“I, uh…” He paused. “The only pool game I know is chicken?”
“I think that’s a great idea!” Abigail exclaimed. She was holding onto Bash with her arms resting on his shoulders. I whipped my gaze over to her just in time to see her wiggle her eyebrows at me.
Great.
I stared at her for a moment before I turned my attention back to Timothy. I could only hope that she wasn’t suggesting what I thought she was suggesting with that look. It had been awkward when I accidentally brushed my hand against Noah’s back. Climbing up onto his shoulders would take things between us to a whole other level.
“I’m sure there’s other games,” I said as I raised my hands up to try and stop this train wreck.
“What’s chicken?” Timothy asked. I could see his little hands moving under the water as he propelled himself in circles.
“You get on Bash’s shoulders and your mom gets on Noah’s shoulders, and you try to knock each other into the water.” Abigail started swimming toward the shallow end.
He cheered as he followed after her. “Come on, Mommy! It’ll be fun.” Anything to do with wrestling had Timothy.
I glanced over at Noah, whose face was deadpan. He glanced back over at me for a second before he turned his attention to Timothy, who was now calling to us as he jumped up and down in the water.
I forced a smile, not wanting to have to explain to everyone why I didn’t want to play an innocent round of chicken. “I’m coming,” I said through gritted teeth.
Noah hesitated, but I didn’t wait to see if he was going to join me. I turned and made my way over to Timothy. His eyes were wide as he grinned at me.
There was no getting away from this now. This was going to happen.
I had hoped that Abigail would pick up on my desperate glances in her direction, but she seemed content to ignore me. She helped Timothy climb up onto Bash’s shoulders and then started giving him pointers on how to get me down.
Noah stood about a foot away from me, his entire body tense. I could feel his unease. It matched my own. I wasn’t sure what I was supposed to do. I was a grown woman about to climb onto this man’s shoulders. I doubted it would look or feel graceful at all.
“Come on, Mommy!” Timothy shouted. “Let’s fight.”
This was happening. This. Was. Happening.
“I, um…” I paused as I took a step closer to Noah. “Should I…?” This was so awkward.
“Let’s go to the deep end so you can climb up,” Noah said before he turned and started walking.
That sounded like a good idea. I followed after him until the water covered my shoulders.
“I’ll dip down, and you can climb up.” Noah’s gaze was on me now. He was standing inches away from me.
Unable to meet his gaze, I kept my focus on the large tattoo that covered his right pec. “Sounds like a plan.”
The seconds that ticked by felt like hours before Noah sucked in his breath and disappeared beneath the surface. I reached out and grasped onto his shoulders. I quickly swung my legs over his shoulders and instantly felt his hands grip my calves. I held on under his chin—making sure that I didn’t choke him—as he straightened and emerged out of the water.
My entire body felt like it was on fire. There were so many points of contact between Noah’s body and mine that my brain was short-circuiting. Part of me instantly wanted to climb down, but the other part of me—the part that was winning—didn’t want to disappoint my son.
It was best to just keep moving so we could play this stupid game. I needed to free my hands, so I wrapped my feet around to Noah’s back to stabilize myself. Once I was ready, Noah shifted his hands to my thighs before he tightened his grip on me.
I was now officially closer to Noah than I’d been to any other man since Carson.
I wasn’t sure how I felt about any of this, and I knew if I tried to overanalyze it too much, I was going to spiral.
This was for Timothy, and Timothy alone.
Thankfully, the battle helped take my mind off Noah. I’d never seen Timothy so determined to take me down before. His little eyebrows were drawn together, his gaze was razor focused, and his jaw was set. His little hands were like bullets as he pushed and pulled, trying to get me off Noah’s shoulders.
Noah was steady, taking the hits from Bash who was trying to assist Timothy in my downfall. It was strange, but I felt safe with Noah. His grip was firm as he held me tight to his body. I felt like I could be up there for hours. I laughed as I reached out to tickle Timothy a few times, but that just spurred him on.
Finally, I let Timothy’s blows land and I fell back into the pool, taking Noah with me. When I emerged out of the water, Noah was right next to me, wiping water from his face.
