The café was actually colder inside than it was outside. The sun warmed me and I had to shrug out of my coat. I hadn’t gotten far when Tade appeared in front of me.

It had been a few days since we’d talked. We’d both been busy with school and he had the added distraction of the rowing team.

“Hey.”

His baritone voice was warm and rich like dark chocolate.

“Hey back.”

He slung an arm over my shoulder, despite the audience we’d garnered. It seemed like every girl there had eyes on him. He tugged me close and pressed a kiss to my temple.

“Tell me you don’t have class.”

I was so embarrassed by all the attention, I kept my eyes glued to the ground.

“I don’t have class.”

“Good,” he declared.

He stopped us in the middle of the path to the grumbles of people that had to walk around us. He pulled me off to the side.

“Come swimming with me.”

Shocked by his request, I angled my head up to meet his eyes. I was already shaking my head.

“Besides the fact that I’m not a fan of water, it’s still winter.”

Both were excuses. I’d been taught how to swim, despite all of Mom’s fears. Plus, the weather was great. I’d taken off my jacket.

“Can you swim?”

I nodded.

He pulled something from his pocket and held it out to me. My jaw dropped. “I think you're braver than you think you are.”

The tiny figurine weighed heavy with my emotions. Linus sat with his thumb in his mouth, holding his trusty blanket. Such a little thing shouldn’t have made my heart cannibalize my fear like it was doing.

“Where did you get this?”

They didn’t sell toys at school, collectible figures included.

“The mysteries of the internet.” He grinned. “Come with me.”

I found myself bobbing my head. “I need to get my bathing suit.”

When his sexy smile flashed wickedly, I added, “I draw the line at skinny dipping.”

“Fine,” he said. “Let’s get your suit.”

I was too mystified at his gesture; I didn’t ask him what he planned to wear.

Less than an hour later, I stood on the edge of the boat with Tade standing next to me.

“One, two, three,” he counted.

We jumped hand in hand and plunged into the chilly water. I sputtered when I came up. When he surfaced, he shook his hair, sending freezing water to rain down on me.

“C-C-Cold,” I said.

He swam closer and gave me a kiss that warmed me to my toes.

“You’ll get used to it.”

Then he dunked me. When I came up, I said, “It’s on.”

After water games, we ended back on the boat, tangled in each other. As if by fate, we fit perfectly.

My body felt like summer in the middle of a desert. I rolled on top of him, needing his cool skin against me. It did nothing but fan the flames inside me. His hands wrapped around me and stroked down my back. When he reached my hips, he pulled me tighter against him. Between my bikini and his shorts, there wasn’t much separating us. His hardness pressed against my thigh and poked at my center.

That little contact caused a desire so foreign to well up inside me. I almost ground against him.

As he continued to kiss me, my breathing became ragged. If his hands had slipped inside my bottoms, I didn’t think I would have had the will to stop him.

“Shit,” he said, looking at his Apple watch. “I have to get back. I have to be at practice soon.”

I should have been relieved, but I wasn’t sure I was. To hide the fire in my cheeks, I rolled off of him.

“I’ll go pull up the anchor,” I said.

After I’d gotten off of him, my eyes had drifted downward. There was no hiding his erection. If I hadn’t left, I would have stared at it like a dog in heat.

Friday, Tade had plans with his friend. Megan dragged me out of the house, claiming that I hadn’t seen the sun outside of walking to class and back.

“Where are we going?” I asked, staring at stars and grumbling underneath my breath about not seeing the sun.

“I heard there is a get together.”

I let her drag me into one of the co-ed dorms. I hadn’t expected to see Tade. And he wasn’t alone.