Page 130 of The Long Way Home
She rolls her eyes and stays next to me.
Within minutes, the rest of the group joins us. Slone cannonballs in with a splash that makes half the lake shiver. Lexi screams dramatically about the temperature, then laughs so hard it sounds like she is daring someone to stop her. Wes attempts some weird backflip maneuver, earning a full minute of relentless heckling.
Lexi has already gone down the slide four times, each descent louder than the last. “I will not be stopped,” she declares, climbing the ladder again. No one is actually fighting her for the slide, but she pretends anyway.
The lily pad float drifts gently just off the back of the boat. Connor and Wes stand at the top deck of the boat, drinks in hand, arguing about something completely inconsequential. Margo lies on a noodle, face tilted toward the sun, whileAnderson keeps a lazy hand resting on her ankle, steadying her whenever the current pulls her too far.
Connor shouts from the upper deck, “Five bucks says Wes busts his ass if he tries that again!”
“Ten says he yells ‘nailed it’ either way,” Slone adds.
Sure enough, Wes launches himself down the slide with a war cry that echoes across the lake. His splash soaks the side of the lily pad.
Rachel laughs, eyes squinting from the sun. “This is chaos.”
“My favorite kind of chaos.”
She glances at me then, a flash of something softer behind her expression. “Yeah. Me too.”
I lean back on the lily pad, half-listening to Margo and Anderson talk about how they should’ve packed frozen grapes, when Slone’s laugh cuts through the noise.
She is near the edge of the boat, stretched out on a towel, sunglasses sliding halfway down her nose. Long legs crossed, posture casual, but every line of her body seems to say she knows exactly what she is doing, and Connor is absolutely falling for it.
“You keep staring at me like I’m gonna bite,” she says, tossing her hair over her shoulder without looking up.
Connor smirks, leaning against the railing. “Knowing you, Slone, you might actually bite me.”
Her lips twitch as she lifts a brow. “Don’t tempt me with a good time, Westbrook.”
He steps closer, tilting his head slightly, letting his gaze roam. “You, Slone Rhodes, would ruin my life if I let you.”
She laughs, rolling onto her side to face him better. “Could be fun.”
He grins, tossing a bottle of sunscreen toward her. She catches it mid-air, fingers brushing the bottle just so. “You missed a spot. Unless you’re going for ‘lobster chic.’”
“Well, can you help me? I’d like to avoid ‘lobster chic’. I can pull off a lot, but I’m not sure I’d be able to pull off that.”
He leans a little, the shadow of his smile teasing. “I’ll help,” he says, voice low. “But only if you beg.”
She rolls her eyes, squeezing the sunscreen between her palms. “You should know better by now, Westbrook. I don’t beg.”
“Looks like lobster chic is what you’ll be wearing to dinner tonight, Princess. But don’t worry, Slone, I’m pretty sure you can pull anything off.”
His eyes linger on her a little longer, and I can see her swallow, fingers tightening around the bottle. Then, with a dramatic shake of his head, he hops off the boat into the water with a splash.
Back on the lily pad, Rachel shakes her head at the whole scene. “Do you think they even realize?”
“Nope, not a clue,” I respond.
Not far away, Lexi and Wes are locked in one of their ridiculous competitions. Right now, it’s a battle to see who can stay underwater the longest. Lexi pops up first, gasping, hair plastered to her face, and clings to the ladder.
“You cheated,” she snaps, though her eyes are gleaming.
Wes surfaces behind her, smirk in place. “How can you cheat at holding your breath?”
“You looked at me funny right before we went under. I inhaled too much. You sabotaged me.”
He shrugs, hands in the water, innocence plastered on his face. “I have no idea what you’re talking about. But if my face was distracting, well, I can’t be held responsible for that.”
