by Lane Hart
“Just the top step?” I ask. “You-you’re not gonna drag me deeper?”
“Absolutely not,” he agrees. “I won’t even sit on your side.” He walks up and lowers himself down on the top step that’s on the right of the metal handrail, leaving an empty space for me on the left. Only his butt, feet, and ankles are submerged in the water. “You could even sit on the cement and just put your feet in.”
When a drop of sweat races down my spine, I find myself getting to my feet and walking over. There’s no reason I can’t get my feet and ankles wet, right? That’s not much different from a shower. What would the guys think if they knew I haven’t actually sat in a bathtub in almost fourteen years? It’s pretty pathetic, I know.
Taking a deep breath, I grab the handrail and then dip my big toe into the pool. Having my skin touch the inch of water on the top step doesn’t send me into a panic attack. It probably helps that I’ve had my anxiety pills already today. So, I sink my entire left foot down in the cool liquid. It feels…nice. Before I can talk myself out of it, I stick the right one in and take a seat on the edge of the cement.
…
Charlie
Holy shit.
She did it.
Skyler actually made contact with the pool water.
While we sit together—her on her side, me staying on mine, with Ty floating nearby, barely able to keep his jaw from gaping—I talk to Skyler about any little thing that pops in my head. We talk about where she lives up in New York and her various roommates over the years. She tells me about her father’s pizza joint down in Florida and how it’s almost as hot here as it is down there. It’s a bunch of little things, but she’s opening up, and she has her feet in the freaking water!
Tomorrow, maybe we can convince her to sit in the pool, on the step, and the next, who knows? She’s making progress, and I’m pretty sure just lowering her feet in a pool is more than she’s done in years. I would ask her, but I’m worried she’ll think too much about it and scare her away from doing more with us.
“Oh fuck,” Ty mutters, one of the few things he’s said while Skyler and I had a long conversation.
“What?” I snap at him, annoyed that he interrupted.
“We have visitors,” he says, nodding to the three women who are making their way out the back door of the house.
“Shit!” I jump to my feet. “I’ll take care of them,” I say, understanding exactly why Ty was concerned.
That’ll teach us to leave the front door unlocked. During the summers, our pool has always been fair game to the college co-eds who we, mostly Graham, invites to drop by anytime, day or night, to go for a dip in the pool (preferably naked).
The problem is that Skyler would probably not appreciate the skinny dipping or the bimbos, so I need to get them out of here.
“Hello, ladies,” I say, as I hold out both of my arms to the side like I’m trying to corral them back into the house and prevent them from taking another step outside. “The pool’s closed today.”
“What?” the dyed blonde one asks as she stands on her tippy toes to try and look over my shoulder. “But weren’t you and Tyler just swimming?”
“Tyson and I were, um, just using the floats to get some samples from the middle of the pool to take to the pool store. We’ve had a, ah, an outbreak of…E. coli that we’re trying to get under control before anyone can swim in it again. It may take weeks or…or even months.”
“Yuck,” one of the other girls mutters before she quickly turns around and starts heading back into the house. At least one of them knows what that is. I have no idea if pools have that problem or not. We have a pool guy who comes and cleans ours and pours all the chemicals in that it needs a few times a week.
“Yeah, it’s nasty, especially if you get the poop water in your eyes or, God forbid, your mouth,” I tell them with a mock shiver. An idea comes to me, so I roll with it. “Actually, that’s what happened to Graham. He’ll be seeking medical treatment for the rest of the summer.”
“Aww, that’s so awful,” the fake blonde says.
“It is. I’ll tell him you stopped by,” I lie, since I don’t know any of their names or want to know them. They each have “Gold digger” practically plastered on their thickly made-up foreheads. Who puts on eyelashes to go to the pool anyway? They’re so fake that if you took away everything that wasn’t store bought, all they would have left is bones.
“You know the way out the front, right?” I ask them, and they nod. “Great. See you maybe next summer,” I say before I shut them inside the house and head back out, making a mental note to have Ty do a social media post later about our pool being closed until further notice.
But then I figure, just to be safe, I’d better follow the girls to make sure they don’t steal anything before I lock the front door.
Being rich is just awesome sometimes.
Chapter 14
Tyson
By Friday, not only has Skyler completely submerged herself in the pool, but she has actually agreed to climb up on a float with me.
“You won’t let me fall off?” she asks from where she stands on the steps, her blue-green eyes worried behind her lenses.
“No fucking way,” I assure her. “And you see that rope?” I point a finger at the new blue and white threaded rope that Charlie bought to mark the end of the shallow end. It goes from one side of the pool to the other, so it’s pretty impossible to cross without noticing.
“Yeah?” Sky replies.
“As long as we stay on this side of the rope, you’re only in four feet of water that you can easily stand in. Over there is the deeper end.” I don’t tell her how deep because that may freak her out.
“Okay,” she agrees with an exhale, her fists clenched tightly by her sides.
“Turn around and then just sit down on it like a chair,” I tell her as I maneuver the yacht float up to her knees when she spins around to face the house. “Ready?”
“Yeah,” she agrees with a shaky breath before she sits down. Hell, even I’m nervous for her. If I fuck this up, we could lose a week’s worth of progress. My concern triples when Skyler gasps as we take on some water at first until I wrap my arm around her waist to pull her up higher.
“There,” I say as our shifting weight balances out, and we’re almost completely dry sitting in the center of the boat float.
“Oh no,” Sky mutters from beside me where I blatantly remember my arm is still locked around her waist, so I ease up my grip.
“What’s wrong?” I ask, figuring we’ve done too much too soon and she’s gonna bail.
“I forgot my sunglasses,” she says with a half-grin that makes me bark out a laugh.
“Here, you can borrow mine,” I tell her before I remove mine from my eyes, slip off her glasses and then replace them with the shades.
“Thanks,” Sky says before she finally lies flat on her back, looking up at the blue sky with her palms flat on her stomach.
“You good?” I ask her.
“I am,” she agrees, so I finally let myself relax. I lay on my side with my head propped up on my bent elbow facing her. “You know,” she starts, “you’re a lot nicer to me than I expected you to be.”
“Really?” I ask, surprised since I would like to think that I’m always a pretty nice fucking guy.
“I thought you would be a snob to me since I came from a lower-middle-class household.”
Oh, right. Skyler still thinks I’m rich because of Charlie’s lie. And I don’t blame him for it, but it does explain a little bit why she seems to talk to him more. And it sucks. Taking one for the team is not all that it’s cracked up to be.
“Being rich isn’t all that great,” I tell her. “It makes it hard to figure out if someone likes you for yourself or the money.”
“At least people acknowledge your existence,” she says. “I’ve been invisible my entire life.”
“You’re not invisible,” I assure her. “And don’t you think it’s possible that people st
ay away because of the vibe you put off?”
“Vibe?” Sky asks, turning her head to look at me through my sunglasses.
“Yeah, when you first got here, you were sort of standoffish, like you didn’t want anyone to talk to you.”
“I don’t mean to be that way,” she replies softly.
“I know,” I tell her. “And Charlie and I just took it as a challenge to break down your walls. But I guess some people give up too easily before they get to know the really cool girl you are…once you pull your head out of your ass.”
“Hey!” she huffs indignantly before she reaches over and lightly jabs her fist into my shoulder.
“I’m kidding,” I say, wrapping my hand around her wrist and keeping my grip on it when she tries to pull away. “You probably have a million reasons for wanting to keep people at arm's length.”
“I do,” she agrees.
“So, it means a lot that you’ve made an effort to let me and Charlie get a little closer.”
My eyes lower to her plump pink lips when her tongue sneaks out and wets them. Does she want me to kiss her? I could. All I would have to do is lean over a few inches and then bam, we’d be making out, half-naked and wet on a pool float. But I can’t see her eyes to try and read what she wants in them because of my stupid dark sunglasses. She hasn’t tried to pull her wrist out of my grip though, so she must not mind me touching her.
Finally, Sky says, “It’s nice having friends to hang out with while Graham’s in class.”
Friends.
She dropped the F-word and the reminder that she only indulges us with her company during the day because there’s nothing better to do. When the sun is up, she’s mine and Charlie’s, but at night, as soon as Graham walks through the door, we eat dinner and then the two of them disappear into his room.
I start to go into the usual spiel about how she should get over the playboy because she can do better, yadda, yadda, yadda, and that I would be happy to take her mind off of him with my mouth and hands on her sexy little body, but don’t get a chance.
“Damn, girl! You made it on the float. Congrats!” Charlie says when he comes out the back door with an entire box full of alcohol. I drop Skyler’s wrist like it’s burning me before he sees it since I’m not supposed to be touching her. Charlie wants to touch her. “I brought some drinks to celebrate,” he adds.
“I’ll take the bottle of rum now,” I tell him. If I guzzle the whole thing, it may be enough to make me forget the crazy, inappropriate thoughts in my head that I have about Skyler.
“What about you, Sky?” Charlie asks, standing at the edge of the pool beside us.
“Thanks, but I won’t be twenty-one for another week,” she tells him.
“We won’t report you,” I assure her.
“I know,” she says. “It’s just, I’ve made it this long without ever having a sip of alcohol, so what’s another week?”
“Wow, that is a miracle,” I tell her. “You can’t break that kind of record when you’re so close. When’s your birthday?”
“Monday, June eighteenth,” she answers.
“I can’t wait,” I tell her with a wink and a grin that I’m happy to see makes her blush.
Chapter 15
Graham
Wow. I do a double take when I come home from class and look out the back window of the house. My backpack falls to the floor with a thud before I move closer to the door that leads to the pool.
Is that really Skyler in the red bathing suit floating around the pool with Ty?
Dark black sunglasses cover her eyes, rather than the usual clear lenses, and there’s a smile lifting her lips as she talks to the guys. I’ve seen the swimsuit hanging up, but I’ve never seen it on her body before today. They’re usually showered and in pajamas by the time I get home. Fuck, am I glad I got the chance today. Sky is…sexy, with breathtaking curves that make my mouth go dry and have my dick starting to swell in my boxer briefs.
I try to tell myself that it’s not really her causing this reaction in me but the fact that I’ve been too damn busy studying and in class to find a chick to give me some relief. But if that’s true, then why is there also this new, painfully scorching hot boulder in my gut that formed just from the thought of Charlie and Ty getting to see Skyler like this all day every day when I’m not around?
And dammit, I can’t go out there now with the tenting in my cargo shorts. I need to go take a cold shower to cool down this ridiculous feeling, but I really don’t want to stop looking at her either. With all my blood rushing south, it takes me a minute to remember that the upstairs, hall bathroom has a window in the shower that overlooks the pool. It’s fucking perfect.
I head up that way and start stripping out of my clothes that suddenly seem way too tight and overheated as soon as I shut the door behind me. Once I get the water running, I step underneath the lukewarm spray and then look out the octagon window just in time to see Charlie cannonball into the pool, soaking Skyler and Ty. Instinctually, she cringes toward Ty as they laugh, and he reaches a hand up to start wiping the water droplets from her face.
“Fuck,” I moan aloud when I realize that I’ve wrapped my hand around my cock and am giving it a squeeze. It feels good, so I keep going, only pausing long enough to grab some body wash to squirt over my hard length to get it nice and slippery. Taking my eyes away from my busy hand, I look back out at the pool and watch Ty wipe away the wetness from Skyler’s shoulders and then her chest so that his fingers brush over the swell of her breasts. Damn, I want to be him. No, if I were him, I would use my mouth and tongue to lick every drop off of her body.
My chest rises and falls faster as my breathing doubles. My heart races as my fist continues to jack me off, getting closer and closer to the first release I’ve had in weeks. All it takes is my eyes closing for an instant, picturing Sky on her knees with her lips wrapped around my dick, and I explode.
It’s wrong to think of her that way, but it feels so good.
Until the last shudder leaves my body and then I want to punch myself in the nuts.
Of all the women in the world, why couldn’t I fantasize about someone other than the only person who can help me keep my football scholarship? So what if she sleeps beside me or, more specifically, on the other side of a pool noodle every night? I can’t cross that line with her without it ruining everything when I fuck it all up like I’m absolutely certain I’ll do eventually.
So, after I rinse off and get dressed again, I tell myself that I won’t ever think about Skyler in such a filthy way again.
And I don’t.
Not until about ten minutes later, when I walk outside and Skyler smiles at me like she believes I can walk on water.
…
Charlie
“Hey,” I say to Graham when he comes out the back door, home a few minutes early from his last class. Usually, we’ve already gone in before he gets back. It’s all part of the plan Ty and I have about not letting him see Skyler in a bathing suit. Guess we failed. And why is Graham’s hair wet?
“What’s up?” he asks before he flops down in a lounge chair beside me, his grumbly voice sounding even more frustrated than after the previous days full of class this week.
“Did you know Sky’s birthday is Monday after next?” I ask quietly, barely moving my lips, so she won’t hear us from the pool. And of course, she’s looking over in this direction because when Graham’s around, she never takes her eyes off of him.
“I think so,” he answers with a crease between his brows that makes me think he’s lying and didn’t know.
“We should do something, right?”
“Yeah,” Graham agrees. “Should we throw a party?”
“Um, well, I don’t think she would want a bunch of strangers around,” I reply. “Ty and I have been keeping the pool bunnies away all week and look at the progress we’ve made. She’s in the pool on a float!”
“I can see that,” he mutters.
“That’s great, isn’t i
t? I mean, she didn’t even want to come out here at first, and now she’s in there and having fun.”
“It’s great,” he replies with zero enthusiasm.
“Next we should see if we can get her in a car,” I suggest quietly.
“Yeah, you should buy her one or whatever,” he says with a roll of his eyes before he gets up and walks back inside.
“Oh-kay,” I drawl as I watch his retreating back. What the hell is wrong with him? I mean, I get that summer school sucks, but he did this to himself.
And I don’t know anyone besides Skyler who would lock herself in a room with his moody ass to study for five or six hours at a time.
He has no clue how lucky he is to have her here and helping him. Or looking at him all the time like he hung the moon.
Ty and I may have talked about me wanting to be with her when she first got here, but now it’s obvious that Skyler is so head over heels for the jackass, that she’ll never look at me as anything but a friend.
It sucks, but what else can I possibly do to make her see that she shouldn’t waste her time pining for someone who will only break her heart?
Chapter 16
Skyler
Today’s my twenty-first birthday and I…don’t feel any different.
I still feel like a kid, the same kid who nearly died when her mother decided that, for whatever reason, I didn’t deserve to live to see another day.
Well, sorry to disappoint you, Mother, but I did. I’ve seen a lot of days since I was pulled from the back seat you locked me in. Slipping my hand underneath my pajama top, I can still feel the raised, three-inch scar from where I scraped my stomach on the shard of window glass while gasping water into my lungs.
