Page 6 of After All This Time (A Time For Love #2)

Cooper

H alf an hour later, Liam and I are fighting for our lives.

We’ve been camping a couple of times before with our families, but apparently things are slightly different when you try to do everything yourself.

So here we are now, trying not to stab ourselves to death with the tent poles while the frame for some reason resists to its last breath until we are both red in the face.

Thankfully, a kind couple in their mid-50s take pity on us and offer to help us as they’re driving by to their own spot and I want to kiss them. They even give us their mobile phone number in case we need help with anything else, so I give in and hug them.

With a functional tent under our belt, we get busy trying to set up our inflatable mattress, our collapsible chairs and everything else we brought with us.

There is a small, pre-existing pit in the middle of the area, should we want to build a fire, and the campsite is equipped with toilets, showers and group picnic areas, but we’ve brought quite the amount of food and snacks with us for just the few days we plan to spend here.

I turn around to check out how Liam is faring and I have to bite back a laugh at the image of him huffing and puffing. For such a sporty person, he sure looks almost defeated by camping equipment.

His hands are perched on his hips and his T-shirt is already a bit sweaty around the collar. Though it never gets too hot where we’re from, it’s still noon.

I’m moving before the idea that flashes through my mind has had time to solidify.

I jog towards Liam, checking his shoulder with mine as I pass him.

“I’ll race you to the water!”

The waves look choppy so we won’t be able to actually swim, but still my feet slap against the sandy ground. I’m already taking off my T-shirt and throwing it on the beach floor when I hear Liam calling my name.

My toes have barely touched the cool, frothy water when my arm is caught in a strong grip that whirls me around.

“Have you lost your fucking mind?!”

He’s looking at me as if I was intending to jump off a cliff, not splash into shallow waters.

I gear up to make a joke but then the expression on his face fully registers and… Liam looks distraught, for lack of a better word.

My own face falls and I open my mouth to say something back but it opens and closes uselessly.

“Why?” I manage to croak out.

“You’re asking me why? Look at the size of those waves, Coop. They would swallow you alive.”

My chest tightens at those words and the terror behind them.

I have never seen Liam like this.

I don’t think it’s an expression I ever want to see on his face again.

“Hey,” I tell him in a soft voice that I hope will calm him down. “It’s okay, Li. I wasn’t planning on diving in, just cool down with a little water.”

My hand that has found its way on his shoulder squeezes him reassuringly, and as he takes a step forward, it slides further up and finds him at the dip where his shoulder meets his neck.

He sucks in a small breath and his eyes suddenly flutter.

He gives me a faint smile. “You’re right, Coop. I just had to go with the odds,” he attempts to joke but I can see that he’s not fully himself yet.

“Hey, I wouldn’t want to ruin our trip by drowning, you know.”

“That’s not funny.”

“I know, I know, but trust that I have some survival instincts, okay?”

“Though all evidence points to the contrary, I’ll have to take your word on it,” he deadpans and I grin because I know he’s back.

“Speaking of evidence pointing to the contrary,” I mutter and that’s the only warning he gets before I kick at the water that covers my ankles as hard as I can, splashing most of Liam’s front.

He stares at his T-shirt and shorts as if he can’t understand how they are slowly turning darker and darker as the water soaks through.

That is, until he raises his head and pierces me with his mossy-green eyes.

“You’re so fucked.”

Yeah, I really don’t have any sort of survival instincts, I think as I grin evilly and do a 180 so he doesn’t catch me.

My feet hit the ground hard and water splashes everywhere.

I’m almost sure I can outrun him until I feel him gaining up on me.

I can hear his labored breathing as he runs after me, the sun beating down on us.

I don’t even have the time to turn around and sneak a glance, before he’s tackling me on the wet sand, both of us falling unceremoniously with a big thump that sends sand and saltwater flying.

We grapple as we each try to gain the upper hand.

I even try to fight dirty by scooping up wet sand and throwing it at him, or try to get water in his eyes, which I succeed in getting into mine instead.

But he’s got more muscle on me so I inevitably find myself on my back, with sand smeared all over me, cool water soaking my back and hair, making me shiver.

And Liam straddling my thighs, bracketing them in a way that restricts my moves.

I bark out a laughter at the absolute mess we’re both in, him even more than me since he never got to take his shirt off. I make a last-ditch effort to slither out from under him but he tightens his hold, his hands coming down to pin my upper arms.

“Do you give?” his low voice reaches my ears through the overwhelming sound of the crashing waves.

Normally, I wouldn’t but I’m briefly distracted by how tense Liam seems to be. He looks like a bowstring that is ready to snap, almost like he’s angry. But when I meet his eyes, they are crinkled in the corners, and there’s a familiar challenge in them.

So I blame the pent-up adrenaline for what I do next.

Letting myself briefly relax in his hold so he thinks I’m surrendering, he loosens up, and I take that chance to crunch up, my abs tightening, and bite him right where I was holding him earlier—where his neck meets his shoulder. Just enough to startle him.

And boy, does he startle.

The moment my teeth make contact with his salty skin, he lets me go immediately, falling backwards on his ass as he rubs the place where I bit him.

“I win,” I tell him triumphantly, sticking out my tongue at him, almost biting it too through my grin. Excitement makes my breath come out in shallow pants, almost like I have been running for miles.

Liam looks shocked for a few seconds before his expression melts into his usual warm one, smiling back at me.

“Yeah, Coop. You win.”