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A quick reset of the hard drive and reinstallation of the OS after backing up her documents to the cloud makes the processor as good as a five-year-old computer can be. I pull out the travel cleaning kit and wipe everything down, lingering at the small scratches on one corner.
Last summer, I almost gave in. Almost said fuck it, and took her the way I’d been craving since the first time I laid eyes on her. But she was cut, and her daughter, my little beaver, was there, and there was no way I’d cross that line.
My mom was single for a while after my dad left, and her one rule when she started dating again was that any new guy wasn’t allowed around my sister or me until she knew he was the real deal.
Even though I’ve been around Lyn since she was two, I’m careful around her mom, barely allowing myself to skim the surface. In front of Lyn, our conversations are brief, nothing a kid could interpret other than a friend.
But the stares, the subtle reactions in Olivia’s body, the desire to breach boundaries have always been there, no matter how much she tries to deny what she feels toward me.
I slip my phone out of my pocket, pulling up a new text thread. It’s grated on me for fucking years that I’ve had Olivia’s number in my phone and have been limited to confirmation texts about when I would meet her and Lyn at the pool for lessons.
It felt like a weight sitting heavy in my pocket, and every time I got a little too drunk or a little too horny, it took every ounce of my willpower not to reach out. Now, even though it’s still about business, the promise that it soon won’t be, makes my cock twitch in my jeans.
Me 11:03 AM
Good morning, Ms. Tran. Just wanted to reach out and let you know your laptop is clean and up to date.
I run my thumb under my bottom lip, watching the little bubbles ripple across the screen.
Olivia 11:03 AM
That was fast. Thank you so much, Theo. Let me know what I owe you.
I roll my eyes.
Me 11:04 AM
You know your money’s no good with me.
When I first started coaching Lyn, Olivia made it a huge deal that I wouldn’t accept her money. She fought me on it pretty hard, saying she couldn’t understand why I would do something so strenuous for free.
But it wasn’t about the money, and it wasn’t even about my initial interest in Olivia. When I looked at Lyn, I saw my baby sister, Mora.
Sweet, introverted, not big on talking or playing with other kids. After our dad walked out, my sister didn’t really trust anyone else not to do the same, which meant she went off and did shit she didn’t have any business doing—like trying to swim while I was helping our mom fix a sink.
I was holding the flashlight, handing her a tool she asked for when I heard it. It was the smallest noise, almost like a mouse caught in a trap in the attic. Despite my mother screaming after me when I bolted off, I went straight outside. Something hard in my gut was telling me my sister was there.
Sure enough, she was.
The memory of her small body thrashing in the water before I jumped in and saved her burned into my mind and eventually steered me to be a lifeguard during college.
When I saw Olivia for the first time, she was wrangling a squirmy Lyn, trying her best to explain why she needed seven different floaties. It provoked something in me to step in and help.
What I didn’t expect to happen was to become attached to both of them. To find an indescribable amount of joy and pride in teaching Lyn, while slowly growing fond of Olivia’s company.
She’s a hard worker, a good mother, and she’s fucking gorgeous. She’s reserved, like her daughter, yet positive. She doesn’t hang her future on hopes but on the amount of work she puts in. There’s something so incredibly satisfying knowing that, in the end, those same beliefs are what will finally get me what I’ve wanted for so long.
My phone vibrates, drawing my attention.
Olivia 11:08 AM
I’m paying you whether you want me to or not. No debate this time.
I smirk.Here we go.
Me 11:10 AM
I think this is where I say something cliché like, you can pay me back by letting me take you out.
