Free Him by Carey Heywood, Yesenia Vargas

server is back with my drink. I sip it and turn to watch Christine and her friends dance, mentally mapping out the drive to the local animal shelter back home. It’s clear I’m going to end up a crazy spinster thanks to Will. I might as well start collecting cats to complete the picture.
     
     
     
    Chapter 8
    Past
     
     
     
    William Ethan Price has just told me I look fucking hot. I may never breath e normally again. After his unexpected declaration, he casually lifts himself from my raft and floats away like nothing just happened. In fact, for the rest of the day, he acts like he didn’t just drop the biggest bomb on me. From the lazy river, we go further into the park to the water slides. I may have forgotten how to breathe again when he grabs my hand and pulls me to a tandem slide. He sits in the tube first, and I hesitate before sitting in front of him, between his legs, my back to his chest. I cringe, wondering if he feels me shiver when his bare chest is on my back. Or if he hears my heart pounding when he wraps his arms around my waist.
    I gently lay my hands on his arms, raising them unexpectedly when he removes his arms from my waist. For a moment , I'm wondering what happened until I feel his hands on my shoulders as he pulls me towards him so that I'm lying against him before circling my waist with his arms again. My neck is still stiff, holding my head up. His mouth is at my ear telling me to relax. I close my eyes and lean my head on him, turning my face to look at his neck. I see his jaw flex as he grins. I have never in my life felt this much skin to skin contact with anyone.
    All at once , we're flying after the attendant uses his foot to propel our tube down the slide. Will's grip on me tightens as he leans forward, his cheek pressing against mine. We crash into the water a tangle of arms and legs. When I stand and turn my back to him, wiping water from my eyes, I hear him suck in a breath. Then he's behind me again, his body pressed to mine. I look back at him, and my mouth drops when I feel his hands on my ass. I'm about to ask him what he's doing when I feel him adjust my bikini bottom. I blush all over. I guess at some point during our slide, my suit shifted. He looks down at me, and I mouth thank you, his hands still on me. He leans forward, and for a moment, I wonder if he's going to kiss me.
    "Get you some , Price!"
    We look up. Kyle and Jessica are standing to the side of us.
    She glares at Will. "Never knew you had a thing for SPT, Will."
    I exhale and step away from him, feeling his fingertips tighten briefly before I'm out of their grasp. SPT . God, I hate that nickname. I may never forgive Mrs. Hall for having that book on her lesson plan, Sarah Plain and Tall. That was the book our class had been assigned to do those team projects on. I hate that book with every fiber of my being. The nickname came the day of our oral presentations and when our physical projects were unveiled. My and Will’s project was nothing amazing. We made a cereal box based on the book. It was the diorama of Mariah Osborne and Kelly Sotello that started the whole thing. They had taken my sixth grade class picture and made me the Sarah from the book. With my brown hair and brown eyes, I was plain.
    Mrs. Hall made them remove the picture , but the damage had already been done. I was SPT from that point on for the rest of middle school. In high school, the nickname seemed to fade away for the most part. Only the truly evil bitches still broke it out from time to time. Will knows how much it bothers me. Catching up to me, he drapes his arm around my shoulders as we make our way to our towels. Grabbing mine, he wraps it around me. He looks back at Jessica, who is still watching us as he tugs on my towel, pulling me towards him and gently kissing me on my forehead. I look up at him, trying to blink away threatening tears.
    "You are not plain . You are beautiful, Sarah, inside and out. She only says those things because