A girl ready to have fun in a pool did not need a cover up.
Her lips twitched at the thought as she moved through the kitchen to the patio. Tanner had already headed down to the pool.
There wasn’t anything spectacular about his swim trunks—they were the standard variety. Navy blue with some kind of yellow design. His abs, however? She could even tell from the patio that he didn’t miss ab day at the gym.
Her mouth went a little dry because other areas of her body had apparently sucked up all the moisture at the sight of shirtless Tanner.
She took her time getting to the pool, letting the stone and grass ground her as she moved his direction.
When she’d approached, he stopped whatever he was doing to the filter and stared, trailing his eyes down her body with clear approval.
That was fine, given she stared right back at him. The ink along his torso was cursive writing. To read it, she’d need to be closer, but it looked to be lines from “Invictus,” the poem by William Ernest Henley.
“I’m glad you suggested the pool,” he said, staring so hard at her that they may as well toss off their clothes now and get down to business.
She appreciated the clear admiration of her curves. Her body was of the solidly normal variety. Carrots were a favorite, but she also didn’t turn down dessert if it looked yummy. Her hips reflected these decisions, and she had no regrets.
“I think I like swimming more than usual today.” She gave him a once-over now that she was close enough to see that the design on his trunks wasn’t yellow dots.
“You have rubber duckies on your shorts,” she announced.
His cheeks pinked and he glanced down. Pulled his mouth to the side. “Yeah.”
“I like rubber duckies,” she said, light and airy and all it took was this moment for the heavy weight from before—the Sami Jo one in the kitchen—to lessen.
“Sam.” He pulled his lips between his teeth.
If she could bottle the way Tanner said her name, she’d do it just so she could take it out sometimes and smile.
She waited for him to keep going but he shook his head.
“Never mind,” he said.
“Oh, come on. Whatever you were gonna say, you should say it.”
He shook his head.
She wanted to bonk him on the shoulder, but if she did that she’d touch him and if she touched him then there was a solid chance he might touch her, too.
And if they started with that, they’d probably never get in the pool.
That was not acceptable, so she moseyed to the deep end by the diving board and cannonballed her way into the water.
Warmed by the summer sun, the water enveloped her. She came up for air and Tanner stood on the side of the pool, grinning down.
“You gonna tell me what you neverminded?” she asked, treading water, and loving the feel of Tanner’s gaze and the water mixed together on her skin.
“You really want to know?” he asked.
“I keep asking,” she pointed out.
He thought for a moment. She gave him that time.
“Don’t run,” he finally said, so softly she nearly didn’t hear it.
They were only two words, but they felt like a ton of bricks tugging her into the depths. She dipped under the water, closing her eyes.
What was she supposed to do with “don’t run”?
