Finding Ourselves Together (READ REVAMP VERSION - IN WAVES)

23 | Temptation

Ugh, and now I can't even string a thought together.

Before I knew it, I turned around to face him again, feeling the heat prickling in my neck as I yelled my confession at him. "I can't trust myself to be alone with you, alright?! Not after what almost happened in that storeroom at school!"

Shit, I should have kept that to myself.

Nate's eyes were wide from my outburst, but rather than taking my orders and walking away, he walked closer towards me instead.

"Well, do you trust me?"

I scanned his face in astonishment, not getting why he hadn't been scared off by me yet. I gave him an answer when I saw he wasn't going to leave without one. "I think so, but that still doesn't mean I feel like talking."

"Okay." He shrugged and reached down to his belt, casually unbuckling it. "So let's not talk."

I backed up when he slid off his jeans right in front of me, revealing his dark boxer briefs underneath and making my mouth fall open. "That isn't what I meant by not talking!"

Nate laughed loudly and pulled his shirt off. "I know, so if you don't wanna talk..." He tossed the shirt on the sand and ran past me. "...let's swim!"

He sprinted straight towards the ocean in a gust of erupting joy, completely ignoring my shock.

"What? Are you crazy??"

Nate was already running into the sea without hesitation; the water so dark it looked like it could swallow him whole.

Does he just expect me to swim right now? So not gonna happen.

"What are you waiting for?" Nate shouted from the ocean; his voice stifled by the crashing waves. I couldn't even tell if he was standing or treading in the water.

"I'm not swimming, you idiot!" I yelled back, entirely adamant about my decision.

I heard him laughing while he wiped his face. "C'mon, DeMarco! Live a little!"

I stayed put and crossed my arms securely. "Just get out of there!"

He splashed water in my direction and whined. "Ahh please, it's my birthday!"

"Nope, not for another..." I pulled my phone out of my pocket and checked the time. "...hour and a half!"

"Chicken!"

A twinge of offense spun through me. "I am not chicken!"

"Prove it!" He loudly provoked. "Chicken!"

His grin never faltered as he bobbed up and down, waiting for me to give into his playful taunts. I looked down at his clothing scattered on the sand, fidgeting with the hem of my shirt and debating if I should follow suit. I couldn't deny that a part of me was tempted. I hadn't had enough to drink to do anything impulsive, but I still wanted to show him that I wasn't always just some scaredy-cat unwilling to do anything fun. The least I could do was not fight him on it any longer.

Okay...in and out, three minutes.

It wasn't like I could swim fully clothed, so I warily unzipped my shorts and pulled my top off, revealing my usual mismatched underwear. I immediately felt insecure, but Nate had already seen me in my underwear, and in a few seconds I would be covered by the water anyway.

I ran in to join him, winded from the cold that consumed me from head to toe as the water hurtled against me. I swam out to Nate where it seemed calmer, but realized that he was still able to stand, while my feet were nowhere near the ocean floor.