Never Let Go (4 page)

We come to the top of a small hill and emerge in front of a spectacular lake. The water is calm and tranquil. I can see an island full of evergreens not far from shore.

“This is where you brought me?” I say. “I’ve never seen anything so beautiful.”

He smiles. “Glad you like it. But this isn’t our final destination.” He points at the island ahead. “That is.”

I squint my eyes at Andrew. “I don’t suppose you expect us to swim across?”

He laughs. “If only it were that easy…” He nods to a shack I hadn’t yet noticed. “We’ve got a canoe waiting for us over there.”

“How convenient,” I note.

Andrew shrugs. “The guy who owns it lives in a cabin in the woods. He lets us use it if we bring him food a few times a week.”

I stare at him. “You’re not serious.”

Andrew manages a straight face for a few seconds. Then he breaks out laughing. “No. No, I’m not. Truth is, a bunch of us frolf players pitched in and bought it. We keep it locked in there for whenever we want to play.”

“So, there’s a league of you, now?”

“Something like that.” Andrew smiles. “Help me with the canoe.”

Together, we drag it to the water. I’m impressed. I’d never expected this much effort for a first date. “So, do you do this to win all the girls’ hearts?” I joke.

Andrew stops and looks at me. “Not all. Just you.”

He says the words with such sincerity that my knees go a little weak. He is being way too sweet.

His laugh snaps me out of the moment. The canoe splashes into the water and he hops on. He holds out a hand to help me.

I take it and step over the side, careful not to tip the canoe. Just because I can swim doesn’t mean I want to get wet.

Andrew nods at me when I get inside. “Ready?”

“Ready,” I say.

He puts his paddle in the water and pushes away from shore. The canoe dips forward. “Start paddling,” he says.

I do. We fall into a brisk but comforting rhythm. It’s so quiet out here. So peaceful. I wish I’d had a spot like this to go to after my grandma died. There had been a lot on my mind. I could have benefited from some honest introspection.

Halfway to the island, Andrew pulls his oar out of the water and turns to face me. It’s just the two of us in the middle of the lake. “Tell me something about yourself,” he suggests.

“Like what?”

“Your deepest secret,” Andrew says, straight-faced. “Something you’ve never told another soul.”

I look at him for a moment, trying hard to determine if he’s serious. I take it he is.

I lower my voice. “I’m actually an axe murderer,” I confide. “I run the streets at night looking for my next victim. I prey on the homeless and the weak. When they’re not looking, I pick up my axe—” I heft the paddle in my hands, “—and
splat!
Right in the back of the head.”

Andrew starts to laugh. I grin back. But, he keeps laughing, more and more, until I can’t tell if he’s making fun of me or merely amused.

“What?” I say. “Can’t you handle the truth?”

“
Splat
?” Andrew asks, wiping tears from his eyes. “
Splat
! That’s the sound you think an axe makes?” He breaks off, unable to contain his laughter. “That’s the sound you get when you swat a fly with a newspaper!”

I cross my arms. “I think I know the intricacies of my psychosis,” I protest.

Andrew keeps laughing. “I mean, I’m not one to argue semantics…” he grins, “…but I would have chosen something like ‘
thunk
’, or even
‘thud
’!”

I scoop up a handful of water and splash it at him. My aim is good. It hits him right in the face. He stops cold.

“I don’t think it’s a good idea to laugh at an axe murder,” I warn.

A mischievous light flickers in his eye. “No,” he says. His hands dart to the sides of the canoe. “I don’t think it is.”

Without any warning, he starts rocking the boat side to side.

I screech. “No! Andrew, don’t you dare…!”

“Dare what?” He rocks the boat harder. Water splashes everywhere. “
This
?”

“Yes,
that
!” I squeal. My heart is racing, but I can’t keep from laughing. “Stop it!”

Andrew doesn’t let up. Every rock sends us closer to tipping over. “You promise you won’t
splat
me in the back of the woods with your axe?”

“Yes, yes!” I promise. “Whatever you want!” I hold the sides to try to counteract Andrew’s force.
Still
I can’t help laughing. “Andrew, stop it!”

“All right, all right,” he relents. The boat slows and goes still.

Blood is thundering in my ears. I’ve come
this
close to being dropped into a lake full of icy water, and yet I can’t keep the goofy smile from my face.

“Better?” he asks.

“Much,” I say. “And if I wasn’t so worried about that pretty little hairdo of yours, I’d totally have called you out on your bluff. There’s no way you would have tipped us over.”

Andrew looks at me in a sneaky way. “Are you sure you want to try me?”

“No, no!” I backtrack.

He laughs. “Got you.”

I try to force my lips into their best impression of a scowl. It doesn’t work. I’m having way too much fun. For all I care, we can turn back right now and this would already be the best date I’ve been on in years.

And that has nothing to do with the fact that it’s the
only
date I’ve been on in years.

We get to the island. Andrew helps me out, then drags the canoe onto shore. He shields his eyes and looks up at the sky. “I say we’ve got another hour and a half, two hours of sunlight left,” he tells me.

“Unless it starts to rain,” I point out. I still don’t believe him, not with the cloudless sky we’ve got overhead.

“Right.” He picks one Frisbee up and tosses it into the air. “So. Frolf.”

“Frolf,” I say. “How does it work?”

“Easy. This whole island is a course. You see that tree over there?” He points to a thick spruce. “It has a blue flag tied to its trunk. That’s the first ‘hole.’ The point of the game is to hit the trunk in as few throws as possible. Like this.”

He winds back and lets the Frisbee go. It flies straight at the tree. Then a gust of wind picks it up and forces it to go about ten feet wide.

“Ouch,” I say, picking up the second Frisbee. “My turn?”

“Please.”

I position my feet in the ground. I bite my lip, take aim, and throw.

The disk flies straight and true. It bounces off the trunk, just inches from the flag.

I turn back and smile as sweetly as I can at Andrew. “So? How’d I do?”

***

The next few hours pass in a flash. Andrew and I are laughing and flirting and teasing each other the whole way through. I turn out to be more of a challenge than he thought.

The score is tied when we get to the final hole. Above us, the sky is just starting to darken.

“Well, Paige, you’ve been a worthy adversary, but now it’s time for me to pull out the big guns. I’m not holding back this time.”

“Getting a little cocky there, are we?” I ask. “All right. If you’re so confident, I think we should place a little wager on the outcome of this game.”

“Please.” Andrew lowers his head and looks at me. “I don’t want to embarrass you.”

“I’m a big girl, I can handle it.” I stick my tongue out at him. “Actually, I’m more worried about crushing your fragile ego.”

“Like that will ever happen.”

“We’ll see. What should we bet on?”

Andrew considers things for a moment. “How about this? The winner of this throw—and the whole game—decides what we do next.”

A little bit of diabolic excitement rises in me at the implication of his suggestion.
It’s just the two of us on this island.

“Deal,” I agree.

“
But
,” Andrew continues, “we’ve got to make things a bit more interesting.”

“More interesting?” I step up to him and look into his eyes. “How?”

Andrew clears his throat. He’s not nervous, is he? “We throw at the same time,” he says. Nope. Must have been my imagination. “Standing across from each other.” He pauses. “With our eyes closed.”

I laugh and break away. “Fine.”

Andrew traces an imaginary line in the ground with his foot. “We start behind this line. Close our eyes. And throw. On the count of three. Ready? One… Two…”

“Wait!” I call out. “If I close my eyes, how do I know that you’ll do the same?”

Andrew looks hurt. “What, you don’t trust me?”

“Not when there’s a bet on the line,” I tell him with a grin.

“Fine.” He looks around, and, finding nothing, turns back to me. “Come here.”

I walk over to him.

“Turn around,” he says.

I do. When he steps close to me, so close that I can feel the heat of his body against my back, my heart starts beating faster.

“Here’s what we’ll do,” he murmurs, running his hands over my arms. I shiver slightly. “I’ll let you go first.” His voice is low and soft. “But, since I don’t trust you, and you don’t trust me, we’re going to help each other out a bit.” His hands cover my eyes. “I’m going to make sure you don’t peek. And when it’s my turn, you’ll do the same. Okay?”

“Okay,” I swallow.

“Ready?” Andrew asks.

“Hold on.” I tug his hand down. “Let me see where I’m aiming, first.”

“Take your time,” Andrew whispers. He keeps his body pressed against mine. Our hips are touching. I don’t want to go anywhere.

Is it right to enjoy his closeness so much?

I survey the ground before I nod. “Ready”

Andrew’s hands move over my eyes again. I take a deep breath, trying to steady my nerves. He doesn’t have to blindfold me if he wants me to miss. He just needs to stand close.

Here goes nothing!

I pull my arm back and let the Frisbee go. I strain my ears to hear the ‘
thump
.’ Nothing.

Andrew whistles. “Impressive,” he says. He lets his hands fall from my face. I miss his touch already.

I open my eyes and look in the direction I threw. My Frisbee is lying right in front of the tree, touching one of the roots. “I did it!” I jump up and squeal in delight. “Hah! Take that, Andrew.”

“Pressure’s mounting,” he says. “My turn.” He turns his back to me. I reach up and cover his eyes. As I do, I catch a whiff of his aftershave. It smells good. Like an early morning’s winter frost in Salt Lake City.

I feel my heart thumping in my chest as I keep my hands over Andrew’s eyes. His body feels hard and strong against mine. I wonder if I would have this type of reaction with any guy, or just with him.

Andrew pulls his throwing arm back. My breath catches. He swings forward and lets go.

The Frisbee wobbles in the air and falls to the ground about ten feet short of the tree.

“You win,” Andrew rustles, not even looking at his throw. He turns to face me. His hands lock behind the small of my back. “Your choice, Paige.”

I look up at him. Blood is thundering in my ears. He smiles and tugs me close. My hands fall to his shoulders. “I…”

“Yes?” he asks, peering down at me. His eyes look so intense, so beautiful.

I don’t know what to say. How can I answer?

“You keep looking at me that way,” he says slowly, “And I might have to kiss you.”

That makes up my mind. “Yes,” I say. “Kiss me.”

Andrew’s mouth crashes down and covers my own. I want to gasp when I feel the warmth of his lips against mine. His hands catch my face. Mine tangle in his hair.

His tongue trails my upper lip, then meets mine. He tastes intoxicating, musky and sweet at the same time. I can
feel
the passion in his kiss. The raw, unadulterated desire that he harbors for me.

It’s exciting. I’ve never been kissed this way before.

Andrew lets me go.

“Wow,” I breathe.

“Yeah, wow.” He looks at me and brushes a strand of hair from my face. “You don’t know how long I’ve been waiting to do that.”

I feel all giddy inside, so I giggle. “How long?”

“Since the moment I first saw you,” Andrew says. He picks up my hand. Our fingers twine together. “Come on.” He glances up at the darkening sky. “Let’s get back before we push our luck too far.”

Chapter Five

We’re about a quarter of the way to shore when the first raindrop hits my face.

At first, I think it’s just a splash of water from the paddle. But then the next one falls, and all of a sudden, the placid lake is being assaulted by hundreds of heavy drops from the sky.

Andrew laughs. “I guess the weatherman was right!”

A crash of thunder sounds overhead. I jump. “Shit!”

Andrew’s face turns serious. “Paddle fast!” he exclaims. “A metal canoe in the middle of a body of water makes for an easy lightning rod.”

My heart leaps to my throat. I stick the paddle in the water and row. I do it with every ounce of strength in my body.

The rain is coming down so hard that I’m soaked to the bone within minutes. Another flash of lightning brightens the sky, followed immediately by rolling thunder. Andrew’s face is a picture of grim determination. “Row!”

I swallow my fear and row with everything I’ve got. I dip my paddle in, drag it, and pull it out. Dip, drag, pull. Dip, drag, pull.

I’m so focused on the motion that I’m caught completely off guard when our canoe bumps the shoreline. Andrew jumps out, splashing through the water, and drags the canoe onto land.

He’s breathing hard, but there’s a smile on his face. “We made it!”

I look at him, soaking wet in the rain, feet sunk in the sand, and start to laugh. Adrenaline’s pumping through my veins. I feel a thrill unlike any I’ve experienced before. I feel
alive
.

“What’s so funny?” Andrew asks.

“You look ridiculous!” I call out to him through the sound of rainfall. “Soaked like a wet dog!”

Andrew throws his head back and laughs. He spreads his arms to feel the rain. “Come on,” he grabs my hand. “Let’s get out of the storm!”

Together, we run from the lake, laughing even as our feet slip in the wet ground. Andrew unlocks his car and we jump inside, finally finding a reprieve from the elements. The rain beats down on the car so hard that it’s impossible to see a thing through the windows. It sounds like there are thousands of tiny drummers on the roof.