “Be proud of how you look.”
His flattery is turning my knees to jelly. It was one thing to think of him as a bossy jock who always had to have the last word. I put up with guys like him all through high school. But now he’s being nice to me, checking out my body, telling me things he likes about it. This is doing nothing to tame the wild desire that burns deep inside me, not to mention that we are alone and naked side-by-side.
Without warning, he dunks his head underwater, and my breath hitches in my throat, afraid of what he’ll see down below. But he returns to the surface just as fast, smoothing back his lush black hair and scrubbing the sweat from his face.
“Better?” I ask.