“Don’t you dare! We’re done with that game, and we’ve moved on to a new one.”
“And who won that round?”
“You just want to hear me say it.”
“Yet I’m still waiting.”
“You won.” I smirked.
“I’m glad you’re aware of that.”
“I know what you’re doing. You’re sidestepping my awesome game of let’s talk about your future.”
He winked, teasing, “Is that what I’m doing?”
“Stop answering a question with a question, and I’ll answer one of yours first.”
“Okay, but only because you’re asking so nicely.” He thought about it for a second. “Why don’t you have any girlfriends?”
“Your first question is why I’m not into chicks?”
He laughed, big and throaty.
The fresh air was hitting my senses in the best possible way. It was such a perfect day for this. When you sit outside and feel the breeze on your face and the sun hitting you in all the right places. The view was breathtaking, with the sky’s colors matching the water.
Looking out at the ducks, I responded, “It’s hard to make any friends when you’re constantly being moved around all the time. It’s why I do an online school. It was too hard to catch up to schoolwork when I was being transferred from school to school, depending on what district I was currently held hostage in.”
“It was always bad?”
“It was never good. Silence became my only safe haven.”
He rubbed his facial hair on my neck, making me forget. Which was exactly what he was trying to do.
Unable to resist, I spoke the truth, “It was until you.”
“Until me, huh?” I felt him smile against my cheek before he steered the conversation. “I think it’s time to go swimming.”
“Julius! Don’t you dare!” I tightened my arms around his. “If I go in, you’re coming with me!”
“You do realize I’m a hell of a lot bigger than you, don’t you?”
“And you realize I could?—”
“You could what, Isla?” He knew he had the upper hand. With ease, he shifted my body, and my legs naturally wrapped around his waist. “Now tell me what you can do?”
I opened my mouth, but his cell phone rang, ruining the moment.He slowly set me back down on the edge before answering his call. I took the opportunity to compose myself as he stepped away. I was giddy with excitement.
Once he was finished with the call, he said one word, and one word only.
In a deep, throaty tone, he warned, “Run.”
I didn’t have to be told twice. I turned and hauled ass.
This was our game—I ran, and he chased. He called me Little Red Riding Hood because of my hair color, and he was the Big Bad Wolf. The next thing I knew, he tackled me onto the grass. I shrieked, laughing at the same time.
I had no choice but to surrender, shouting, “Mercy! Mercy! You win!”
“Good girl,” he growled in my ear.
