As Walker watched Kurt and Brent and even Victor do cool stuff on the water skis and the boogie board, he mused that he’d never done this before. Water sports activities hadn’t been a thing for them—they had been dirt-poor. His daddy didn’t have a boat. When his father had been deployed, his mama had taken them to the city pool all summer. That had been their summer sports.

The boat slowed, and Brent, who was at the wheel, gestured to Walker. “Come on, football player, get out there and show us what you got.”

Hedging, he decided it wasn’t in him to turn down any testosterone-filled feat of strength. All he had to do was mimic what the other guys had done, right? Easy peasy.

He went to the back of the boat and got in, then put on the skis, which was more difficult than he’d thought. He grabbed the rope, crouching down. All he knew from being Special Forces was that the key to doing anything successfully was having confidence you could do it. Same thing with trying out for the Titans last year. He just watched and then copied it. Time and again.

The boat took off, and he found his ski getting hitched in the water the wrong way. He bolted up into the air, then crashed.

When he emerged from the water, the guys were laughing, and the flag was up. Brent circled back and yelled, “It’s okay. Next time, focus on keeping the skis straight.”

Walker wanted to yell back that he was focused on that, but he didn’t. Fine, maybe it wasn’t that easy.

“Stay crouched until you get your balance,” Victor shouted out.

After getting situated again, Walker signaled for Brent to take off, and Brent and Victor cheered him on. Not surprisingly, Kurt remained silent. Kurt wore sunglasses, hiding his eyes, but his arms were crossed and he looked ticked off. Which suited Walker just fine. He didn’t want to be friends with the jerk face who had broken Scarlett’s heart. In fact, he wanted to punch the guy’s face in even more.

The boat started going faster, and Walker focused on holding his legs forward and sucking his core in.

Then, bam! He was up. He held the rope with one hand and lifted the other in celebration in a fist over his head. “Whoo!” he yelled. “Yeah!”

The others, except Kurt, whooped and hollered with him.

Walker put both hands back on the rope and held on for dear life. It was a rush. Man, of course he was an adrenaline junkie. He’d been part of Night Stalkers, where you flew in and out of enemy insurgent territory as a part of daily life. Sure, this was speed without the danger, but it was still cool.

Excitement surged inside of him as the boat turned, and he went over some bumpy water. He found himself doing some of the same things the other men had done when their turn had come, shifting to the side and lifting a ski. It was a blast!

Scarlett’s face flashed into his mind. He wished she were here. He thought of playing with her in the ocean yesterday, carrying her into the water. Without warning, his ski got caught in the water, and his whole body wrenched to the side. Bam! He toppled into the water, still laughing.

As the guys in the boat put the flag up, Walker found the water skis and put them back on.

The boat circled, and Brent held out a wakeboard. “Wanna try?”

Walker was already pulling off the water skis. “Heck yeah.” He handed his skis up to Victor.

Victor grinned. “Dude, are you serious? This water sports thing is your first time?”

Walker laughed. “Yeah.”

He took the wakeboard and situated his knee halfway on. The other supporting foot was half in the water. Adrenaline shot through his system at the challenge placed before him.

The boat took off, and he was unable to get his balance, so he tumbled back into the water.

Again, Brent turned the boat back. All of them were laughing except Kurt, who simply stood on the edge of the boat, watching Walker with arms crossed like he was studying the enemy.

That was no skin off Walker’s nose. Kurt had robbed Scarlett of her best friend during her time of need. Granted, Walker knew that Marissa was just as responsible for her actions, but still. He wouldn’t hit a girl, but Kurt was fair game.

Brent called out some instructions about where to keep his weight while the boat was taking off. Walker adjusted the wakeboard, and the boat took off. Once again, he found himself on top of the water, and it felt like flying, soaring. It was awesome, and he couldn’t hold back the laughter. He couldn’t believe he hadn’t done this in all the years of his life. What had been wrong with him? Well, yes, he’d been poor. Later, he had been busy training for Special Forces.

His mind flashed to the lake house. He could see himself with a boat and his brothers. They would go crazy doing all this fun stuff. His mom had mentioned they should still get together, have family reunions. This would be a perfect one. He pictured barbecuing on the beach. He saw Zane driving the boat, with his stepson water-skiing. He saw Sloane with Hope and Grant with some prima donna movie star, and Will playing catch with Tom.

The image warmed him, because he saw Scarlett there too. Of course he would see her there. It was her house. He saw her walking over to him at the grill, putting a light hand on his bare back.

Sheer want for her and need for the whole picture struck him straight in the gut. Like a sucker punch. Yes, dang it. He needed this woman.

He didn’t know how it had happened, but he no longer wanted it to be a charade. The big question now was how. All his adrenaline felt out of control as the boat turned, and he took off over a wave and flew through the air, but unlike when he had the skis on, this truly felt like flying. Like snowboarding, in a way. But he knew coming down on the wakeboard would be tough, so he let it go and crashed into the water.

The guys on the boat were yelling and laughing.

He grinned back and liked the thought of the boat, the house, and her. Especially her.