I push up with my legs until my head breaks past the surface of the water, cool air hitting my skin so suddenly I gasp with shock. Fat water droplets stick to my eyelids and I brush them away with the backs of my fingers. My lungs burn with the way my breath had caught so suddenly and I choke on the remnants of water in my throat.

What. The. Shit.

"Hell, Sierra." Holden is at the edge of the pond and gaping at me. His eyes scroll everywhere he can possibly look. "Are you okay?"

Am I okay? I'm humiliated. I'm sopping wet and half-naked and I fell in the fucking pond. My coordination is generally bad but that was clumsy even for me. My cheeks are so hot I almost forget about the shivering mess I am.

"Fine," I squeak, even as my throat tightens in embarrassment.

Oh my God. Please don't tell me I'm about to cry in front of him a second time. But I can't help how the backs of my eyes start stinging. I think it's more out of frustration than anything—frustration that I'm constantly a mess around him, especially when I care so much about what he thinks about me even though I'd never admit it.

"Sierra?" I can feel his eyes on me. "Come out of the water."

I don't really want to. I'm kind of in the middle of denying this is happening at all so I stay where I am, wrapping my arms around myself when the breeze picks up and the chill on my bare skin reminds my that I yanked my shirt off. You know, because there was a CENTIPEDE on it. That was probably the only part of this shit show that wasn't dramatic. I shudder when I remember the sensation of its million legs creeping up my arm.

"Why won't you come out?" He asks quietly. His question reminds me that I'm just standing here and sulking and probably making the situation more awkward. Crap. I'm mentally forcing myself to just laugh it off when Holden suddenly crouches low. "Fine. If you won't come out then I'm coming in."

"What?" I blurt.

He's not serious, right? But he is. He so, totally is. I back up in shock when he puts both of his legs in the water and drops himself in the rest of the way. The pond is short enough that  the water only comes up to his torso but still, what the cheese is he doing? I gape at him, at a loss.

"What are you doing?" I smack his chest. "I'm already a mess here. How does this help?"

He moves so quick I can't even comprehend how it happened. One second he's wading through the water, closer and closer to me, and the next he has my back pinned to the edge of the pond with his arms braced beside me. I'm locked in by him and if I had to go off that damned glint in his eye, he's pretty pleased with himself.

His head dips between his shoulders, bringing our faces impossibly close. I hold my breath in shock. "You run and I run after you, remember?"

Oh.

My heart is pounding so loud it sounds like it's outside of my body. I wonder if Holden can hear it too. It takes a second to be able to muster up the words.

"You meant that?" My voice comes out breathier than intended, maybe even a little pleading, but I'm not embarrassed. Not when Holden's eyes flash to my lips, and then to my chest which is heaving a lot harder than it normally does. There's absolutely no reason to be embarrassed about a reaction he's obviously enjoying.

His eyes drag back up, slowly, almost like it's forced. They pin mine in place but that's laughable because there's nowhere else I'd rather be right now. Pigs are flying, twerking, singing a damn song. But I don't care. I want him and he knows it.

"You've always underestimated the things I would have done for you," His voice rumbles. There's accusation in his voice and challenge. God, that's so like him. Always challenging others and himself. "And I don't like it when people underestimate me, Sierra."

Oh, sweet mercy. This isn't the Holden that humours my antics, or plays my games, or acts like a total d-bag. This is the Holden that runs the show, that built himself up to show everyone he couldn't be broken down, the Holden that gets what he wants. And I think right now he wants me.

"Um," I lick my lips nervously, drawing his gaze back there. It wasn't my intention but I'm not about to complain. "Is this another one of your distract Sierra so she doesn't lose her shit schemes?"

His mouth tugs up on one corner. "Am I getting better at those too?"

"You tell me," I whisper. If he wants to be challenged...well...

He bites the inside of his cheek, like he's holding off a smile, but just as quickly it slips away. His dark eyes become sharp and focused, mouth tightened with intensity, commanding my undivided attention. We keep our gazes locked even as I watch his arms move in my peripheral, and then feel his hands take hold of my waist. My mouth parts as the slightest gasp escapes me. His hands are so warm compared to cold bare skin and they're all I can focus on anymore, my senses honed in on his touch. He's all I feel as his hands skim to my back and offers the barest of tugs towards him. Our chests brush and it's crazy but even through the material of his shirt I can feel his hard muscles and body heat. The top of my vision streaks with black when my eyes shutter involuntarily.

"What about this?" He whispers back. Each of his steady exhales skate over my lips, taunting me with what I don't have. At least not yet. "Is this distracting you?"

I have to grip his biceps when my knees quiver with adrenaline, making them weak, until I can't depend on them to hold myself up. I'm forced to lean on Holden which brings us even closer together and suddenly our mouths are an inch away, if that. His muscles tense under my fingers.

"I think you can do better than that, Satan," I taunt. I have no idea where that came from, and the boldness is so unlike me, but I can't help it. Something is happening here that I know is about to change everything between us but, well, that's kind of the point, isn't it?

The softest chuckle whispers past those lips I want so much, and then they're on me. On my neck, tasting the skin there with soft pecks and a tease of tongue. He takes his time, drugging me with languid kisses that make melt into him. They're slow and deliberate like he's savouring the taste of me. My eyes fall shut in response, wanting so bad to stay suspended in this moment and never stop feeling the things he's making me feel. Gently, he kisses his way across my collarbone before burying his face into the crook of my neck, where it meets my shoulder. He nips the sensitive skin there with the slightest graze of his teeth and I hear myself gasp, the sound overwhelmingly loud in the quiet we're surrounded in.

"Distracted yet?" He murmurs.

One of his glides up to cup the back of my neck, his other hand spanning across the deepest arch in my back to hold me against him. And wow, either he's enjoying this as much as I am or he's hiding a baseball bat in his pants.

"Better keep going," I respond breathlessly. My heart hasn't stopped racing since he got here.

The pads of his thumb dig their way between my hair and then he tugs back, lifting his head to look down at me. Our eyes lock, both of us breathing hard. My chest heaves with anticipation of something more. More of his lips but somewhere else entirely.

Maybe he reads my mind. Maybe I'm just being really obvious because his stare moves to my mouth, parted and ready for his lips to fit between mine. And I know we don't make sense in so many ways but I think that if there's one thing we have the potential to get right, or even perfect, it would be the way we kiss. There's no way we would get that wrong. I just know it.

"Holden," I whisper pleadingly when he doesn't move beyond just looking at me.

A ghost of a smile takes over him. "Hmm. I think Satan might be starting to grow on me."

"I think you might be starting to grow on me." It comes out as a reluctant mumble and Holden laughs under his breath. He leans close enough for our noses to brush, for me to feel his lips without actually feeling them, and I swear my gut just melts.

"Liar." He moves one of his legs between mine, purposely nudging the part of my body that's most sensitive for him. He starts rocking that leg just barely, rubbing and teasing, and watching me with complete confidence even though this is freaking crazy. He's the one in control here and he's not about to stop. And, oh man, I'm not about to let him, am I? "You want me. Run all you want, for as long as you want, but you want me. This. So say it."

Holy crap. I visibly falter, my breath catching and eyes going wide. I shouldn't be surprised by his bluntness. Holden likes to face facts, to take what's in front of him and do something about it, and doesn't hesitate once he makes up his mind. I've just never been at the forefront of it and it admittedly triggers my fight-or-flight response all over again. At this point I'm torn between jumping out of his grasp or clocking his nose. But I don't because A) he wouldn't appreciate that and B) there's something pleading about his eyes that gives me pause.

"Why?" I ask. I ask because I want to know why he looks like he's trying to hang on to my every word here. I ask because he's never looked so...open to me before.

"Because I don't like being blindsided," He rasps. He rocks his leg faster, almost torturing the answer out of me, and my pulse struggles to slow down, in more places than one. "I don't appreciate my time being wasted. So tell me you're not wasting mine and I won't just run, Sierra. I'll sprint."

My stomach liquefies. I'm so embarrassingly done for this man. I should hate him but I don't. I shouldn't want him but I do. Oh, whatever. Who am I even fooling anymore?

"I guess I could stick around," I shrug. The edge of his lips twitch. "Since, you know, you're in such dire need of me."

"Shut up, Sierra."

"Maybe if you make me."

And he does. Or tries to. My chest twists when he closes the smallest inch between our mouths and our lips touch...only for his phone to start blaring like it's announcing a purge.

"Ignore it." I turn his face back to mine when he looks over my shoulder. "Uh-uh. Over here, buddy. Head in the game."

A brief smile flickers across the mouth that's supposed to be sucking on mine before he grows somber again. "That's Mom's ringtone. Last time she called was a month ago and the next call will probably be just as far off."

"So you better take it," I finish for him. My shoulders slump. "Fine. Tell Mrs. Rey I said hi."

He nods and lifts himself up out of the water, running over to his phone before the call goes unanswered. I stay where I am, watching that perfect butt with a deep sigh. So much for the promise I made about never letting him in again. Sixteen-year-old Sierra is kicking my ass right about now.

__________________________

A/N

Now I KNOW I'm torturing y'all and I'm not sorry. But seriously—the tension and angst between these two? I can't.

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