Read Lucky Penny for Free Online

yelled, “Last one in cooks.”
    They set off in the direction of the lake peeling off their clothes as they went. Without stopping, they both leaped off the dock and bombed into the water. A huge wave rose up and splashed around them.
    Marissa chuckled and stood up next to me. “You game?” She yanked her tank over her head and stood there in front of everyone in just her shorts and bra.
    “Hmm, I don’t think so.” I pulled my arms tighter suddenly feeling self-conscious.
    She shrugged, unbuttoning her shorts and shimmying them down her toned legs. “Suit yourself. Keep hold of my clothes for me. Last year, some jackass hid them, and I had to walk back to the cabin half naked.”
    Marissa took off, catching up with Sheridan and Liam, who had already stripped down to their undergarments. I scooped up her clothes and walked down closer to the water, taking a seat on one of the overturned trunks. As I watched everyone swimming in the lake, a feeling of sadness washed over me. Here I was, one of the oldest counselors and yet, the most sheltered. I had never experienced this, right here. Never thrown caution to the wind and just let go. I was a prisoner of my past, and for all my progress over the last few months, I was still captive to my fears.
    “This seat taken?”
    My eyes fluttered shut and my breath caught in my throat as the person I’d been trying hard to avoid sat down beside me.
    “You’re not going in?”
    I shook my head, my fingers finding the edge of the carved-out bark. I dug them in feeling the rough edge bite into my skin, but I welcomed the sensation, needing it to ground me. My breathing became shallow as I concentrated on relaxation techniques to try to keep in control.
    Blake’s presence brought out intense feelings in me, and I wasn’t used to feeling such confusion. On the one hand, I wanted to run far away again like the night I’d first found him across the fire, but part of me—the part that remembered—wanted to bask in him. To reach out and touch him to make sure this wasn’t a dream. To confirm that the guy I’d given my heart to such a long time ago was really here.
    “I’m sorry about the other night,” he said staring out at the lake.
    My eyes took in every detail of his face, a face I’d once known almost as well as my own. His brown hair was longer, falling over his eyes a little when it was damp, and he had a thick layer of stubble covering his jaw. Seven years had been good to him. He had filled out in all the right places. But despite his sameness, something about him was different. I couldn’t quite put my finger on it. My heart had recognized him right off the bat, but after catching glimpses of him around the camp over the last couple of weeks, my head realized the guy I had once loved was changed.
    But then, weren’t we all.
    Lost in the lines of his side profile, I didn’t sense him turning to face me until two blue pools stared back at me.
    “Okay, can we start over? As crazy as it is seeing you here, for as much as I’m trying to get my head around what it means, we have to find a way to be around one another.”
    I inhaled another deep calming breath. Blake was right. We had to find a way to make this work.
    “You’re right.”
    His reaction to my words caught me off guard; I could feel the relief rolling off him as if he couldn’t believe I had actually replied…and agreed.
    Blake cleared his throat, and I was sure I caught a nervous quiver, which made little sense. Things might have been awkward between us, yes, but what did he have to feel nervous about?
    “Okay, I’d like that. To get to know you again, I mean. It’s been a long time, Pen.”
    Seven years.
    “Weston, get your ass over here,” a voice called out from the lake and Blake sighed. “I guess I should go join them. Are you sure I can’t persuade you?”
    I shook my head feeling that earlier discomfort creep in. Blake opened his mouth as if to say something but didn’t. Instead, he