The Boy Next Door.

8. Touch

Cassy:

Everybody gets in the water except Louise. I was right when I thought Jared had a tattoo of a bird on his back, an eagle with the wings spanning over the entire width of his shoulders. Now that his shirt is off, I can see on his right breast the part of his tribal tattoo I couldn't see this morning. Intricate swirls of black ink covering his chest. On his left, starting just under his nipple, there are four symbols running down the length of his ripped stomach.

The first one is a triangle with a horizontal line resting on the top corner of the triangle, followed by a square with a circle in the middle, the third is three vertical lines with a horizontal one running through them and the fourth a circle with what looks like spokes running from the centre.

I'm still busy checking his tattoos out when I realize his chest is getting closer to me. Suddenly, his well-defined biceps are within touching distance, and in the next instant, his hands are on my hips. He easily lifts me off my feet, and then he starts to topple me. Almost in slow motion, we start to sink to the bottom of the pool, his eyes holding mine, his hands burning me where he's still holding my hips.

My hands came up to try and stop him and are now resting on the hard muscles of his smooth chest, sending little electrical shocks racing up my arms. Slowly sinking to the bottom of the pool, the world around us falls away, and for a second, it's only the two of us. For an instant, I even thought he was going to kiss me, but then he smiled and, using my hips as leverage, pushed himself back up to the surface.

For a second, I'm too stunt to move before my need for air compels me to push off and rise to the surface. By the time I can breathe again, he's busy pushing Neil underneath the water. Not wanting him to see how his little stunt affected me, I turned around and lunged for the nearest body, which happens to be Justin.

For the rest of the afternoon, I stay as far away from Jared as possible.
After we finished swimming we decided to watch a movie since it's still early. Louise has to leave because she has a modeling class, and I am relieved when Jared leaves with her.

Jared:

I'm relieved when Louise decides not to get into the pool. Her constant attachment to my limbs is getting irritating. Besides, it gives me the opportunity to get closer to Cassy.

At the moment, she's checking my tattoos out. I find that I love having her eyes on me. The little frown between her eyes makes me think she's trying to figure out the meaning of the symbols on the left side of my stomach. Maybe one day I'll tell her, but now I have this overwhelming urge to touch her.

Moving closer, I see the moment she realizes I'm coming for her, but it's too late to escape. Grabbing her by the hips, I topple her and start to sink with her to the bottom. My skin is tingling where her small hands are resting on my chest. I watch her watch me as we sink to the bottom, and in that moment, all I want to do is kiss her.

Remembering that we're not alone, I reluctantly let go of her. Using her hips, I push myself back up to the surface. Before my head clears the water, I promise myself that I will taste her lips soon.

When she surfaces again, she turns away from me, attacking the first person she can get to, who happens to be Justin. The rest of the afternoon, she makes sure not to come near me again.

Cassy:

In our TV room, we put Netflix on, and Neil and Tanya make themselves comfortable on the one couch while Ashley, Justin, and me get comfortable on the other one.

"So what do you want to watch?" Neil asks while flipping through the movies.

"Adventure, we all say in unison," Looking at each other, we burst out laughing.