“I’m crushing you,” Lyric told Skylar and began kicking wildly.
Boone encouraged the girls to race back and forth. Sometimes, he swam along with them, pretending to lose. Other times, he swam to me and cheered them on. I thought he wanted the girls to be competitive rather than having them lounge in the pool. Once the girls began yawning, I understood his real plan.
After returning to the condo, the girls and I washed off in the second bathroom. They talked over each other, telling me everything they loved about Boone’s home.
“We live here now,” Lyric insisted as I dried them off. “It’s our second house.”
“Third house,” I reminded them. “We have Lula’s house and the Baton Rouge house.”
“Three houses,” Skylar said and rubbed her eyes. “Can we stay here forever?”
“Just until dinner time.”
“I want to sleep here and swim tomorrow,” Skylar mumbled, barely able to keep her eyes open.
“I don’t have clothes for us to stay overnight.”
“We can wear these clothes,” Lyric whined, as her fatigue dragged down her mood.
“Why don’t you show me that you can sleep in this bed before we decide about tonight?”
The girls instantly ran to the bed while I finished dressing in jeans and a Baton Rouge T-shirt. They were under the pink comforter when I brought their sleeping bear to them.
“We’re going to nap so good,” Lyric promised as she cuddled closer to Skylar.
“Are you sure you don’t want a snack before naptime?”
The girls looked at me like I was nuts. They were barely able to keep their eyes open by that point. Swimming had stolen their energy.
“Mama,” Skylar whispered as her eyelids grew heavy. “Can you marry Boone? I want him to be our daddy.”
Her words hit me in the chest. I felt such guilt over them losing Chris, even if he had been a bad man. To know they could love Boone as a father gave me hope.
“I love Boone,” I whispered back. “And he loves me. We’re going to be a family.”
Lyric smiled at her sister as they hugged the bear resting between them. Behind me, Boone entered the room.
“This room has a camera,” Boone said in a soft tone and pointed at the corner. “We can watch you while we’re in the next room. If you need us, call for your mama and me. We’ll come running, okay?”
The girls looked at Boone as if he were magic. Their affection for him stabbed me right in the heart. Their uncle had felt like enough until they got a taste of Boone in the dad role.
Leaving the room, I found myself fighting tears. Boone closed the door and took my hand. We tiptoed upstairs, where he propped up his phone. On the video feed, the girls were already dozing.
“Don’t be sad.”
“I’m not,” I said and reached for him. “These are horny tears.”
A chuckling Boone met my affections with his own. “You looked so hot in that swimsuit.”
“I felt frumpy.”
“I’m sorry you can’t see yourself the way I do,” Boone said and slid my shirt over my head. “If you could see yourself through my eyes, you’d have a boner right now, too.”
Laughing, I soaked up every bit of his affection. Boone’s lips and mine remained locked together as our clothes ended up at the end of the bed.
I would have loved to spend the entire afternoon with him inside my body. Sex at Lula’s house made me nervous. I was terrified of making too much noise. This afternoon wasn’t much different. Despite my nerves, I still climbed on top and rode Boone to two orgasms.
Once I collapsed next to him, my earlier worries came crashing back down. I felt a frown on my face, even though my body hummed with pleasure.
