CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
JACE
“Jace!” Lily was waving at me from shore as we rowed in. Daphne’s friend Carla was standing next to her and looking at Lily like she was crazy. Lily was waving like she hadn’t seen me in weeks. It had literally only been minutes. I guessed that’s why she was getting the look from Carla.
I waved back as I waded out of the boat into the water and started to pull it the rest of the way up to shore. Suddenly, Daphne was beside me.
“You should have stayed in the boat. I would have done this.”
She smiled. She has a beautiful smile. I’d made myself keep my eyes trained on her face the whole time. They really wanted to go to her chest. That tight, little t-shirt was soaked and clinging to her body. The water was cold, so her nipples were hard and pressing hard against her bra and t-shirt so that if I looked right at them, I could almost visualize the entire outline.
Look at her face, Jace. That didn’t help a lot. Her pretty blonde hair was wet and stuck to her face in places. I was incredibly tempted to reach over and tuck one of those long strands behind her ear.
Temptation was killing me. I wished the Lord would tell me what He expected me to do already, so we could move on.
We got the canoe up out of the water and suddenly, Lily was also by my side. “Are you okay?” she asked me.
She was touching my arm again, rubbing her hand up and down. I took a step away. What part of “You’re hitting on a priest in front of the entire congregation” was hard for her?
I smiled as I stepped away to ease it a bit and I said, “I’m fine, Lily. I really am. Daphne and I need to go find some dry things and change. Can you do me a favor?”
“Of course.” She glanced at Daphne with a smug look. Can women sense competition or am I that obvious when I look at Daphne?
“The rest of the boats will be coming in one after the other here. Can you ask a few of the guys to stand by and help whoever needs it get their boats up to the shore and maybe two or three of the ladies to start lunch?”
“I can do that,” Lily said with a smile. Now I noticed that Daphne was looking at her with curiosity; I was willing to bet that she thought I was sleeping with her. Once a fallen priest…
I supposed I deserved whatever it was that she was thinking of me. I was still praying that she would choose to keep it between us. I knew that one day I’d have to answer for my sins, but I’d like for that to be in the face of God and Jesus Christ and not the faces of my entire congregation.
“Come on, Daphne, I’ll show you where the clothes are.” I tried calling myself a sick pervert and remembering my vows of chastity that I had taken, but God, she looked so hot in that wet t-shirt.
How am I not supposed to look at her? Yes, I’m a priest, but I’m also a man. If she was in a club right now and they were having a contest, she’d win it hands down.
The cut-off jeans already looked hot. Her legs were long and lean and tanned…too much good stuff to look at and I shouldn’t have been looking at any of it. I especially shouldn’t have been sporting the erection that I was desperately trying to hide. But I was still a man, right?
“This wicker trunk has the ladies clothes in it. The men’s are on the other side. We can change in the bathroom and hang ours out somewhere to dry while we have lunch,” I told her.
She smiled. She was so pretty. “Okay, thank you,” she said. She lifted the lid on the basket. When she looked back up at me nervously a few seconds later, I realized that I was still standing there, staring at her beautiful backside. I felt my face go hot. She blushed, too.
“Okay, I’ll leave you to it,” I said. Shaking my head at myself internally, I went around to the other side of the little wooden building. I opened the men’s trunk and pulled out a pair of shorts and a t-shirt. I took them into the little building where the bathroom was. I stripped off my wet clothes with Daphne still on my mind.
My erection got larger and I felt guiltier. I wondered if God would hold my thoughts against me, as well as my actions. I wanted to touch myself, but at least I resisted that. I wanted to picture her in that wet t-shirt while I masturbated, but that in itself was another sin.
I physically shook myself and went over to the sink and grabbed a few paper towels to dry myself off. As I was dabbing under my arms, I heard a creaking sound. I turned around and me and my erection were staring at Daphne’s shocked face. Jesus, I’m glad I wasn’t touching myself. Her eyes automatically fell to my throbbing organ and seemed to stick there. That didn’t help the state I was in at all.
The whole thing only took seconds, but it seemed like hours before my brain kicked in and I grabbed the shirt and held it in front of me and Daphne’s wide eyes found my face.
“I’m so sorry! The door was unlocked…” Her face was bright red as she turned and raced out the door.
Jesus, could this mess get any worse? Cursing my luck, or wondering if it was luck or another test by God, I hurried and got dressed. This was only going to make things more uncomfortable between Daphne and me. The poor girl already acted like she didn’t know what to say to me and she was a nervous wreck any time we were alone together. I need to talk to her.
When I got out to the picnic area, I saw that a lot of the boats were coming in and a few people were already walking over. Daphne was sitting alone at one of the tables. I took a deep breath and started towards her.
Just as I did, Lily called out my name. I turned and saw her and Daphne’s friend struggling to get one of the canoes in. It had been manned by an elderly couple who wanted their own boat, but the Mr. is almost eighty and his wife probably weighs about ninety pounds.
I looked back at Daphne. She was looking at me. I gave her a little smile and she smiled back, nervously. Our talk would have to wait until later, but I was convinced it had to happen. This…whatever it was that I felt for her, was getting out of hand. I turned and went back over to help pull the boat in.
“Nice shirt,” Lily said with a giggle as I walked up. I grabbed the canoe out of her hands and pulled on it. I heard Daphne’s friend giggle, too. I guessed the two made friends. After I got the boat in I looked down to see what they found so amusing.
My shirt, or the one I’d borrowed, was inside out and it stopped about a half an inch above the waist of my borrowed shorts. I looked like I was wearing a crop top. I had been so nervous after Daphne walked in on me that I didn’t even pay attention to how ridiculous I looked. Now, I couldn’t help but laugh at myself.
Shaking my head, I looked at Lily and said, “I think I’ll go pick out another shirt. Would you mind helping with the plates until I get over there?”
“Not at all,” she said. She touched my arm again as she went by and looked at me flirtatiously as she dragged her fingers seductively across my bicep.
Daphne’s friend Carla was watching us and then her eyes cut over towards where her friend sat. Son of a…she knows. Daphne had to have told her and now she was worried about her friend. Dear God, now I had to worry that another person is going to say something to someone.