AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Anyway …
I try to play it cool when I head toward them, like, whatever, you’re here, no big deal. And it kind of works until I trip over my dad’s fat poodle lounging by the pool and nearly fall in. Paul catches me by the arm before I go into the water and he hauls me onto my feet.
That Harry Potter invisibility cloak I asked for on my eleventh birthday would come in real handy right about now.
“Damn dog,” I mumble. My dad loves that mutt. He takes him everywhere with him and calls him my brother. If there’s one friend who outranks Paul in my dad’s eyes, and one child who outranks me, it’s Pickles.
True to his character, my dad’s more concerned about his pet who lays there licking his balls, unfazed by my near destruction.
“You okay?” Paul asks.
“You talking to me or the dog?”
“Someone’s trippin’” I hear Emily say somewhere in the background. I ignore her, but remind myself to strangle her later.
Paul chuckles and the deep rumble of it touches me in a place not even my favorite dildo manages to reach. The gentleness in how he holds my arm, and the way he’s looking at me … Jesus. This isn’t good. I’m a fumbling mess whenever he’s around.
“Did we finally manage to surprise you for once?” my dad asks. I smell whiskey on his breath and cigarette smoke in his hair. He only smokes when he drinks. If my mom knew, she’d kill him. He looks over at Paul. “We’ve never been able to keep a secret from this girl. Even at Christmas she used to open her presents while we were asleep then spend all night rewrapping them so we wouldn’t notice. Who knows how many years she got away with it before she was finally caught on the home security system.”
“You know I hate surprises.” I tell him.
But I actually like this one. My parents have never been able to pull off a surprise party in the past, but I suspect this was Emily’s doing.
“Anyone want a refill?” my dad asks. He lifts what’s left of the amber liquid in his glass. He’s drinking hard alcohol, I realize. This is going to be some kind of party. Not sure if that’s a good thing or bad at this point. My dad is unpredictable after a few drinks.
“I’ll take another scotch on the rocks,” Paul says.
I show my dad my full flute. “I’m good for now.”
By the way he shuffles his feet, it’s not his first drink of the day. It’s kind of hilarious seeing someone who’s usually so poised let his guard down. That only happens when he’s with Paul.
“You know he’s going to forget about that drink as soon as he gets to the bar,” I say.
“I know. I’m not even drinking.” Paul’s smile is all glistening white teeth and dimples. “Come here and give me a hug. I haven’t seen you in ages.”
His hair has more silver in it than I remember, but it doesn’t age him like it would other men in their barely forties. He’s one of those guys who started going gray young. Better than losing it, which he hasn’t one bit. It’s thick and wavy on top, and damn can he ever pull off the silver fox look. Doesn’t hurt that his baby blues are the same color as the water and shine against his tan face. He could so be one of those older hipster models you see in high fashion ads these days. The Miles Better types with less facial hair.
As soon as his arms are around me I’m melting. His hands rub my back, warm breath on the pulse of my neck. He smells like sun and chlorine and coconut from the pomade in his hair. I want everyone else to disappear so I can be alone with him.
The text starts running circles in my head. Will he bring it up, or should I? Or should I just leave it alone and hope it goes away? Ugh.
“I can’t believe how grown up you are.” He steps back and studies me. “Twenty-one already. Time flies,” he says.
“I’ve been grown up for a while now.”
“I’ve noticed.” His eyes shift to my breasts for a brief second before finding my eyes again. He shrugs his lips as if embarrassed for looking. I wish I would’ve worn something a little more revealing than the university t-shirt I threw on this morning to get manicures.
I can only imagine the horror show he sees in front of him right now. All I did this morning to get ready was shower, brush my teeth, and throw my hair into a messy bun. I’m the epitome of lazy college student at the moment with my blotchy face I spent the morning picking at, down to the Uggs on my feet. I look like a hot mess.
Before I can respond my mom comes up to us. “Go get your suit, Rachael, everyone wants to swim a while before we do cake.”
“I didn’t bring a bathing suit.”
Emily comes up behind me. “Don’t worry, I have you covered.”
We head upstairs to my childhood bedroom. Emily pulls out the tiniest bikini I’ve ever seen. It’s black and made of string and an inch or two of fabric. The butt area is practically a thong with thin strings attaching it to the triangle in front that barely covers me. It’s a good thing I got that Brazilian. The top half of the suit is more string than fabric and does a shoddy job at being an actual, functioning garment. If I’m not careful when twisting my torso, my areolas will show. There’s no padding either so it shows off every bump and curve.
“You’re insane,” I tell Emily. “I can’t wear that. My dad will have a heart attack.”
She smiles mischievously. “Don’t worry. I thought of everything.” She hands me a lace cover dress to go over the top of it until I get in the pool. I get dressed and we head downstairs.
Paul is already swimming when we go outside. With my sunglasses on I can stare openly and not be obvious about it as he glides seamlessly through the water. I can’t think of anything more satisfying than the look on his face when he finally sees me. With my dad preoccupied beside the booze, I take off my cover and Paul’s eyes grow wide, mouth opening like he’s about to belt out a big note. He’s lucky no one’s splashing or he would drown.
Emily is beside me in a modest one piece and a pair of shorts. She’s always been self-conscious in a bathing suit. “Good thing I brought out the big guns. Did you see the look on his face?”
With a quiet cat-call whistle at me, and a slap on my ass, Emily flits off to talk to the boys she invited. I sit on the edge of the pool with my feet dangling in, adjusting my body to the temperature. It’s a hundred and too-fucking-hot out and I can already feel the sun burning my shoulders. I’m slathering 50 SPF Banana Boat on every exposed piece of skin because I have the complexion of a Tim Burton character and this bathing suit would make hilarious tan lines. The point is to make Paul hot if he ever sees me naked, not make him laugh.
His body glistens wet, his hair slicked back. After a few minutes of staring, he finally swims over to me and props his arms on my knees. Having him this close to me with so little fabric between us spins my naughty thoughts into overdrive.
“How’s school going?” he asks, looking up at me and squinting so that I can see just a drop of those impossible blue eyes between his thick lashes.
I can hardly think straight with him so close. He’s one fine wine I’d like to taste, maybe lick the rim … drink too much of. Get drunk on. He looks all King Triton with his wet skin, silver hair, and muscles. “It’s fine. How’s work?”
He used to own his own construction company here in town, but he sold it suddenly two years ago and moved away. I don’t know what he does for a living anymore. I don’t know much about his life at all except what little my parents tell me. Since moving, he’s been like a ghost. For the longest time it was as if he went out of his way to avoid me, which is why I’m so surprised to see him here at my party. That first year of him being gone, I’d dug through the archives of my brain, wondering if maybe I’d made him mad somehow. Then I started wondering if it was because of a woman. I’d been a jealous wreck, but my dad had insisted it wasn’t, even though he wasn’t exactly sure why he’d moved either.
“Fine,” Paul says, and smiles up at me. He visibly swallows and his smile falters when he asks, “So, do you have a boyfriend yet?” He looks around at all the cute guys Emily had invited. “I bet they’re eating out of your hand. Especially when you wear things like this.” He tugs at the string of my bikini top, loosening it.
