16
Christian
I was an asshole. The entire night fucking the leggy brunette whose name I already forgot, I couldn’t stop thinking about the way that Maeve kissed me. The way her lips felt against mine. The way that her hips thrust very effortlessly into mine as she kissed me. The way that her hands felt when I held hers. The way her thighs felt along my rough and calloused hands. I knew what I was doing. I was trying to figure shit out that happened, and getting into bed with someone else was a poor fucking excuse for doing what I did.
I was even more pathetic when I lay in bed next to this stranger watching the cameras I had installed in the house for our safety as she sat on the couch snuggled up with my shirt. I managed to make it through the night without completely losing it with help from my sponsor, who also told me that I was an asshole.
I decided to come back home and apologize. That was my initial plan, at least. I would waltz in, say sorry for leaving last night, and then we would go on with our day, doing whatever task she needed me to. What was unexpected was to walk into a very quiet house with no sign of Maeve.
Until I walked all the way to the back of the house, where I saw she was in the pool, lying on a float with her eyes closed. It was the glimpse of her body that made my cock hard. I thought that leaving would somehow make me immune to seeing her as anything other than just friends, but I was a fool for thinking it.
The problem I faced at that moment was my inability to resist her allure. It was a colossal issue, as my feet seemed to move of their own accord, drawing me closer to the pool. I stood in the shelter of the house's awning, quietly observing her. Nothing about what she was doing was particularly extraordinary—just relaxing on a pool float with her eyes closed. Yet her mere presence, clad in the tiniest bikini known to humankind, exuded an extraordinary charm that captivated me.
She was gorgeous. The sun glistened off her creamy skin like the world somehow knew she needed a little more light. As I lurked in the shadows of the afternoon, a beacon of lightness called me. But I couldn’t tell her this. I would never tell her this because I knew what would happen if I did. This arrangement, our perfectly imperfect setup, would collapse in the palm of my hands. It was beyond just the two of us that I had to think about. It was now the weight of an entire family’s future that rested on my shoulders, and as much as I wanted to shake it off and continue to be the playboy I always was, I couldn’t do that to her.
“Stop staring, creep.” She didn’t so much as look up or lift an eyelash in my direction.
“You looked like you were dead on the float. Just checking for life.”
“Not dead. No thanks to you for leaving me last night, though. I did it all on my own.”
“Maeve, can we talk?” I sounded like an asshole for practically begging, but at this point, I wasn’t above pleading my case. I needed a fresh start for the two of us. Something that we could mutually agree on and get along. Friends. I wanted to go back to being friends.
Finally, she opened her eyes, and I instantly knew we wouldn’t ever be just friends. The way her baby blue orbs shone so brightly in the afternoon sun. They matched perfectly with the tiny bikini that hid nothing on her backside. I noticed that when she hopped off the pool float and swam toward the edge.
Then I noticed the can in her hand, which I had only assumed was alcohol and realized it was one of those fucking girly booze-free seltzers I liked to buy and stashed in the beverage fridge.
“You know you can have alcohol here. It’s not going to affect me.” I didn’t want her pattering about and being extra sensitive to my sobriety. I hated when I felt like my sobriety hindered others’ lifestyles. It was one of the bigger hurdles I worked through these past ten years.
“Nah. These don’t taste too bad. Plus, with the girls coming, it’s a good idea to probably chill with the drinking around them too.” She looked up at me, my body providing shade for her.
“Sit down. I can't talk to you when you’re all the way up there.”
I watched as her body moved with the waves of the pool. It was fucking enchanting. I couldn’t take my eyes off her.
“Earth to Christian.”
Shit.
“Sorry.” I kicked off my shoes and rolled up my black pants. I had no idea what I wanted to talk to her about. I was so entranced with her right now. Her skin had taken on a slight golden glow, so I figured she must have been out here a while, or I just wasn’t paying much attention to her.
No, that was a lie. I always paid attention to her. I loved how she moved, looked, and felt between my body. What about her made me act like a feral cat who somehow lost his tongue? I had no idea.
I put my feet into the water, and she propped herself on the side of the pool next to me. She dripped with water, but sat her cute little ass on the towel she had set out earlier, giving me a front-row seat to obsess over every part of her body.
“You’re staring again.” She leaned up to sit next to me, and I drank her in. She was a fucking goddess, and I was absolutely staring.
Snap. Out. Of. It.
“Maeve, I’m really sorry about last night. It was a douche move to leave you here overnight.”
She looked out into the glistening pool. I tried to read her face, but it was hard to see what she was thinking with her sunglasses now on.
“It was.” When she finally spoke, it was so matter-of-factly.
“If it makes you feel any better, I have cameras around, so nothing happened.” She stared at me, but I couldn’t see her with her oversized glasses on.
“That’s creepy, Christian. You really have that weirdo-stalker vibe going for you right now, and it's not a great look.” This time, I stared at her right back. Damn, I loved the mouth on that woman. I wanted to shut it up by any means necessary but preferably stuffed with my cock inside her.
“You like it.” It was a lame comeback. I think her stupid tiny bikini sidetracked me.
“Nope. Why don’t you ask whomever you fucked last night if they enjoy your witty comebacks and stalker vibes?” This time, she lowered her sunglasses only long enough to glare at me. I couldn’t help but laugh.
“Only you like them, firecracker.”
“You cannot be doing that shit when the girls are around.” I nodded, understanding what she was saying. Honestly, I shouldn't be doing that in general, but I needed a release in one way or another. As unhealthy as it was, it was a much safer option than walking to the bar.
“I am really fucking sorry.”
“Don’t be. You’re a single guy just doing the same thing you’ve always done.” She jumped back into the pool but not before she shook her fine little ass in front of my face.
“Can we be serious for a second?” I all but begged.
She dunked her hair into the water and chucked her sunglasses over to where she had just been sitting. When she emerged from the water, she looked like she belonged on freaking Baywatch, and my brain couldn’t register what was happening. It felt like I was in a slow-mo video.
But that image got erased quickly when her eyes locked onto mine. It was worse than I imagined. She met me with nothing but pure apathy. It would be a different story if I saw hate in her eyes, but nothing was there. I could work with hate. Instead, she was totally checked out. This somehow felt worse than the one time I sat in a bar drinking myself stupid when Julian first found me.
“It’s no big deal, Christian. I get it. It’s fucking embarrassing for me to admit that when I kissed you, I definitely overstepped. There will be nothing between us other than friendship. You’re allowed to do what you need to, and I’m allowed to do what I need to. Once these six months are up, the game we’re playing no longer needs to be played. Endgame. We are done.”
She swam toward me, pulling my thighs apart this time and looking up at me as my legs dangled in the warm water.
“Let’s just go back to being friends, please. It was much simpler that way. Plus, I promise to thank you from here on out with my words and not my mouth.” I narrowed my eyes at her. I knew she didn’t mean what she said, but fuckkk if it didn’t make me so hard.
“Ew, you perv,” she all but screeched as I tried to adjust my boner so she didn’t see it. Too late, I guess.
She splashed me with water.
“Firecracker,” I warned.
"Chill out, Christian," she teased, swiftly dipping beneath the water's surface. Then, out of nowhere, she burst back up, grabbing my hands and yanking us straight into the pool.
At that moment, as the water enveloped us, her laughter reverberated, creating an enchanting symphony of delight. I swear, it was like the freaking elixir of life, breathing energy into every damn thing around us.
"You think you're a real comedian, huh?" I shot back, a mix of excitement and curiosity fueling my words.
"I don't just think. I know it," she confidently replied, stoking the flames of suspense and mischief.