Troublemaker (5SOS)

Chapter Nine

Ashton's laughter bubbled up as he broke the surface, and it was contagious.  Tara and Calum couldn't help but laugh with him.  Luke kept diving under to grab people's legs when they weren't looking, and he must have done it one too many times to Kody, based on her agitated expression.  As soon as he appeared behind Michael, she splashed them.  Luke swam fast, and he was able to dart over to her in the blink of an eye.  Luke was feeling the alcohol, and he almost wanted to kiss this girl that had been flirting with one of his best friends all night.  As he stared at her with dazed eyes, Kody took the opportunity to get on top of his shoulders.

"Let's play", she narrowed her eyes at the guys around her, inciting competition.  "Loser has to give me a massage".

Calum, Luke, and Michael exchanged surprised looks, but they were all enticed.  Ashton looked at Tara with an amused expression as they both decided to swim back to shore.

"Hey!" Kody yelled, "no one is exempt!"

Tara threw her sheer kimono off and began unbuttoning her pants.  "It's not fair if you have unrestricted movement, and I'm in jeans, is it?"  

She was wearing bright pink boyshorts beneath her ripped jeans.  Ashton was also unbuttoning his shirt, revealing some chest hair.  Tara ran back to the cooler to grab a generous swig of the tequila, cringing as it went down.  Within seconds, they were back in the water, prepared to battle.  Tara was on Ashton's shoulders, hands locked with Kody's as they tried to push each other back into the water.  Ashton's balance was great, although they had to regain footing with each wave.  Finally, Kody's muscles failed her, and the two of them fell backwards, gasping for air as they resurfaced. 

Tara and Ashton gave each other a high five and Michael got on Calum's shoulders to battle the champion.  Michael was more gentle than Kody was, but he also blocked her hands and wrapped his arms around Tara's waist, lifting her off of Ashton's shoulders and bringing her into the water with him. 

"By the way" Calum gasped, shoving Michael, "I could feel your boner on my neck."

Michael laughed, tackling his friend and dunking him beneath the water.  When they resurfaced, Michael swam behind Tara and used her as a shield.  Calum tried to get around her, but every time he switched directions, so did they.  Tara felt the blush creeping over her cheeks.  As Michael pressed his body against hers, arms wrapped tight around her, she could feel that Calum wasn't kidding.  Kody was already out of the water, shivering and trying to warm up by the fire, and Ashton and Luke were both near the shore, attempting to do handstands.  Calum gave up on Michael, and suddenly it was just the two of them.

Tara felt her heart pounding, hoping that Michael hadn't noticed that or the way she shivered.  It wasn't from the temperature of the water.  She turned to face him, their noses only inches apart.  His eyes were a muted shade of green, and his full lips were parted, like he was about to say something.  She wrapped her legs around him, pushing the hair away from his face, and his fingers gripped her hips, barely inching up the bottom of her tank top.  Just as he leaned forward to close the space between them, she panicked and broke free from his gentle touch.

"Race you to shore!" She exclaimed with a head start.  Michael  continued to tread water, unable to wrap his mind around what just happened.  Would she have kissed him back if he tried two seconds earlier?