Free What a Boy Needs by Nyrae Dawn Page B

it sucks , so yeah , mixed feeling on the whole raft trip.
    We head up to the raft rental building . We ' re going for one all of us can ride. The trip is only like an hour and a half. Bastian is bouncing around on his feet like he ' s about to jump in the ring with Mike Tyson during his ear-biting era , and I can ' t help but let it rub off on me. Adrenaline starts pumping through me as I think about being out there on the water.
    " Think you can handle it out there , Doc? " I give him a playful push. " I mean , it ' s not like I can ' t pick up the slack for you or anything , but ... "
    " Please , dude. The day you have to pick up my slack is the day hell freezes over. Ninja , remember? "
    I laugh because he ' s such an idiot with that ninja stuff. I open my mouth to say something , but Priscilla beats me to it , sneaking up behind him and sticking her foot out to hook in his. Bastian stumbles , as she says , " Yeah , look at that stealth. "
    Now I ' m laughing even harder. " Pris just went ninja on your ass ," I say as he tries to save face by pretending he did it on purpose.
    " Whatever. I knew she was there. "
    She surprises us both by sticking her foot out and doing it again. " Damn it! " he yells , half a smile on his face.
    I almost fall , I ' m laughing so hard. Aspen , too , but she ' s actually trying to cover it up.
    " Aww , are you alright , big guy? " she teases , trying to wrap her arms around him.
    He starts mumbling something about her kissing it and making it better and I don ' t know where it comes from , but I hold up my hand for her to give me a high-five and say , " That ' s my girl. "
    Priscilla stumbles a little and I actually feel embarrassed. What the hell? I ' ve hit on so many girls. Met so many girls at parties and thrown out so many lines , but it ' s different saying things to the girl who means something to you. When it ' s real , you ' re out there , all vulnerable and shit wondering what she thinks about it or if you sounded like an idiot.
    Priscilla doesn ' t leave me hanging though. She lifts her hand and smacks mine the way Bastian and I would , but my heart is actually thumping . I can ' t remember my heart ever thumping like that with a girl unless we were touching a whole lot more than this , and I ' m sure it went wild then for a completely different reason.
    Before it becomes obvious I ' m pretty close to some kind of nervous breakdown or something , I grab her , putting my arm around her and pulling her close , like I would have done last year. No one needs to know I ' m practically spouting poetry in my brain. " She ' s the shit. I ' m keeping her in my corner. " I play it off , but feel like I ' m standing in front of a classroom naked or something because both Bastian and Aspen are looking at me with huge smiles on their faces.
    I don ' t even have to look to know Priscilla ' s smiling too.
    What is it they say? If you can ' t beat ‘ em , join ‘ em . I let myself crack one , too , as we go rent our raft.
    ***
    At the risk of sounding like a Hallmark card , it ' s really pretty out here. We ' re halfway through our trip and even though Aspen is wearing a shirt over her bikini , Priscilla isn ' t. I think she ' s doing it to drive me crazy. I can ' t stop looking at the curve of her hips , her legs , and all the smooth brown skin.
    It ' s crazy how many places there are on a girl to explore. Does she know how incredible she looks? All normal and happy , talking with Aspen or talking crap to me and Bastian. It ' s like she doesn ' t realize how big a deal she is. What something as simple as licking her lips or hitting my leg can do to a guy. I wonder if girls know that , the kind of affect they can have. Or maybe it ' s just Pris who has that much power. I don ' t know.
    Priscilla leans forward , the pink strands of her bikini top sliding down her back. I want to touch it. To tickle her with it. Do something to see if I can make her feel even a tenth of what I ' m feeling right