Chapter Nine

    I sat there a moment, trying to calm my pounding 心 and soothe my frazzled thoughts. I re-thought the whole scene, ending up at the same conclusion. He had kissed me. I had let him take the lead and now he was accusing me of being a tramp.
Parker appeared in the door, his hair glowing 金牌 in the setting sun.
“ 你 coming Shayda?”
I glanced up at him, plastering a smile to my face.
“Yeah, I guess.”
“Great! Come on!”
He offered a hand and I slowly took it, accepting his help as I jumped down from the truck. I looked around, seeing nothing but trees surrounding the dirt road. I hesitantly allowed Parker to lead me into the woods, which were growing dark. Fast.
“Uhh…. Where are we going?” I asked as I stumbled over a fallen tree.
“Its just a little ways further. it’s a place we’ve all been coming to since we were kids.”
I didn’t answer. This was starting to creep me out. Did I really know these people? No. And here I was, allowing myself to be led into the woods. Alone. I was contemplating turning around when the light of a flickering fore filtered through the trees.
“ And here we are.” Parker stopped in front of me, and I peered around him to take in the scene before me. Everyone was scattered around the fire, sharing blankets 或者 sleeping bags. I swatted at a bug buzzing around my face. I was sticky with sweat. The loose tendrils of my ponytail stuck to my neck. How in the world could these people 熊 to sit in front of a fire? I saw Jess’s head pop up.
“They’re here! Good. Let’s go!”
I looked at Parker quickly. He grinned down at me.
“ 你 didn’t really think we’d just come sit around a 火, 消防 in this blasted heat, did you?”
I just shrugged. I had no idea what these people did. I allowed him to take my hand again and we made our way into the dark once more. But this time, a wonderful sound met my ears. Water! Roaring water for the sound of it. My 心 leapt in anticipation.
I had always loved water.
     Then suddenly, we were there. I let out a small gasp that had Parker smiling down at me. A large waterfall stood before us. At its base, a crystal clear pool of water lay. The large creek continued on out of the pool, traipsing its way through the forest. Most of the others were already in the pool, and I motioned for Parker to 加入 them. I slowly kicked off my shoes and waded into the creek, working my way down stream, away from the others. I had no desire to share this wonderful place with people who hated me. I continued on until the stream widened into another natural pool. I smiled to myself. Perfect. This one looked to be deep as well, so I went to creek bank and slipped my 衬衫 off, followed 由 my shorts. I waded into the creek, grinning as it deepened until the water was to my chest. I splashed around, dipping my head back to get my hair wet without disturbing my make up. I freed my hair from its 小马 tail and floated on my back.
“ 你 really shouldn’t wander off on your own.”
I gasped and tried to stand as the deep voice washed over me. My feet found nothing but slippery rock and I plunged under. Completely under. I came up sputtering. I could feel him staring at me without having to look. I attempted to push my dripping hair out of my eyes, my cheeks turning scarlet at the fact that I was in my underwear and he was in shorts.
“What are 你 doing here?” I ground out from between my teeth. “Does the word privacy mean anything to you?” I finally gave up with my hair and turned to face him. His eyes darkened to almost a black green, matching the dark forest around us.
“Not when 你 probably would have gotten 迷失 and I would have had to come looking for 你 anyways, so I was saving myself some time.”
I snorted and rolled my eyes, trying to ignore his perfectly sculpted body that was just begging to be touched.
“I wouldn’t have gotten lost.”
He didn’t answer, which was perfectly fine with me. I didn’t really like talking to jerks anyways. I resumed my floating, deciding to just ignore him.
“Shayda…”
I ignored the tingles that raced through my body at the sound of his voice saying my name.
“What.” My ears strained at the silence and then perked at the small splashes alerting me that he had entered the water.
“I…need to apologize about earlier.”
I didn’t answer. What was I supposed to say? I stared up at the dark sky. A few stars were starting to appear. Rafe’s hand making contact with the skin on my lower back had me jumping to try and stand.
“Just relax.”
I slowly forced myself to relax, inch 由 inch until I was floating again. Rafe’s hand was warm and steady reminding me of when I took swimming lessons as a child. My instructor had always been right there with me, one hand under me on my lower back. She never had to say words. Her hand conveyed that she would catch me if I started to sink. Rafe’s hand was telling me that same thing now. I cut my eyes from the stars to look at him. His dark hair fell in shaggy, wet strands framing his dark face. But his eyes met mine and I could have sworn sparks literally flew through the air between us. His hand, which had started out warm, now felt like it was scalding my skin.
“You’re beautiful.” His voice rumbled low in his chest. I blinked up at him. I wanted to make some snappy remark about how thanks to him my make up was a mess, but I didn’t want to ruin this near perfect moment. Rafe’s fingertips pressed into my skin and I allowed him to guide me until I was standing. Heat radiated from his body and I resisted the urge to lean against his chest. From what I could tell, my head could tuck under his chin. And if he would tilt my chin up, our lips would meet and…
I jerked my thoughts away from that. Rafe was still staring at me.
“That’s why I got mad earlier. I thought off all the boys 你 probably have kissed… And the thought of anyone but me touching you…” His voice trailed off. I glanced down and saw his fists clench under water. I took a deep breath.
“ I don’t want anyone but 你 to 吻乐队（Kiss） me.” I 说 softly. A smile 分裂, 拆分 his face and Rafe’s hands glided through the water to rest on my hips and tugged me closer. His heat was getting hard for me to bear.
“ Im sorry.” His voice 说 everything.
“I am too.”
His arms slid around me, hauling me up against his hard chest. Just like I had pictured, my head fit right under his chin, like two pieces of a puzzle clicking together. I rested my hands on the hard planes of his chest, his arms encircling me. I had never felt like I was supposed to be anywhere before in my life. But here, in his arms, I couldn’t imagine ever leaving.








Wow guys.. All i can say is that i am SOOO FREAKIN SORRY! i have been gone for a LONG time and i hope y'll can forgive me. Ive missed 你 all so much! Hope 你 like this chapter! Im going to try to work on my other stories ASAP!