Page 117 of Only Between Us

I pull my sweater over my head and pass it to her.

“Thank you,” she singsongs, slipping it on. She swims in it, has to shove the sleeves up to expose her hands, but she looks so content as she tucks her legs neatly underneath her and settles in.

Hot tea and a hoodie imbued with my body heat. It’s the compromise she negotiated so that I can keep the AC running as high as I want. I’d run it all winter if it means I can keep seeing her in my clothes. Watch her inhale the fabric around her neck when she doesn’t think I’m looking.

“How was work?”

Siena heaves a sigh, and her head hits the sofa back. “Draining. Which makes no sense seeing as it was a standard day. Zero drama, just me standing by the door like a brain-dead scarecrow, pointing in the direction of the stupid live bait at the stupid back of the stupid store.”

She demonstrates, tongue lolling out of the side of her mouth and pointing to the kitchen with a stiff arm, before burying her face in her hands.

“I’m sorry. That came out a lot more bitter than I wanted it to. I love that place. It’s nice seeing the water right outside the window.”

She says it into her hands, in a soft, quiet voice that tells me she isn’t talking to me. Maybe apologizing to her dad. Maybe talking herself into loving it. It hurts my heart either way.

“Should we go skinny-dipping?” She’d mentioned the day we met that it was her favorite thing to do whenever she feels down.

Siena surfaces from behind her hands. “It’s still light out.”

“Fair point.” I get to my feet and pull her up with me. “Then we’ll go for the next best thing.”

Siena strips off her bike helmet and shakes out her hair from underneath it. I swear to God, this woman is a walking wet dream.

In my old, oversized hoodie. In a skintight dress. In the tiny pajama shorts she wears around the house that can’t contain the full underside of her perfect ass. In those white overalls. There’s just no view of Siena Pippen that doesn’t have me immediately salivating.

We walk the short path to the cliffside clearing we’ve ridden to more than once since the first time she brought me here. We hang our feet over the edge, and spend a few minutes in peaceful silence, just watching boats motor across the bay, either to or away from the marina.

I get why she likes it up here. You feel omniscient, seeing the activity on the boardwalk; the cars moving around the small patch of town known as Baycrest beyond it; the scarce traffic through the pines on the opposite shore of our cliff, lining the road leading to Oakwood; the boats dotting the endless water and people floating in the bay. All while no one knows you’re here.

But I suspect I could be sitting at the very bottom of the bay, quickly running out of air, and still love it if Siena were there beside me.

Siena’s feet swing side to side over the edge of the cliff. She folds her hands in her lap as she stares right down at the water. Heaves another sigh before looking over, smiling when she finds me staring.

“I blame you. I always felt stuck here. But now I feelstuck, you know? It’s going to hurt so bad when you go.”

“We don’t know I’ll get signed. I might blow this camp, and then this poor town will never get rid of me.”

Siena stares down at her sneakers a moment before asking, “What about the Tigers? Are they still open to you?”

The question puts me immediately on edge. If she ever asked me to sign with the Tigers… I’m not sure what I’d do. Playing with the Rebels has been the dream my whole life.

But Siena is the dream I never saw coming.

“Josh is a dick, but he’s a great agent. He’s got the Tigers waiting on me for an answer.”

She seems to think on that for a moment, then nudges me with her shoulder. “You won’t blow it at camp, Brooks. The Rebels would be so stupid not to have you. You’re amazing.”

“Thank you,” I say, even as disappointment pangs inside me. Turns out, I want her to ask me to stay. Reaching for the back of her neck, I stroke my thumb along her hairline. The tension in her shoulders deflates.

“I love it when you do that.”

“I know. You do this purring sound whenever I do.”

Her eyes widen. “Do I?”

“Yeah. It’s my second-favorite thing that you do.”

Her shoulders shudder in a laugh. “You’re just going to dangle that in front of me, huh? Dare I even ask?”