Chapter 27
CHAPTER
TWENTY-SEVEN
EVEREST
“Again! Again!” Ivy doggie paddles toward me, eyes bright and smiling a mile wide.
The grandparents have taken off to a country club for the afternoon—Alyssa and Mom for facials and Mark and Dad for a round of golf—which leaves me and Ivy and Owen in his parents’ house by ourselves. Ivy couldn’t get into the pool fast enough.
I grab her around the waist and hoist her up. “Ready?”
“Ready!”
“One! Two! Three!” I toss her into the air and she lands in the water a few feet away with a giant splash.
She comes up laughing with her whole body, the sound ringing through the air. Up on the deck, Owen’s stretched out on a lounge chair in the shade. He’s swapped out his typical slacks for a pair of slim-fitting shorts that hit a couple inches above the knee and he’s gone full casual by leaving his button-up shirt untucked. He’s even rolled up the sleeves of the shirt, revealing the dark hairs that cover his forearms.
With a pair of aviator sunglasses covering his eyes and his iPad in hand, he looks like he’s ignoring us, like he’s engrossed in whatever journal thing he’s reading. But I know better. I notice the tiny shift of his chin, the minute twitch of his brows, the small smile that graces his lips. He’s watching us, alright. He’s definitely watching us.
My heart does a little flutter in my chest and I dive under the water to scoop Ivy up from below. She squeals as I launch her into the air again.
I’ve done a lot of really cool things in my life. I’ve gone to some really awesome places and met the most amazing people. But I’ve never— never —felt anything close to this before.
It’s like I’m high on happiness. Vibrating out of my skin with joy. The sky looks bluer than I’ve ever seen it. The grass smells fresher too. I feel like I could move a freaking mountain. I feel like I could run an Iron Man.
Is this what everyone feels when they’re in love? If it is, I don’t know why I don’t see more dopey people walking around. The world is suddenly more vibrant and alive. Anything—everything—seems not only possible, but actually easy. Shit, maybe I should’ve tried this love thing years ago.
“Again, Uncle Ev!” Ivy swims back to me and I fake a groan.
“Again?! But I’m tired!” I lean back, spreading out like a starfish to float on the water.
“Please! Please, please, please!” Ivy tries to climb on top of me like I’m an inflatable pool float and I immediately start sinking. With a squawk, I grab ahold of her and right myself again.
On the deck, Owen’s act slips a bit. His iPad is lying flat on his lap and there’s a wrinkle in his forehead like he’s worried about us drowning.
I hug Ivy close to me and pretend to whisper into her ear, but I pitch my voice just loud enough for it to carry to Owen. “Hey, Ivy-bear, you know what? I bet Uncle Owen could throw you super far!”
Owen’s head tilts just a little bit, like he’s rolling his eyes.
“Can he?” Ivy shrieks, pushing off me with her feet like I’m the pool wall and swimming in Owen’s direction. “Uncle O! Can you throw me? Pleeeaaase?!” She kneels on the steps at the shallow end and points her deadly pout and puppy eyes at him.
I add my own pouty puppy dog eyes to see if it’ll help Ivy’s cause. Hell, who am I kidding? I’ve got completely selfish motives. I want Owen half-naked and in the water with me. I want to see his hair wet and slicked back, sun reflecting off his glistening skin.
Owen's lips flatten into a firm line, but not because he’s angry—he’s trying to fight off a smile.
“Pleeeaaase?” Ivy pleads again, splashing the water with her hands.
“Yeah, pleeeaaase?”
Owen crosses his arms over his chest, pulling the fabric of his shirt taut across his shoulders. Above his sunglasses, his brow furrows.
“Come swim with us, Uncle O!” Ivy slaps the water to emphasize her point.
“I’m not dressed for the pool,” Owen says in his signature dry tone while shaking his head. But there’s something in his voice, in the way he’s holding himself, that’s just begging to be dragged kicking and screaming into the water.
I bend down to speak quietly into Ivy’s ear, but I can still feel the weight of Owen’s gaze trained on me. It’s laser-focused, unwavering, and goosebumps break out across my arms.
“You know what, Ives? I don’t think Uncle O is going to come swim with us unless we make him.”
Ivy blinks, her long, blond lashes all clumped together with water droplets. “How do we make him?”
“Oh, I don’t know. Maybe by getting him wet.”
Her eyes grow huge. “Like splash him?”
I wince a little. Owen would not appreciate getting splashed. But perhaps something a bit cuter?
“That could work. Or?—”
“What are you guys talking about?” Owen’s voice cuts in, but I don’t stop.
“Or you can go give him a big, wet hug! What do you think?”
Ivy giggles in delight, hands coming up to hide her face from Owen. “Yeah, I can do that!”
Owen sits up straighter and sets his tablet aside, suspicion and mistrust written all across his face. “Everest.” He spreads the warning on nice and thick.
We ignore him. Instead, I help Ivy out of the pool.
Owen immediately figures out what the deal is and jumps to his feet. Backing away, he holds out his hands to stave her off, but our Ivy is a force of nature. “Ivy! No! Don’t!”
Screaming at the top of her lungs, Ivy launches herself at Owen, wrapping her little, wet body around him. “Come swim with us, Uncle O!”
Ivy’s short, so she only manages to soak Owen’s shorts, but the expression on his face is still priceless. Shock and disbelief combined with the promise of murder aimed directly at me. I hate you , he mouths silently over Ivy’s head.
I burst out laughing and throw myself backward in the water. Oh god, this is great. I love annoying Owen almost as much as I love loving him. It’s what makes us work so well. We piss each other off, then we make it up to each other with some fucking hot sex. I never would’ve thought that a relationship could be like this—I never realized a relationship could be so serious and yet so fun.
“Come swim! Come swim!” Ivy takes Owen’s hand and tries to drag him toward the water.
Owen plants his feet, but his shoulders slump in resignation. “Okay, okay, I’ll come swimming with you, but I need to go change first. I can’t jump in the water wearing regular clothes.”
Ivy drops his hand and heaves a sigh. “Fine, but hurry up!”
Owen shoots me a look that says I’ll be in trouble later and I suddenly can’t wait to see what kind of punishment Owen will dream up for me.
Ivy does a cannonball into the water and I chase her around the pool for a few minutes until Owen comes out again.
“Uncle O!” she yells and I turn to glance toward the house.
Time slows. The world around me vanishes, leaving only Owen striding toward me in slow motion.
He’s still wearing his aviators, with a big towel tossed over one shoulder. His swim trunks aren’t the baggy surfer shorts I wear. They’re fitted, hugging thick thighs and rounded ass cheeks. They sit low enough to reveal his hip bones and a dark trail of hair cuts down the center of his flat stomach to disappear beneath the waistband. His chest is covered in the same dark hair—hair that I’ve raked my fingers through, that I’ve licked and swirled with my tongue.
He looks like a supermodel stepping off the pages of a magazine. He looks like a movie star with the sun making his skin glow. He looks… like the man of my dreams.
Owen tosses his towel onto the lounge chair, followed by his sunglasses before approaching the pool. He crouches, then sits, his muscles bunching and bulging as he moves. When his feet hit the water, he hisses at the temperature, lifting himself up by his hands and drawing his legs toward his chest.
For a nerd who apparently doesn’t work out, Owen’s got an incredible body. And seeing it in the brightness of daylight, not hidden behind carefully tailored clothes or buried under the covers… god, I want to lick every single inch of him.
“Come in, Uncle O!” Ivy calls to him, waving him in.
Owen scrunches up his face. “It’s cold.”
I slip under the water and swim in his direction. His feet are still hovering in mid-air when I reach up and grab his ankle. I yank, he comes tumbling into the pool.
Ivy squeals and claps her hands, laughing at us.
When Owen surfaces, he shakes his head from side to side. Time slows again. Water droplets fly, catching the late morning sun and creating a glittering halo around his head.
My breath catches. My heart lurches in my chest like it’s trying to propel me toward him.
He turns toward me, heat flashing in his eyes. My pulse skyrockets and a shiver of pleasure runs up my spine. He advances on me, gaze focused and determined, like a predator on the hunt for his prey. I push off the bottom of the pool, swimming backward as I scramble to get away.
“Where do you think you’re going?” Owen growls. “Get back here.”
“Come and get me.” I taunt him, laughing out loud.
Okay, listen, I blame it on being high on love. Because, I’m supposed to be the athletic one, right? Like, I teach fitness classes and I know how to surf. So why the hell am I thrashing around like a drowning cat while Owen ducks under the surface and torpedoes toward me like a freaking otter?
He’s on me in an instant, grabbing me from behind and putting all of his weight on my shoulders. I immediately sink, but when I try to spin around and grab him, he’s gone.
I come up sputtering. “What the heck?!”
Owen’s already out of arm’s reach, grinning at me like this is the most fun he’s ever had in his life. Ivy’s propped herself up with a pool noodle under her arms and she kicks the water, sending it splashing into the air. She laughs, the sound high and bright.
Owen tugs on one end of her noodle, pulling her in front of him so he can hide behind her. “Come and get me!” Owen calls to me, throwing my own words back in my face. “Ivy’s going to protect me, aren’t you?”
“No!” Ivy squeals in delight as I swim toward them.
I try to go around her, but Owen swings in the opposite direction, using the two ends of Ivy’s pool noodle to keep her between us.
“Stop using our niece as a human shield!” I shout, trailing after them as Owen leads us around the pool.
Ivy reaches for me with both hands outstretched, laughing. “Uncle Ev!”
“Hang on, Ivy-poo! I’ll save you!” I suck in a deep breath and dive. Swimming under Ivy, spot Owen’s legs eggbeatering under the water. I tackle them, dragging him down with me.
We wrestle. Sun-warmed skin slides together. Greedy hands grab at waists, hips, thighs, shoulders. Hair floating out into underwater halos, then plastering themselves to our faces when we surface for air. We play like teenagers, dunking each other and tickling each other, grappling until we’re both exhausted and out of breath.
“Time out! Time out!” I eventually cry for mercy when it feels like I’m actually going to drown.
Owen smirks at me. “Giving up already?”
“Oh, screw you. So freaking competitive.” I turn onto my back, closing my eyes against the bright light of the sun.
“ I’m the competitive one?” Owen scoffs.
A second later his hand slips into my own. I open one eye to peek at him. He’s also on his back, eyes closed, chest rising and falling, half in and half out of the water.
“Me too! Me too!” Ivy abandons her noodle and pushes her way between us.
I give Owen’s hand a squeeze and we release each other to let Ivy in. She flips onto her back too and sighs with happiness.
I know how she feels.
I close my eyes, relaxing in the water. The sun is orange behind my eyelids. Water laps against the sides of the pool. Ivy’s small hand is inside mine. Everything feels so light, so bubbly, and yet so grounded and solid at the same time.
For so much of my life, having fun was the one rule I lived by. I chased fun from city to city, immersing myself in whatever felt good, whatever gave me that instant high. And when things got boring or tedious or just too real, I left. There’s a world of enjoyment out there, why stay in one place and put myself through something difficult and dull when I could be out there instead?
This life I’ve found myself in for the past few months, the little family Owen and I have created for ourselves, it’s so damn domestic. It’s traditional and old school and everything I once vowed I would never do.
And yet, here I am.
And I’ve never been happier in my whole life.
I right myself in the water and tug Ivy to me. She comes without resistance, wrapping her arms around my neck and her legs around my waist. Owen comes too, drifting in close enough to sandwich Ivy between us.
Owen pushes stray strands of Ivy’s hair out of her face. His touch is gentle, tender, and Ivy beams up at him.
I catch Owen’s gaze, smiling, and he smiles back at me. My heart swells with love and joy and a sense of rightness I didn’t know was possible to feel. This is good. This is mine. I don’t want to be anywhere else or with anyone else.
“When are you getting married?”
Both Owen and I startle at Ivy’s question. Owen recovers first. “Why would we get married, Ivy?”
“Because you’re boyfriends. Boyfriends get married.”
“Um, well, that’s…” I sputter, only realizing now that we didn’t actually sit Ivy down to tell her about us. But apparently, we didn’t need to.
“Boyfriends don’t always have to get married,” Owen explains. “I mean, they can. When two people love each other, they can get married, but they don’t have to.”
Ivy tilts her head as she thinks. “Do you love Uncle Ev?” she asks Owen.
Owen’s cheeks flush bright red, and omg, it’s adorable. He clears his throat and mumbles something that sounds like, “I do.”
“And do you love Uncle O?” Ivy asks me, like she’s some sort of officiant in our impromptu mid-pool ceremony.
“Yeah, Ives, I do.”
She nods like a decision’s been made. “Good. I approve.”
Owen and I are silent for a beat before we both burst out laughing. Of course Ivy would dole out her approval like some miniature tyrant. I wouldn’t want her any other way.
Life doesn’t get much better than this.