Closer: Bay City Paranormal Investigation, Book 4

bottle and tossed it across the room into the bucket they were using as a recycling bin. “Okay, I’m going for a swim. Bo?”
“Definitely.” Bo toed off his running shoes, peeled off the sweaty socks and rose to his feet. “Cecile, we’ll be back later.”
“Take your time. Y’all are still on vacation.” She put the earbuds back in and started the audio, shooing them away with one slender hand. “Go on.”
Pulling off his own shoes and socks and setting them with Bo’s beside the back door, Sam followed Bo outside. He grabbed a foam raft and tucked it under his arm before leaving the relative cool of the back porch. Fierce heat wrapped around him like a blanket as he and Bo stepped out into the sun.
“My God, I think it’s gotten hotter.” Bo grinned. “Ready?”
“Ready.”
They ran across the burning sand and splashed into the ocean. The blue green water felt wonderfully cool on Sam’s overheated skin. Hooking his arms over the raft, he dug his feet into the sandy seafloor and let his body go limp.
Bo ducked underwater and popped to the surface next to Sam. “That feels absolutely fantastic.”
“Mm-hm.” Sam folded his arms on top of the raft and laid his cheek against them. “Pour some water on my head.”
“You could’ve just gone under like I did,” Bo pointed out with a laugh. Cupping his hands, he scooped a double palmful of water and dumped it over Sam’s head. “Better?”
Sam shut his eyes against the salty trickle. The sun glowed red through his closed lids. “Yeah. Do it again.”
Chuckling, Bo dumped more water over Sam’s head, kissed his shoulder and swam off. Sam stayed where he was, toes buried in the sand and head pillowed on his arms, and let the gentle swells rock him into a contented doze. He felt lazy and relaxed, the tension of the past couple of days fading in the sunshine and sea breeze. The ocean’s cool liquid embrace around his lower body formed a delicious contrast to the heat pressing like a weight on his shoulders and upper back. The only sounds were the sigh of the waves on the shore and the splashing of Bo’s arms and legs as he swam.
Sam couldn’t remember the last time he’d felt so peaceful. He wished he could shrinkwrap this moment and keep it forever.
A sudden chorus of whoops and laughter broke through Sam’s torpor. He cranked his eyelids to half-mast just in time to see a group of young men and women race down the beach and into the water. It was the people from the house next door. Sam grinned when he realized one of the boys was missing. Wonder what sort of perversions Dean’s talked him into?
A cool, wet hand planted itself between his shoulder blades. He yelped. “Cold!”
Bo laughed, fingertips drawing chilly patterns on Sam’s back. “I see one of our neighbors is missing.”
“I noticed that, yeah.” Yawning, Sam stretched his arms out across the raft. “What do you think they’re doing?”
“You mean what do I think our resident charmer is doing with his barely legal new friend?”
Sam snickered. “Yeah.”
“Hm. Well, I imagine they’re…”
Bo trailed off into silence. Frowning, Sam twisted his head around. Bo was staring into the middle distance, his features slack.
Fear clutched at Sam’s insides. “Bo?”
Bo blinked, and his eyes focused on Sam’s face. He smiled. “Sorry. I was just thinking.”
Suspicious, Sam narrowed his eyes. “About what?”
“Nothing, really. Just hoping Dean’s summer fling really is legal. I’d hate for him to get in trouble.”
Bo radiated sincerity, but Sam didn’t buy it. He’d seen that blank look on Bo’s face before, at the fort and again on the run that morning.
He’s still seeing those things, and he’s lying about it again to hide it from me.
    The thought of another argument turned Sam’s stomach, but he couldn’t let Bo lie about something this potentially important without calling him on it.
    Could he? Would it be so bad to let it go? He’d promised himself he wouldn’t bring it up again. Wouldn’t it be better to keep his worries to himself?
    The memory of the nightmarish otherdimensional creature sinking its teeth into Bo’s leg was answer enough to that question.
    Sam straightened up and squared his shoulders, bracing himself for a fight. “Bo, listen—”
He broke off when Bo grinned and ducked beneath the water. Sighing, Sam draped his upper body across the raft again. He stared morosely down the beach, where the group from the house next door was