Chapter Twenty-Five-2

"Ava, we better win!" Blake yells with determination. "What? No way!" Blake grabs my shoulder and pulls me back before I can get far away. "It'll be fun, live in the moment," he taps my shoulder just like Tori had just done. "What if we lose? I don't want to be running around naked." I pout. "We won't lose," he says confidently. "Let's do-o it!" Jude grabs Tori and directs her to stand in front of him with her legs slightly parted. He takes a deep breath, then swims under her legs and slowly surfaces with Tori on his shoulders. "I can't do this." I shake my head. Blake doesn't let me chicken out of this game. He swims under my legs and I wobbly surface on his shoulders. I don't know how to fight and I always lose at these types of games. Thirty seconds from now, I might be running down the street naked. Blake and Jude through banter back and forth like children. We circle around, checking out each other to see how we can tear down our opponents. I don't know what I need to look for, but I need to use whatever strength I have in my scrawny arms to tear Tori down! I don't want this silly bet to be the first time Blake sees me naked. I don't want this bet to be the first time I see him naked. Ugh, what am I going to do? "We'll count to three together," says Blake. "On three it's free for all!" cheers Jude excitedly. "One. Two. Three." We scream. Blake and Jude go charging towards each other. Tori has her hands out like claws and that makes me a little scarred. I mirror what she does and throws in a scary face and a growl. She grabs at my right arm, but I shake it off. I tug on her left, which throws them off balance. Jude comes in closer and pushes me but Blake takes a step back and regains our balance. "Come on, Ava baby, kick some ass!" Blake shouts with encouragement. He takes a step forwards, I grab both of her arms and pull her tightly. With Blake taking a step back, it throws her off balance and she comes crashing down into the water. Jude screams out with frustration from their defeat. "I guess they're running naked down the street?" I laugh with amusement. "Oh, yes they are!" Blake says happily, "Deals a deal." Blake helps me get off his shoulders. We swim over to the side of the pool and climb out. The towels Angela brought are still sitting by the side of the pool for us to use, so we each grab one and wrap it around our bodies. "Get naked and get running," says Blake. We walk past their parents' house and onto the side of the street. Tori has no issues dropping her towel and flinging off her bra and underwear. I bet it's easier if she's slept with both boys and already been naked and up and personal with them both. "Hurry up, Jude," Tori says. "I'm going." Jude drops his towel and turns around. He strips out of his shorts and covers his front with his hands. "Should we count to three or should we start running?" Jude asks. "Count to three?" Tori says. "One. Two. Three." Blake and I yell loudly. Jude starts running first, then follows Tori. Blake drops his towel and straight away pulls down his wet board shorts. "Are you coming?" He has this crazy devilish look on his face. "Running naked, uh." "Up to you. Live a little." He winks. Blake steps out on the road, one hand covering his parts and the other hand extended. "I don't know-" "Stop thinking and just do it." He shakes his head, and laughs. Without thinking, I throw my towel down and pull off my bather bottoms and then my top. I use one arm to sort of cover myself - it's dark and you can't see much of anyway. I take his extended hand and start running down the street with him. Tori and Jude are waiting at the corner cheering us on. I laugh and scream aloud with them. This is crazy, so completely crazy and messed up! We reach the corner and run as a group to the park. Jude and Tori chase each other around, while Blake and I collapse on the ground. I hug my knees to my chest to cover myself up a bit. "How was that?" he asks. "Crazy." The adrenaline is still running through my veins. "Good." "Do you do this often?" I ask, "Should I expect this?" "Not all the time, sometimes when I'm drunk, I do crazy stuff." "I never do stuff like this." I shake my head. "What would my parents think of me?" "That you're having some fun, living up your youth." He shrugs his shoulders. Blake moves a little closer to me and wraps his arm around my shoulder. He kisses my temple and smiles down at me. "We're going to do some more crazy shit." "I don't look forward to it, but I do." "I know another crazy stupid thing we can do," he says. "What?" I ask. "Wait, do I want to know?" "Will you be my girlfriend?" he asks. "Yes." I scream out. So loud that my voice echoes through the large vacant space of the park. Blake launches himself at me. Roughly kissing my lips and grabbing at my waist. "You're amazing, Ava Greyson, and I'm so glad you're mine." He smiles happily.