.

My two weeks of grounding are up in two days. This time I took it harder. I don't regret going to the party in the least; I had so much fun with Jax that it really was worth it.

But this has been six weeks now of being without my friends. I had one sleepover with them. Tonight they all drove into town and went to a music festival without me. I sit in bed and see Facebook posts from all three of them and I'm stuck.

I find my parents outside staining the deck. Once again, I find myself treading lightly. I know my dad is pissed that I was drinking again.

"I have a question..." I begin.

"No." My dad replies. "You are grounded you are not going out with friends."

He didn't even look up from the deck. My mom looks to him and back at me frowning. She lets me get away with a lot more. She grew up here, she knows what it's like. Dad grew up in much bigger town.

"That's not even what I was going to ask..."

"Well whatever it is, the answer is no."

"Gabby, ask your question." My mom tosses her brush down, settling her palms to her hips. She's about to start an argument and my dad knows it. He's already muttering beneath his breath.

"I'm tired of reading from the porch. May I please go to the dock? It's quiet there. All my friends are at the music festival in town. You can breathalyze me when I get home. It's been six weeks and I just need out of the house."

"Home by eight," she picks up her brush again.

"Vicky!" My dad's eyes dart up to her. "She's grounded!"

"For Christ's sake, Dan! She wants to go read a book! If that's the worst of our problems with her — I'm okay with that!"

I continue watching their argument. I guess I feel as if I should stick around and see who wins. I don't want to leave and get into more trouble.

"Gabby go read. If you come back and blow anything you're grounded for a month." My mom glares at me. The woman is literally going to battle for me right now.

"Thank you."

"Yep." She pops the P, letting me know I owe her.

As I hurry back inside I can hear their argument continuing. I grab my book, a blanket and a bottle of water before I rush out of the house and into the wooded area beside Lake Lux.

It's about a half mile walk through the brush to make it to the dock, but worth the walk. I know this pathway like the back of my hand. I've been coming to this dock since I was about seven. It took longer if you took the road by foot so I never did it unless I had my car.

I push through the last of the brush, pulling leaves and small twigs from my hair. Then I see him — a tattooed man sitting on my dock. And what is he doing, might you ask? He is reading.

I stare at Jax. He doesn't even know I'm here. His head is down, lost in the pages as his legs dangle over the water.

I honestly debate leaving. I know how I am when I'm engulfed in a book, but at the same time, I'm intrigued. I want to know what on Earth this man could possibly be reading at my dock.

"Alfie, you stole my spot!" I call out to him as I approach.

He looks up from the book with big eyes shaking his head at me. "This is not your spot. Finders keepers."

"Dude, it's claimed." I take the toe of my chucks and point it to the initials GB, among a few others, that are carved into the corner post of the dock. He glances at it and laughs.

I sit beside him and smile. "You read?"

"Thanks, Gabby, for keeping up with the criminal stereotype. I am literate."

"I didn't mean it like that. I just didn't realize you were a 'reader'. I love to read."

"I know." He looks back down to his open page.

He knows? How the hell would he know anything about me?

"Um, Alfie? You can't just leave it at that. How do you know I like to read?"

"You read like twenty-four-seven from your porch. Saw you the first day we moved in. Why do you think I call you Books?"

"Hmph. Guess I never thought about it..."

He chuckles and continues reading.

I haven't even seen him since he fingered me in the hallway. I haven't spoken to him since I hung up on him after getting off. I'm not exactly sure how I'm supposed to act around him.

"Can I sit here and read too? This is the one place my parents would let me go and I really needed out."

He looks up to me and smiles. "Sure."

I sit beside him, cover my legs with my blanket and open my book.

We read in silence for about ten minutes before I can't take it anymore and I grab his book from him to see what he's reading. I laugh as soon as I see the cover, because I have the same book on my shelf at home, The Ultimate Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.

"It's not romance. You won't like it," he takes it back with a roll of his eyes.

Um, speaking of stereotypes...

"Excuse me? I have read that at least a hundred times."

"You are so full of shit, Books. You've never heard of Douglas Adams."

Now he's just pissing me off. Why would he think I haven't read it?

"Human beings, who are almost unique in having the ability to learn from the experience of others, are also remarkable for their apparent disinclination to do so." I offer my favorite quote from the book in his hands.

His eyes come to mine and a genuine smile appears on his face.

"Books, you surprise me a little more every time we hang out."

I giggle and go back to reading my own book. Suddenly, I remember something he told Felix that I never asked him about.

"Jax you went to the University of Northern Iowa..."

"That I did," he agrees without looking up.

"What did you major in?"

He sighs and closes his book. "Literature. I was going to be a teacher."

He glances to me to see my reaction.

"Seriously?" I lift a brow to him.

"Yes, seriously." He sighs. "Having a record put an end to it."

"I thought you said it didn't happen while you were in school?"

"It didn't happen there. It happened at home. I'm not from Iowa." He places his book next to him and grabs part of my blanket and covers himself too.

"I'm surprised you haven't tried to steal back that orgasm yet, Alfie."

"I'm debating on it," he laughs.

"You aren't getting any tonight," I giggle and lay back on the dock.

"That's okay," he nods and looks out over the lake.

He's acting strange. Maybe he's not and I just don't know him well, which I don't, but tonight he is not playful.

He looks down over me. "Books, can I ask you a question?"

"Sure," I shrug.

"About the night with Tyler?"

My stomach sinks and I look away from him.

Why the hell does he want to talk about that?

"Not exactly foreplay, Jax. Bringing up the guy a girl loses her virginity to is sort of a buzzkill."

"You don't remember it..."

"No. I don't. I told you, I was drunk."

I sit back up on the dock and cross my legs like a pretzel. I wish I was drunk having this conversation.

"Do you tend to drink like that a lot? Where you black out?"

"No. It was a rough night. Why does it matter? I assure you, I was not drunk when I let you touch me, Alfie. If that's what this is about — I wanted it."

A smile creeps over his face and his head cocks to the side. Playful Jax is back and he's sending my belly into a frenzy of flip flops.

"You wanted it?"

I can't help but to smile back at him. "Well you kissed me to make Tyler jealous and it was hot. So yeah, I wanted it."

His lips connect to mine. My body immediately reacts to his, as if his lips flip on some sort of switch in me. This guy turns me on like no one else. I lie myself back onto the wooden dock and he follows, hovering over me as I place my hands on his face and keep him locked in it.

My lips part, allowing his tongue to enter. This results in a groan leaving the back of his throat.

He's just as turned on right now as I am...

He tugs on my lip with his teeth and then let's it go to begin kissing my neck. I push my head back allowing him to do so, but also pushing my body into his, telling him I like this.

His hand moves to my outer thigh and he takes my leg and wraps it around him. Those lips aren't leaving my neck and I feel him tug lightly on the skin with his teeth.

My eyes close and my mouth drops open in pleasure.

"Jax, I've changed my mind. I think I'm going to need one of orgasms tonight."

I can feel his lips turn into a smile against the skin of my neck.

"Sure thing, Books..." he whispers.

He brings the hand from my thigh up to my waist and begins slowly tugging on my shorts.

I press my body into him harder... and that's when I heard a car coming.

My eyes fly open and peer at the woods.

"Jax, that's going to be my dad!"

He rolls off quickly and we both get to our feet. My panic begins to set in. I look back to Jax with wide eyes as he begins looking for a place to run.

"You need to get out of here. Like — now."

"I can't exactly walk past his car and wave hello to him, Gabby!"

"Don't take the road! Take the path!"

"It's filled with raspberry bushes and I am deathly allergic. Happen to have an EpiPen handy?"

I can hear the car getting closer and we both look back to the woods to the sound of crunching sticks. Our eyes fly back to each other's.

"Sorry, Alfie!" I yell as he almost has time to react. I push him as hard as I can off the dock and he falls into the water behind him.

He returns to surface in shock, spitting out lake water and rubbing his burning eyes. "Books!" he yells angrily. "What the hell?"

"Go under the dock and do not make a sound!"

I sit back down on the dock's edge pull my blanket back over my legs. I flip open my book as if I was not just dry humping a man in this very spot.

He slaps the water in frustration and walks under the dock.

"Gabby Brooks, the shit I put up with for you," I hear from below me.

A smile appears on my face and I can't help but to giggle.

The car finally pushes through the opening and I feel myself take a deep breath.

Please don't let him hear Jax under this dock. I will be grounded for life.

I don't look up. I keep my eyes on the book as my dad gets out of his patrol car and walks towards the dock.

"Mom said I could leave. It's only six, she said eight."

"Just checking on you, Gabs. You haven't been drinking have you?"

"Not since the party two weeks ago, no. Would you like to breathalyze me, Officer Brooks? I can assure you it will be a zero."

"I trust you," he sighs and sits on the post besides me.

A laugh escapes my mouth. "Right."

"I do Gabby..."

I feel myself get angry, if he trusted me then he wouldn't be standing here. When I left today, my intentions were good. I didn't know Jax was here.

"Then why are you even here? You are checking to see if my friends are here, if Jax is here, or if I'm drinking..."

"Gabby..."

"Felix used to come home so shit faced that one night he slept in the bushes and he didn't get grounded!" I slam my book shut and look up to him. "I drink socially, usually one or two, and I get grounded!"

"I never hauled away Felix in my patrol car from a lake party with him puking out the window! So I would watch the comparisons."

There was a big comparison there. He had no idea what had happened that night. Hell, I had no idea what had happened that night.

"It's my senior year and I've been grounded for the entire second half of it. There's two months left."

He presses his lips together and looks out over the water. I don't foresee this going my way, I've given him no reason to trust me. The guy he told me to stay away from was literally under the dock.

"Fine. You're not grounded anymore. Stop the lying and you will remain that way."

"Fine." I give him a nod and look back to my book.

"I'll see you at home." He goes to leave and stops. He stares down at the book sitting next to me.

"Gabs, why do you have two books?" he looks to me with confusion.

Fuck.

The water ripples and luckily my dad does not notice. I need to lie. He literally just told me not to lie and I'm about to.

I look back up to him. "Couldn't decide if I wanted to laugh or cry. Thought I'd bring Douglas Adams and Nicholas Sparks."

He stares at it. "I thought the one we got you was blue..."

"I have two copies. The black one has an extra chapter about the author."

"You're odd, Gabs" he shakes his head laughing. "I'm not sure how I got two athletes and you. I'll extend it to nine PM, okay? I don't like when you're out here by yourself after dark."

"You got it, Officer." I give him a nod.

"Enjoy your books, Gabs."

I watch his car pull disappear into the trees. My smile returns to my face.

"You're in the all-clear, Alfie."

Jax reappears from under the dock shaking his head. "Books..."

I begin giggling as he pulls himself back to the dock. The man is drenched. His white shirt clings to his abs. The bottom of his jeans and his shoes are covered in mud.

I look up to him and attempt to stop laughing, it's useless. My fit of giggles will not stop, I can barely breathe.

A smirk appears on his face. "Oh Books, you better stop those giggles..."

I cover my mouth and shake my head at him. The laughing continues.

"You asked for it," he shrugs laughing. He leans down and picks me up as I scream.

"Jax no! No!"

He jumps back into the water with me in his arms. Instantly I'm soaked. The water is cold and tastes terrible. I come to the surface and splash the tattooed man in front of me as he holds hands in front of his face to dodge the water.

"Well I wanted to get you wet..." he laughs.

"You are such an ass," I giggle.

He swims towards me and I wrap my arms around his neck and wrap my legs around his waist.

"You're lying to Daddy Dan. I don't think he would approve of this."

I did lie. Again. I promised I wouldn't lie. I promised I would stay away from this man. I like him.

My eyes meet his as he continues to hold me in the cold lake water.

"This is worth lying about."

His dark green eyes meet mine. They shift down to my lips and back to me. A smile comes across his face.

"We are in so much trouble, Books..."

He is so cold I can see his breath. Now I find myself looking at his lips. I can't take it anymore, my lips collide with his. He returns it and tightens his hold on me.

He pulls away and smiles at me. "Still want that orgasm? We have almost three hours to kill."

I smile back and shake my head no.

"I think I'm going to milk this out a bit longer, Jackson Parker."

<><><>

I walk back to my house after a lengthy, cold and intense make-out session on the dock. We leave at seven thirty so I can make it back by eight. I want to stay on my dad's good side by coming home early. I walk back with Jax, avoiding the woods and taking the road.

"Raspberries, huh?" I lift an eyebrow to him.

"Yeah," he laughs. "Swell up like a balloon, it's a good time. Was a bit surprised to see so many of them in the woods."

I nod. "They grow like crazy all the way around the lake. We pick them right from the bushes and eat them."

"Please don't eat them and kiss me," he grabs my waist and pulls me back to him.

I stand on my tip toes and kiss him again. "Noted, Alfie."

I find his eyes again. I need to stop this because I know I like him.

"Gabby, sooner or later those orgasms are going to happen," he stares down at me. "Nothing will come of this. It can't..."

My stomach sinks because I know he's right. He can never be anything other than a secret, my dad would never allow anything and I don't even know what this guy did. My feet go back to flat and I pull away from him to continue walking.

"I know."

<><><>

"Gabby! You are a mess!" My mom looks to me with horror on her face.

I stand by the front door, wet from head to toe, holding my book and my blanket. I'm still freezing from the cold water.

"Holy shit," Sydney giggles from the couch. "You look like a swamp monster!"

"Fell in the lake," I shrug.

"Take your shoes off outside!" she glares at the mud that is all the way up to my ankles.

I walk back outside, sit on the porch steps, and pull off my muddy chucks as I see Jax do the same thing on his porch. We stare at each other from across the road and both of us laugh. Both of us are wet, muddy, cold and remembering that we just made out in Lake Lux.

He was right — we are in trouble.