A devious little smile lifted the corner of my mouth higher, but I tried to play it off. Tossing my towel on the closest chair, I sauntered toward the stairs at the shallow end. Maybe I put a little extra strut in my step, but I dared either of them to call me on it. Even better was that Luke was still watching.
"Swan dive?" I asked, easing into the perfectly-chilled water.
He flexed his knees, giving the board a little bounce. "Done being all responsible?" he taunted back.
"For a bit. You just trying to show off, or are you going to do anything?"
Faith fake-whispered across the length of the pool, "He's trying to tan his legs."
"Pretty white. You know, you'd better put on sunscreen or those things will fry." I crooked a finger, daring him to get in the water.
Luke just bounced again. "I will call your bluff, Miss Dawson." Then he jumped.
Curling into a tight ball, Luke hit the water like a cannonball. Faith took the worst of the splash, but I wasn't immune. The two of us squealed, wiping the water from our faces, then we both decided to retaliate. Faith swiped a wave at him. I kicked out, sending spray. Luke just laughed.
We played like that for almost an hour. No matter how hard I tried to just have fun, I couldn't keep my eyes off Luke's body. When he picked up Faith to toss her into deeper water, his biceps bulged. As he lifted himself from the water for another dive, I couldn't miss the ripples of muscles down his spine. Soaked, his trunks clung to his skin, accentuating the curve of his ass and the thickness of his thighs.
But the fun was over much too soon. The sky was turning gold and the shadows were long when Luke climbed out the last time. He was still smiling as he wrapped his towel around his waist - proving his forearms were just as well-muscled as his biceps - and I knew I had it bad. I didn't want him to go. The three of us had enjoyed ourselves a little too much, and it had all been good, innocent fun. The kind of fun I missed so much.
But Luke still had to work and we all knew it. Faith got a kiss on the head. I got a wave that came with a rather sexy smile. Then he was gone, leaving us floating in the reflections of the pink and orange sky.
"I needed this," I said, leaning back to let the water take my weight.
Faith hopped onto the edge, slowly swishing her legs as she braced her weight on her arms. "Yeah, I kinda miss swimming."
"No pool at home?"
"Nah." She chuckled. "Both of my parents live in trailers right now. Mom's going to move in with her fiancé soon, though. Dad used to take me to the city pool in town, but..." She sighed, letting the silence hang for a little too long. "Thanks for not telling him."
I was pretty sure I knew what the girl was talking about. Kicking my way over to the stairs I asked, "You mean about your cat?"
"Yeah."
Gesturing for Faith to get up, I headed toward the house, grabbing my towel. Obediently, the young girl followed, wrapping hers around her still-dripping body. Inside, we headed right for the kitchen. Faith claimed one of the bar stools and I found drinks.
"Here," I said, passing over a Dr. Pepper while taking a cherry water for myself. "So I guess that's what you expected? For me to run to your dad and tell him you'd been cutting?"
Faith bit back an annoyed grumble. "Yeah, isn't that what grown-ups do?"
"Do Ilooklike most grown-ups?" I asked.
That got a little smile. "No, not really. I just figured if you were trying to impress him, that'd be the first thing you did."
"Wait, what?"
Faith just rolled her eyes. "I'm twelve, Violet. You were almost drooling over him in the pool! And everyone wants to date my dad. Half of them expect me to talk to him about it, likethat'sgonna work."
I chuckled, waving Faith down. "Yes, your dad is cute. He's also nice, smart, and a lot more fun than I expected, but that has nothing at all to do with my question. I was asking why ratting you out would have anything at all to do with impressing your dad. That's like asking me if I'm going to get a new dress because it's going to rain tomorrow."
Faith lifted her shoulders and let them drop, the smallest bit of defeat showing. "I just figured it was one of those things where you're all like, 'See, I can take care of your kid,' or something. I dunno, but the ladies at church do it."
"Use you to get your dad's attention?"
She nodded.
"Well," I said, leaning onto the counter, "I'm nothing like them. See, my friendship with Luke? That's between him and me. Granted, you get a bit of a say in that too, but us? Well, I like to think that's between us, and he only gets a bit of say in it. Fair's fair, right?"
"So you won't tell him anything we talk about?"
