Beauty (A Midsummer Suspense Tale) by Asha King Read Free Book Online Page B

in the water seemed broken.
    Goddamn . He tried to stifle his disappointment and annoyance. “Maybe we should...” he suggested.
    “Yeah.” She avoided his eyes and they swam back toward shore, avoiding the half-dozen people now stripping out of their clothes and squealing at the temperature of the water.
    Sawyer moved swiftly ahead, not giving a damn about his nudity—the others hadn’t brought the phone with them to the water, after all—and gathered Bryar’s T-shirt first, walking back to the water to hand it to her while using every shred of restraint he had to avoid looking at her. She murmured her gratitude and slipped the T-shirt on swiftly. It wasn’t long enough to cover much else but the moon at her back left shadows over the tantalizing apex of her thighs. He busied himself slipping on his boxers and jeans while she slipped on her underwear. His clothes clung to his damp skin and would be extra chilly when the wind kicked up.
    “And the answer to ‘what is more effective than a cold shower, is...’” She smirked at him, tucked her hair behind her ear, and scooped up her jeans.
    He realized this probably meant their night was ending and there wasn’t much he could do about it. As if there was another random bonfire tomorrow? Shit, ask her on a date ? He wasn’t sure how normal people did that anymore. And where would they go for that in Midsummer? He couldn’t say, hey, let’s have a date, only somewhere private where no one will see us together. It would make him sound like a serial killer.
    The air was much colder now that his skin was wet and dampening his clothes. She likely felt it too and it wasn’t fair to extend the night when they’d just be standing around in wet clothes.
    “I’ll walk you home,” he offered, sliding on his T-shirt.
    She had her jeans on, jacket and shoes in hand, and the strap of her bra hanging out of the sleeve of her coat. She glanced absently down the beach before she spoke next. “Do you live around here? I mean, do you know the area? Because the shortcut is only about twenty minutes and involves a dark path through some woods. I know the way myself but I wouldn’t want you getting turned around and lost.”
    He could drive her too, he supposed, but that would involve leading her back to the beach house and inviting more questions. Especially when he’d have to rouse Jeffrey just to find the keys. “Walk you part of the way?”
    “Sure.”
    Sawyer carted his shoes in hand as she did and threw his button down over his shoulder. Their discarded beer bottles—empty—lay to the side, and he scooped those up too to deposit where the others were by the bonfire. The sand was cold and smooth underfoot, making for slow walking but an otherwise comfortable pace considering the company.
    “So your sister and brother-in-law live in Midsummer?” she said after a moment.
    “Just visiting. For a few weeks.”
    More silence. Now it was the awkward kind, because they’d lost that moment in the water and he desperately wanted it back though he couldn’t see how.
    Her shoulder brushed his arm as they walked, winding along the beach and past the still-burning bonfire where he left the beer bottles. In the distance he could see the beach house and the glow of lights in the windows. Instead of heading that way, though, Bryar cut in front of him and toward a path to the right that arched away from the beach, through tall grass and toward the woods. Although the area wasn’t really thick with trees, he could see how it would get confusing at night without knowing the area. The ground was still sandy in spots, roughed with dry grass.
    “You grew up here?” he asked as she picked her way through the path.
    “Mostly. We moved around a bit when I was little but I don’t really remember much. I was running through the woods and along the beach as soon as I could figure out how to climb out my window.”
    The beach was far behind now, trees clogging his view of where they’d