Page 154 of Save Your Breath

“Scout’s honor,” I said, holding up three fingers in a mock salute.

She bit her bottom lip, hesitating for a moment before blurting out, “I’ve already started working on a new album.”

My eyebrows shot up. “Already? You’re on break!”

“I know,” she said quickly, waving her hands like she could explain her way out of it. “But I couldn’t help it. The ideas just started coming to me, and I had to get them down.”

“And why would Isabella hate you for that?”

Her shy smile was my undoing. “It’s pretty… lovey-dovey.”

I couldn’t stop the grin that spread across my face. “Lovey-dovey, huh?”

“Yes, so brace yourself for some seriously sappy lyrics,” she said, pretending to groan.

“Need me to break your heart?” I teased, slipping my fingers under the tie of her bikini again.

She smacked my hand away, laughing. “You better not.”

“Never, Strings,” I promised, holding her gaze and hoping she felt the truth in that word. “Never.”

I kissed her forehead, letting my lips linger there for a moment before pulling back with an idea forming in my head. She was still looking at me curiously when I stood and scooped her up in one smooth motion.

“Aleks!” she shrieked, wrapping her arms around my neck. “Don’t you dare!”

“Oh, I dare,” I said, laughing as I walked to the edge of the pool.

“I just did my hair!” she protested, but she was laughing, already plugging her nose like she knew the inevitable was coming.

“I happen to love how your hair looks soaking wet.”

“It’s cold!”

“You’ll warm up in the sun.”

“Aleks! We are not teenagers anymore. Put me down.”

She was still laughing, kicking her feet the more I dangled her and teased like I was going to throw her in.

“Put you down? Okay.”

“No, wait!”

“I always follow orders,Wife,” I quipped. And then I tossed her into the pool.

She hit the water with a splash, and when she surfaced, her glare was as sharp as her smile was wide. “You’re dead, Suter!” she yelled, swimming to the edge.

I reached down to help her out with a hearty laugh, letting her pinch my side when I had her up on the pool deck once more. My fingers trailed over her goose-pimpled flesh as she shivered in my embrace.

“G-going to k-kill you,” she warned, but she was hugging me like she had other plans, instead.

I smirked against her wet hair, leaning down to whisper in her ear as my fingers found their target.

“You’ll have to catch me first.”

Then, I pulled the strings tied at her back and around the top of her neck, releasing her bikini in one swift move. I held it over my head in victory, looking back only long enough to bask in the view of her shocked face before I was howling with laughter and racing off toward the beach.

“Aleks!”