Total pages in book: 70
Estimated words: 69555 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 348(@200wpm)___ 278(@250wpm)___ 232(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 69555 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 348(@200wpm)___ 278(@250wpm)___ 232(@300wpm)
“She hated Reggie.” Nathan swam back up to the cooler, got yet another beer, and pushed away again, reaching up high to snag the ball before it could make it into Sammy’s waiting hands. He launched it back at Louis who had to dive to catch it. Louis came back up laughing and tossed the ball back our way. Only, this time his aim was way off and hit me straight in the face.
Chapter 7
Blow me. I’m hot.
-Coffee Cup
Nathan
“What’s going on?” I asked as Reggie practically dove off of her tube and disappeared into the water.
I looked back at where Sierra was gasping and looking for her friend, then back at the football that was floating nearby.
“Oh, shit!” Louis cried as he bailed out of his tube and swam Reggie’s way.
Reggie finally came back up for air but immediately went back down again.
I slipped out of my tube, handing my beer to Sammy to hold, and went in search of Reggie.
I found her with blood running down her face and her eyes filled with tears.
“I dropped my bag!” she cried out.
Before she could dive back under again I took her by the waist and pulled her into me, wiping the blood off and rinsing it off in the water.
“What bag?”
“The bag that was holding all my shit,” she growled. “My license. My ring. My keys!”
My brows rose. “Your ring?”
She slashed the air in front of her. “Don’t fucking ask me. I knew I should’ve taken the purse out of my bag, but I was terrified to leave it in the car. There were about a thousand signs there saying not to leave valuables in the car, that the cars get broken into.”
That was true.
There’d been a police officer saying that, too.
But her ring?
That hadn’t been cheap, that was for sure.
Before I could ask anything else, she went under the water again while I watched.
She surfaced, her face alight with horror.
“It had my ring in it,” she repeated, her face finally realizing that it was probably gone.
Now I understood.
That ring had cost a whack.
“Shit,” I grumbled, looking down. “I hate to say it, but it’s gone, honey.”
She narrowed her eyes. “Don’t call me honey.”
My brows rose. “I thought we were going to play nice. Act like we don’t hate each other.”
That was the truce we’d called on the way to the river, right? Or had I made that up?
She sighed and looked down at the water one more time, then she closed her eyes and took a deep breath as if to center herself.
“I’m just mad,” she admitted. “I should’ve tested it before I thought it would work in a godforsaken river.”
I agreed, but that was not what she needed to hear right now.
“Are you okay?” Louis asked.
I wiped Reggie’s nose again and nodded. “She’s fine. Just dropped her bag in the water.”
“Oh, shit.” Louis sighed. “I’m sorry, Reggie.”
Reggie shrugged as if it wasn’t that bad. “It’s okay. It was only like ten bucks.”
Liar.
But I knew that she didn’t want him feeling bad. It was an accident.
“What’s going on?”
I turned to Malachi and explained.
“Reggie dropped her waterproof bag. And instead of floating like it was supposed to, it sank,” I explained.
“Oh,” Malachi said. “I have a friend that dredges rivers for the shit that people drop while floating. You wouldn’t imagine all the shit people find. Phones. Wallets. Keys…”
Wedding rings that cost a fortune.
“That’s why I bought a waterproof floating bag,” Reggie sighed. “Shit.”
I looked at her with a wink. “It’ll be okay.”
She gave me a look that clearly said she didn’t think it would.
But I couldn’t very well argue with her there in front of all of these people. Then more of my buddies would know that we were married. And seeing as that’d been her one condition that I follow, I couldn’t very well go announcing it to all of her or my friends, even though technically, I already did.
“Get back up in the tube,” I gestured to the tube with my chin. “I’ll help you.”
Louis floated away back to his tube and I held Reggie’s still for her.
“This was really hard the first time,” she admitted. “Can you give me a boost?”
I hooked my arm around the tube and nodded at her in an ‘okay go’ kind of way.
She went, and I boosted her up by her ass.
My fingers curled around the inside of her thigh, and I swear that I heard her moan as I pushed her into the tube.
She flopped and flipped, and I held on to make sure that she didn’t fall right back out. Which only ended up with me having my hand in her crotch—or what it appeared like—while she came to a stop.
When she was through flopping around I let her go—reluctantly—and she smiled at me in thanks.
I nodded once and went back to my tube.