Total pages in book: 26
Estimated words: 23974 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 120(@200wpm)___ 96(@250wpm)___ 80(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 23974 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 120(@200wpm)___ 96(@250wpm)___ 80(@300wpm)
“Um, Patty, I just got here?” I ask. “Can I put my stuff down somewhere?”
But my friend’s already speeding to the pool. I follow in her wake, and try to scan the party subtly while we enter the backyard. Before me lies a lush green lawn and a blue-stone tile patio. Flags and balloons in the colors of red, white, and blue flutter on stakes scattered throughout the crowd, and there are multiple tables holding all sorts of snacks, including bowls of chips and trays of brightly colored fruit. Coolers filled to the brim with beer and soda edge the tables like bookends. Half the crowd is in patriotic attire, the other half running wild in bathing suits. This split, surprisingly, is not defined by age. The adults and the teenagers merge seamlessly in the shenanigans before me, everyone having fun and making merry. The Restons’ parties are always the best.
I make my way to a lounger by the pool, trying to be unobtrusive, although I feel like I stand out like a fire hydrant in my red coverup. I set my bag on the chair, and kick off my shoes, when then, I see him. Standing across the way under a gazebo is Dane. He’s with a group of his father’s friends, but he looks like a god among mere mortals. The handsome man is wearing swim trunks and a white, slim-fit t-shirt, dwarfing the older men as they laugh with beers in their hands. I can’t help but smile at the red, white, and blue beads strung around Dane’s neck. His hair is wet and sleek on his head, so he probably just got out of the pool. Come to think of it, his shirt is still damp too, and clinging to his muscular bod. It is almost unfair how good he looks today.
“Zoe, get in! The water is soooo nice,” Patty shrieks at me. I turn my attention to the pool, which is a large and shaped like a Figure 8. There’s a lot of foliage growing around it, obscuring some parts of the water.
Patty is floating on the waves on her back, her arms and legs spread wide forming the shape of an X. I laugh and pull off my dress, still a little hesitant about showing my curves. Well, I wore this bikini for a reason, so I might as well show it off. But then, right when I’m about to turn to the pool, I feel a set of eyes on me. The gaze is hot, and sure enough, when I look towards the gazebo, it’s Dane.
But he’s not just staring at me. He’s looking at my curves like he could devour them. Those blue eyes are ravenous, and his gaze slides down my body, up again, and then back down before settling on the vee between my thighs.
I feel my cheeks turn hot and sense an immediate need to douse myself in the cool pool water. My hands fumble, and I try to slip my dress inside my bag but clumsily knock it over instead. Drat.
Hastily, I make an executive decision to leave the upended bag on the ground beside the chair. If I bend over to pick it up, I’ll be giving Dane an eyeful of my ass, and I’m not ready for that yet. Instead, I plaster a smile on my face and slip into the pool, grateful for the covering of water. Of course, immediately Patty jumps on me, and we go down in a mess of splashing and limbs. When I surface, I look back over in Dane’s direction but he’s not looking at me at all. Instead, he’s talking with an older man beside him like nothing ever happened. Oh my god, was that all my imagination?
But then, the man strolls away and I watch from the corner of my eye to see what Dane’s going to do next. The air escapes my lungs as the handsome man sets down his drink and pulls off his shirt, revealing his tattoos, even more brilliant and beautiful under the summer sun. But Dane doesn’t join us in the pool, oh no. Instead, he takes a big pair of shiny metal tongs from his dad and replaces him behind the grill. He looks like he knows what he’s doing, carefully eyeing the meats and prodding at them. Sweat slicks his chest and I watch, mesmerized, as a bead snakes down one pec before trailing towards his abs.
Then, my lungs fill with cold water as I’m dunked. I come up with a sputter, trying to wipe the water from my nose.
“Sorry, we thought we lost you there for a minute,” laughs Patty, who’s not at all sorry. “You were blankly, yet oh so very intently, staring out into the abyss. What are you looking at anyways?” she jokes while shading her eyes with her hand and peering over towards the grill. “There’s nothing to see, girlfriend, but some old people drinking beer.”