“I’ve spent the past four years trying not to think about you,” he says, his voice low and husky in my ear. Closing my eyes, I listen to his soft voice, powerless to argue when he’s this close, his body touching mine. “You’re a siren, calling to me in my dreams. No matter what I do, I can’t escape you.”

It’s not the chill in the water that makes me shiver this time. “It’s the same for me,” I confess. I don’t want it to be true, but I’ve been trying to outrun this for what feels like forever.

“Then stop running,” he rasps, almost as if he’s read my mind. His lips skim the shell of my ear and he takes the lobe between his teeth, giving it a playful tug. “Turn around, princess, and we’ll both stop denying what we’ve wanted for too long. Let me kiss you.”

Yes. I’m tired of running. Every cell in my body screams to turn around and fall into his arms, but I know that I can’t give in. There is nothing to suggest to me that Levi is any different than I remember. If anything, he’s worse—he has to be—and I’m not trying to get hurt again.

“I’m sorry, but I can’t.” Dropping beneath the surface, I slip free of his cage and come up beside him. Brushing water from my eyes, I open them to see Levi watching me. I can’t read his expression, but whatever it is, he’s definitely not happy.

“Tell me you don’t want me,” he commands, a muscle in his jaw clenching.

“Levi—”

“Just tell me!”

“Why?” I shout back. What’s the point, when we both know it would be a lie?

“Because I want to hear it from your mouth. If you can tell me you don’t want me like I want you, then I’ll leave you alone. Tell. Me.”

The wind kicks up, skating across the water and creating ripples over its calm surface. Pollen and leaves spiral in the air overhead, tumbling to the ground and into the water, mimicking how out of control I feel inside. Levi has to know that nothing between us would ever work. Even if our parents weren’t married, we’re too different. Our worlds are miles apart. But I can see how determined he is. He won’t let this go until he gets the answer he wants.

“Fine,” I relent. Looking him dead in the eyes, I say, “I don’t want you.”

The muscle in his jaw pulses as he regards me with a perfect quiet that is unnerving. I’m thinking I should swim back to shore, dry off. There’s no saving this day. I’m about to do just that, when Levi’s gruff voice stops me cold.

“Liar.”

My brows pull down in confusion. “Excuse me?”

Moving his arms, Levi cuts through the water effortlessly, bringing himself to a stop only when our fronts touch and our legs bump into each other as we work to stay afloat.

“I said you’re a liar, Vista.”

I don’t know what to say, because he’s right, and I’ve never been any good at lying. “What does it even matter? We’re not getting together!”

“Why not?”

“Because it’s—”

“Inappropriate?” he finishes for me.

“Yes!”

“Wrong?”

“Yes,” I bite out as he presses even closer, annoyed with myself and how my body betrays me. Every time Levi gets too close, it’s as if every nerve ending in my body comes to life.

“Dirty?”

Yes. The answer is automatic, but this time, I don’t say it out loud. I keep the humiliating truth to myself. He’s baiting me again. The problem is that it’s working. Except, I’m not angry. I’m...turned on.

My gaze drops to his mouth. I love his lips. They’re equally thick, firm, and kissable. I know because I’ve had them on me, and I yearn to feel their power again. The way Levi says my name, the way he invades my space and calls me his princess, makes me feel weak. I don’t want to be that girl. The one who falls for a guy’s quick lines and filthy mouth, but I am that girl because Levi is that guy... and I’m falling for him. All. Over. Again.

“Just leave me alone, Levi.” Throwing my arms out, I backstroke away from him, only to find myself stuck in place, going nowhere fast.

Levi’s arm is tight around my waist, and he has this wicked look in his eyes. I can’t tell if he’s angry or turned on. A secret part of me hopes it’s the latter.

“I know you blame me for what happened,” Levi says, startling me. “And you have every right to, but I want you to remember that we were both kids then and we didn’t always make the best decisions. Or in my case, any decisions,” he says with a sad, self-deprecating smile.

It’s that smile that threatens to undo me and a thread of panic weaves its way through my bloodstream. Placing both hands against his chest, I attempt to shove him away, but he holds fast. “Take me home, Levi. I don’t want to be here anymore.”

“You can go on hating me,” Levi continues, his arms cinching around my waist so tight, I can’t struggle without hurting myself. “But wouldn’t it be better if we sorted this out right now?”

“No. I can honestly tell you that it wouldn’t be better, Levi. Now let me the hell go!” Wriggling an arm free, I raise it up so I can slap him, but Levi’s hand shoots out, stopping me with a firm grasp around my wrist. When he speaks next, his voice is hard and angry.

“That night has stuck with me for four years, Vista, and I know it has you, too. Don’t you dare try to deny it.” His teeth snap together and the cold fury in his eyes is enough to still my complaint. “I’ve been thinking about how to fix this ever since you walked back into my life, and do you know what solution I came up with?”

No, I don’t, but being that it’s Levi we’re talking about here, I can venture a guess. Arching an eyebrow, I let the silence speak for itself.

“We need to fuck it out of our systems.”

10

The look on Vista’s face is priceless. When I tell her we should have sex, her jaw drops so fast I’m surprised it doesn’t fall right off. I questioned my own sanity when the idea first struck me, but I’ve since concluded that it may be the only way to rid myself of this unrelenting desire I have for this girl.

“You really are a son of a bitch,” she snarls, cold fury snapping in her eyes.

It’s nothing I haven’t heard before, so if she thinks she can hurt my feelings with name calling, she’s sadly mistaken. “I hope you don’t kiss your mother with that mouth.” Tucking a hank of hair behind her ear, I cup the side of her face in my hand hoping that a softer approach will help her to see things my way. “Just hear me out, princess, before you go running that filthy mouth of yours again.”

She opens that sexy ass mouth of hers again to spout off and I clamp my hand over it, silencing her. Her big brown eyes widen and I see the moment the fire ignites in them. With the arm I still have around her back I manage to secure her arms down at her sides before she has the chance to try to slap me again.

“Sex isn’t dirty or bad, Vista. Not even between you and me. Four years ago, things happened that were beyond our scope of control and now we have a chance to make it right. We need to work this...whatever this is, out of our systems before it can claim any more of our lives. Don’t you agree?”

Her eyes narrow in a way that suggests she’d much rather tear my balls off and make me eat them for dinner, but I’m not into that kind of kink, so I power on, determined to make her see this my way.

“I want to be inside you, Vista. I’ve dreamed of sinking myself inside this perfect little body for years and now that you’re here, I can’t stop thinking about feeling your warm, wet heat wrapped around me. I bet you’re still tight as a fist, aren’t you?”

The longer I talk, the more her muscles begin to relax and the more Vista leans her weight into mine. I bet she doesn’t even realize she’s doing it, but it’s encouraging.

Bending my head down, I place my lips against the shell of her ear, dropping my voice to a whisper. “I see the way you watch me when you think I’m not looking,” I tell her, grinning to myself when I hear her subtle intake of breath and feel the way her body begins to tremble in my arms. “Can you really tell me that you haven’t imagined what it would feel like to have my dick inside you again? Buried so deep you can feel me in your stomach? We fit together perfectly, didn’t we, princess? We can have that again. All you have to do is say the word.”