Her cheeks instantly flushed, giving away that I wasn’t the only one affected.Good.Because damn if she needed Calvin for anything.He’d left her here.He hadn’t stayed.She needed a better friend, and I was gonna be a fucking excellent one.
Twenty-Two
Elsie
After giving myself an hour-long peptalk this morning about not thinking about Forge and miss being around him, he was now blowing my good intentions to smithereens.It was very hard not to feel all fluttery and tingly when the swim trunks he wore hung low on his hips and he was shirtless.When I looked at him, it was hard to breathe.Whew.Good Lord, I had almost forgotten what his bare chest looked like.My memory hadn’t given it justice.
The image now had its own personal room in my brain.A showcase of sorts.To replay over and over.
I’d yet to follow him into the water.
“It’s not cold,” he told me with a crooked grin.“Heated, remember?”
I wasn’t worried about the temperature of the water.I’d just been distracted by the sight of him since he’d emerged from the house, wearing nothing but shorts.I’d read books that described a guy’s walk as a swagger, but I’d never witnessed one until today.If anyone had a swagger, it would be Forge Savelle.
I nodded and took the hem of my cover-up to pull it over my head and drop it on the lounge chair, where I had been spreading out a fluffy, large towel before he arrived and scrambled my brain.Deciding not to make eye contact with him as I walked over to the zero-entry end of the pool, for fear I’d stumble and embarrass myself, I focused on putting one foot in front of the other.
The first lap of water that covered my feet was nice.It wasn’t hot, but it was like he’d said, warm.I wondered what the temperature had to be outside before they turned off the heat to the pool.As enjoyable as this was now, it wouldn’t be when you needed to cool down.
“You bite that bottom lip any harder, and it’s gonna bleed,” Forge drawled, causing my head to snap up and look at him.
His hair was wet now and slicked back.Droplets of water clung to his eyelashes, making them spiky.Here I had thought, he couldn’t be more gorgeous, and he proved me wrong.
I released my lip from my teeth’s grip.I hadn’t even realized I had been doing it.
“I think I was prepping for colder water,” I explained, although that wasn’t it at all.
“We need to work on your trust with me,” he said.“I’m the most fucking honest guy you’ll ever meet.”
I grinned.Sure he was.That cocky smile he was flashing me told me he was lying now.
“I bet,” I replied as I eased down deeper into the water.
“What?You don’t believe me?”He sounded insulted.“All right, fine.Let’s play a game.You ask me anything you want, and I will tell you the honest truth.No matter how brutal and possibly embarrassing it might be.”
I paused and cocked my head to the side as I studied him.He looked completely sincere.What the heck?This might be fun.
“Anything?”I asked to clarify, not sure what I was going to ask him.
He nodded, holding out both his arms wide.“I am an open book.Go for it.Try me.”
I moved farther into the water until it was up to my waist before stopping a few feet away from him.
“How old were you when you got your first kiss?”I asked, deciding to start off light.
“Nine,” he replied.
I narrowed my eyes.“Not a peck on the playground.”
The corner of his lips quirked.“She was two years older than me, but I lied about my age.It was all tongue.”
“Seriously?Nine?”I asked.
He nodded.“Yep.”
“First girlfriend?”I asked.
He shook his head.“I don’t do those.”
