* * *

The blistering midsummer heat envelopes me as I step outside with a glass of cold water in my hand. Immediately, the humidity makes my thin cotton tank top cling to my body even before I’m halfway down the steps.

“I get it, I get it,” I mutter to myself, “I’ve been such a bad girl that I have to spend the summer living next door to the gates of hell. Doesn’t mean you have to throw in the mugginess too.”

At least the weather’s good for one thing, I think as I feel a droplet of sweat trickle down the back of my thighs. I can barely stand to wear anything at all, so I’ve spent most of the past few days in nothing but crop tops and Daisy Dukes. Sure, I might be looking just a tad bit skanky, but I think I can pull it off. And it’s done wonders for my tan.

I hear the buzzing of the small gasoline motor, and I come around the corner of the house, knowing what I’ll find. Caleb and I have been working together all morning to try and get the lawn done here, and he insisted on running the weed whacker, saying my bare legs were in danger.

“I’m back with your wa-” I yell, but the words freeze in my throat at the sight in front of me. Caleb’s peeled off his shirt while I’ve been inside, leaving him in just a pair of jeans that hugs his lean hips like a glove, and I get a full view of the long muscles of his back and the swell of his arms and shoulders as he shuts off the motor. Just looking at the sweat glistening on his tanned skin makes my internal temperature ratchet up a few more degrees, and I’m tempted to drink half the glass of water myself, I’m burning up inside.

“Hey,” he says, turning all the way towards me and shrugging off the gas trimmer. Watching his chest and arms flex with easy strength and the bead of sweat that trickles down his pecs before coursing its way over the deep ridges of his abs has me gasping for air.

I’ve always known that Caleb was a fine, sexy specimen of manhood. But from the first time we met each other at Wesley’s estate in Hawaii, our relationship has been playful, and at times, adversarial. We always have seemed to be in a game of one-upmanship, it’s been the whole framework we’ve built our friendship around.

Now, I’m shocked at how turned on I am looking at him. There’s something about watching a man doing real work that heat up. These past few days, I’ve noticed him not as an opponent, not as a playmate, but as a man. And no matter how much I want to deny it, I want him with every fiber of my being.

Why couldn't I see this before? It makes sense, from the moment I saw him, I wanted to beat him, to show him that I was worthy of his notice. Every mean trick I played on him in Hawaii, every time I’ve tried to show him up since we’ve started working together, it’s always been to get his attention. Sometimes I’ve been subtle, like with a slight joke or making sure I wore my thinnest bra today underneath my t-shirt. Other times it’s been as in your face as a bucket of water poured over his head. Yeah, I did that too.

And now, I can’t deny it. I want him.

The corner of Caleb’s lips curl up into a cocky grin as he looks at me, and I realize I’m staring at him, the glass of ice water frozen in my hand. “You okay?”

I tear my eyes away from his sweaty abs. “Yeah, a bead of sweat just fell in my eye,” I lie my ass off, trying to maintain at least a little bit of control of myself. I’m not quite that desperate that I want to fall on my back in the freshly mown grass and spread my legs, begging him to breed me. At least, not yet. I wipe at my eyes with the back of my hand, holding out the glass of cold water. “Here. You look like you need it.”

Caleb reaches out and takes the glass from my hand, my eyes fixed on his Adam’s apple as he downs half the glass, his throat making me even more breathless before he stops and gives me a curious look. “You sure about that?”

He steps closer, and he’s so close I can feel the heat emanating from him, heat that has nothing to do with the blistering sun. I swear my internal thermometer is rising through the roof. Standing next to him, the only image I have in my head is of my entire head exploding like a cartoon thermometer, but I can’t tear my eyes away from him.

“I’m sure,” I finally reply, my voice husky. “How much more do you have to do?”

“Not much,” Caleb admits, not looking anywhere but at me. “There’s a few bushes that need trimmed, but that won’t take long at all.”

If you want to see a nicely trimmed bush, you should see mine, I think, but instead I nod. “Okay.”

The sounds of the summer fade away as I watch him finish off his drink, a trickle of water running from the side of his mouth and down to his chest, making me want to lick the clear droplet off his skin. He licks his lips, and all I can imagine is feeling his hands, his lips, his tongue licking me that way, and I moan lightly, my thighs trembling with desire.

Caleb finishes the glass before crunching the small ice cube that I’d put inside, smiling. “Mmmm, just what I needed.”

Please, please, PLEASE run that ice cube over my nipples, I want to beg him, my heart pounding in my chest like a sexual drum. “Yeah. I was just going back inside, I’ve got to get some work done on the floor-”

Trying to keep my eyes in a safe place, I fail utterly. Every glance at Caleb makes me want him more, and I stammer, unable to find a single square inch of his body that doesn’t leave my heart fluttering, my stomach twisting, and my pussy aching. Finally, in a desperate bid for keeping control, I turn to leave, but freeze feel a powerful hand grab my wrist.

“What are you doing?” I gasp as Caleb pulls me back around, my body pressing against him. I can feel his heart pounding against my chest, and between his legs is a throbbing, thick heat that leaves my knees weak.

Caleb grins at me, his eyes twinkling in a way that I’ve never seen before. “You didn’t have some smart mouth exit like you normally do.”

“Oh,” I whimper weakly. “Mind just on other things.” God, isn’t that the truth? “This heat has me burning up.”

Caleb lowers his lips until I can feel his breath on my ear, and I whimper again, my nipples hardening inside my top. “Oh, you’re burning up alright. And I know just what to do about it.”

“W-w-what do you mean?” I ask even as my hands clutch at the full, hard muscles on his chest.

“I think you know what I mean,” he growls, pressing himself into me. I can feel the rapidly hardening growing bulge in his jeans, and my legs betray me, spreading on their own to let him have access to me.

Still, I can’t do this out here, right? I weakly press against his chest, my hands asking what the hell I’m doing, I should be pulling him to me. “… I don’t know what you’re thinking, but I’m fine.”

Caleb pulls me tighter, and I moan, unable to do a damn thing to stop him, my own body saying that my mouth is a fucking liar and it’s going to take over for the moment, thank you very much. Caleb notices, and chuckles. “I think you have a problem… and I have just the tool for the job.”