"No, I just like Cindy a lot." Derek turned to face the water and ran his fingers through his hair. "It's just a fling, though. A fun summer thing. I'm headed up northern Arizona to take my place with Mom and Dad at the ranch, and she's probably going east."
"And you?" I turned around, yelling above the sound of the wind and waves.
Clay moved closer and yelled back. "Me what?"
"Are you thinking that this thing with Emily is going to go somewhere after the summer?" I pulled my sunshades of my head and put them on.
"I'm hoping so. We're both staying here in Arizona, so it should be too hard. Have you decided if you're staying here or heading up to Seattle?"
I'd been offered a job in Seattle with my uncle's company that was appealing in some ways and not in others. It was a desk job, which sounded like absolute hell, but it would help me save up for a house and prove that I was capable of making good money and being a stable kinda guy to some woman.
A woman like Cora.
"I don't know." I looked out across the lake, grateful that Daniel took a turn driving. He was the most cautious out of all of us. "I have a lot to think about, obviously."
"Emily said that Cora just got out of a nasty relationship, so don't be offering something you can't come through on." Clay got my attention.
"Why are you so focused on me not hurting this girl? What if she hurts me?"
Everyone started laughing, even Daniel. I smirked to play it off, but the fact that they didn't seem to think I had real emotions under my cocky exterior was concerning.
"Anyways, just be careful with her. Be honest if you start to think you're gonna want to see her after today." Clay patted my shoulder and moved to the back of the boat. "The sun should be setting in the next forty minutes. Let's get the girls and get to the center of the lake to drop our anchors. It's going to be packed, but they're saying that it's the best place to see the fireworks show from."
I ignored him and got up, walking to the back of the boat as we pulled up to the dock. All four girls were standing on the pier, laughing about something. Their arms were full of what looked like snacks
and drinks, and I couldn't help but hope that one of them would have considered the fact that we were idiots and hadn't eaten lunch yet.
Cora's eyes met mine, and I smiled. Where most girls would shy away from acknowledging the heat between us, she seemed to be perfectly comfortable with it. I hoped like hell that she would let me take her back to the cabin after the fireworks and finish what we started the day before. I hadn't stopped thinking about her since she left me hard and needy when she left me to join her friends for a girl's only night out.
"You look beautiful." I smiled at her as we pulled up. "All of you do. You want to hang out with a band of bad boys all evening and see if you can make good men out of us?"
They chuckled, and Emily reached for Clay's hand. "Something tells me that there is little to no hope for any of you."
"Hey." Daniel got up and lifted his hands to the side. "Not even me?"
Cora smiled and reached for me, sliding down my body as she got into the boat and moved toward Daniel.
"Maybe you, Dan, but only you." She glanced over her shoulder. "The rest of these guys are lost causes."
He smirked and sat back down. "That's good with me, then. Just making sure you guys didn't label me as you do them. I'm only guilty by association."
I rolled my eyes. "In most courts of law, that would be more than enough."
Dedra moved up behind Daniel and leaned over, kissing his cheek as they started in on their conversation. I made my way to the front to get around all of our friends and find the one person I wanted to spend the evening with.
Cora.
"Help me get all this stuff laid out on the deck and we can make everyone a sandwich, unless you guys already ate?" She was bent over, working to get stuff out of one of the bags. Her shorts were short and her bikini top tiny, letting plenty of her breasts show.
I reached down and tugged her up as she put a Cheeto in her mouth. She gave a little yelp as I wrapped my arms around her and leaned down, kissing her softly twice.
"I expect you to come give me a kiss or something when we see each other. I'm jealous that these other girls are trained so well." I kissed her again and licked at my lips. "Mmmm, cheesy."
"Yes, you are." She smiled and ran her hands up my back. "I didn't realize you wanted attention."
"I'm a needy kinda guy. I always want attention." I leaned down and kissed her again, taking my time until the catcalls at the back of the boat caused me to pull back. "Shut up, guys."
"They're just jealous." She pulled away from me and turned back to the food. "Did you eat lunch?"