Love Fool (One Night Only Season 2: Hunter's Story)

Chapter Fourteen

Of all the afternoons Paisley and Brooke decide to stick around our camp, it has to be this one. They're already in the lake, shrieking and laughing and practicing their version of amateur water acrobatics by the time I finish stacking firewood, change into swimming shorts, and get there myself.

So much for spending the afternoon alone with Deni. At least we still have tonight's plans to watch the meteor shower, and those need to stay under wraps while Paisley and Brooke are within earshot. Otherwise, I wouldn't put it past my sister to bring up the subject over dinner and make more claims about romantic overtures she thinks she's witnessed between Deni and me, while also dropping hints about wanting to see shooting stars. It's better not to risk a scenario where my parents insist we take her along with us.

I grab an inner tube and launch myself into the lake, then paddle until I'm a good distance away from Paisley and Brooke. I've been there for a few minutes when a flash of color from the shoreline catches my eye. Deni emerges into view, looking like a summer goddess in her gauzy white cover-up dress and sunglasses, bag slung over her shoulder, and her hair piled up in a topknot. A few stray wisps of her hair fan around her face, caught in the gentle breeze, and the sun beams down on her as if she's strolling under a spotlight.

I can't take my eyes off of her.

All the caution I convinced myself I need to have with Paisley and Brooke nearby high-tails it to another postal code as she steps across the sand. She pauses, and her head swivels in my direction. Did she see me staring at her? I lean back on the inner tube and angle my head to the sky, hoping she can't tell I'm still observing her in my peripheral vision. Her sunglasses hide what she has her eyes locked on, but she's still looking my way and there isn't much more than the lake, sky, and me in her line of sight.

"Deni! Come join us!" Paisley calls out.

"Grab the raft." I point at an inflatable raft that's on the beach.

Deni nods and continues walking to our part of the shore. When she gets there, she removes her cover-up and kicks off her flip-flops, then grabs the raft and turns toward the lake.

I'm rendered speechless by the sight of her. There's so much more to Deni that I'm drawn to beyond her physical beauty, but I didn't expect the overwhelming attraction that surges through me now when I glimpse each curve of her body and her flawless, sun-kissed skin. Watching her with a sort of tunnel vision is all I'm capable of doing as she steps into the water, until I hear Paisley's quiet giggle.

My sister and Brooke both wear smug expressions, so they're on to me. Wonderful. Paisley already detected my feelings for Deni, and she mentioned Brooke's suspicions, too, but now I'm giving them real-time confirmation. What if Deni notices and thinks I'm ogling her? Not that she'd be wrong.

Look away.

I manage to avert my eyes to the lake's surface for a fleeting second or two, but when Deni climbs onto the raft and paddles it in my direction, she commands my full attention again.

"You forgot to bring your guitar," I tell her, once she's closer. "I'm crushed."

"Guitars aren't meant to go swimming," she informs me. "You'll just have to be patient."

"Being serenaded by you will be worth the wait. Plus, it gives you time to write me that song."

She guffaws. "You can keep trying, but I promise the song still isn't happening."

Deni stretches out on the raft, signaling this is her final word on the song for now. All other possible topics of conversation have evaporated from my brain. The only thing it's able to process is how serene she appears while basking in the sun, and how exquisitely beautiful she is. So I say nothing, and we settle into a comfortable quiet, floating along the lake's surface.