Love is Always Write Anthology Volume 5

the forest might be okay, but someone would probably want to go with him, and even if it was just Aiden, that would be too much. The lake was the solution.
    "I'm going to swim, if that's okay," Cade said.
    "I think we all will," Aiden agreed. "Good way to spend the afternoon."
    "I'll meet you down there," Cade replied, and he practically ran to his room to get changed. He wasn't a great swimmer, but if he got to the lake fast enough he could get a head start, be far from the dock before anyone else showed up, and they'd leave him alone for a while.
    The plan seemed to be working, until Cade arrived at the dock and saw Warren already there, back in his chair, still fully dressed. Apparently he wasn't planning to swim. But he was happy to run his eyes up and down Cade's half-dressed body. "You filled out," he said. "There's a bit more muscle there, now. Still have those beautiful eyes, though." He stood up and came closer. "God, I used to love making you cry."
    Cade brushed past the man, strode out onto the dock, and dove into the cool lake. He stayed under for as long as he could, pushing through the water, trying to get the hell away from the dock. From everything. When he finally had to surface, it was for just long enough to get a gasp of air and then he dredged up memories of long-ago swimming lessons at the community center and broke into a rough front crawl. It took a while to get his breathing figured out, and by the time he did his shoulders were complaining about going from a day of tension to a sudden burst of unfamiliar motion. But he powered through that.
    When he finally had to stop, he let himself flip over and look up at the sky, using little flutters of his arms to keep himself afloat. He had been swimming parallel to the shore, so he wasn't far away from land, but the dock seemed distant, the figures on it remote and unfamiliar. One of them raised an arm in his direction and then dove in and started swimming toward him. Aiden. That was okay, Cade decided. The exercise had taken off a bit of his edge, and he could handle Aiden now.
    He let himself float back toward the cottage, and when Aiden was close, they both stopped moving and just kept themselves afloat. "You okay?" Aiden asked. "You're pretty far from the dock."
    "I'm fine. I just needed a break."
    "This trip has pretty much sucked for you so far, hasn't it?" Aiden brightened. "We should go camping. Just you and me. A couple days in a tent and you'll be begging to get back to the cottage!"
    "Wow, that's pretty tempting. You're going to make me appreciate this place by taking me somewhere even worse?"
    Aiden looked sad. "You really don't like it here, huh?"
    Fuck. That was not what Cade had wanted to say. "No, I… well, not so far, to be honest. But I'm sure I'll get used to it." He thought of Warren. "And the camping sounds great, actually. I've never gone camping. Never slept in a tent."
    "Seriously?" Aiden squinted at him doubtfully. "Not even in someone's back yard?"
    "Never."
    "You're a tent virgin, then." Aiden swam closer. "Don't worry, baby, I'll be gentle." It wasn't easy, in the water, but they managed a quick kiss, and then one a little deeper, and just as Cade was casting his eyes toward the shore and wondering if there was somewhere they could go, he felt a sharp scratch along his calf. He jerked his leg away, and the scratch turned into a stabbing, slicing pain.
    He gasped, jerked again, and realized that he was trapped. Whatever had him was holding him there, clawing into his leg when he tried to escape. "Cade, what is it? What's wrong?" Aiden sounded almost panicked.
    "My leg!" Cade gasped, and Aiden took a quick breath and then ducked underwater. His hands were strong and soothing as they traced down Cade's body, found the problem, and did… something. He reached up and guided Cade's hips back towards the danger, and as much as his instincts rebelled, he forced himself to trust Aiden. It was another couple moments before Aiden's head popped to the surface.
    He took a deep breath of air, then said, "Fish hook. A big one, and it's still attached to the line, so it's dug in pretty deep." He grimaced. "I know it hurts, but I think we need to get you back to the dock and take it out there. It probably has barbs on it, and I don't want it to cut you even more trying to pull it out."
    "I was trapped," Cade said. "I couldn't move."
    "Yeah, you still are. I'm going to try to untangle the line… we could cut it, but I don't have