Six
SIX
ALEXANDER
A distinct hum followed Nick and I down the aisle, the refrigerators protesting their job with as much disdain at the man price checking the frozen goods.
Brakewright’s was the only supermarket in the town that neighbours the lake complex, and boy, did they take advantage of it. Prices gouged high enough to make even a conman wince.
Nick threw packs of popsicles into the cart, paying little regard to the food beneath. I restrained myself from neatening them.
‘So, are things serious with Francesca?’ The need to define their relationship had been itching at me since the moment I dragged myself out of bed.
‘Nah.’ Nick shrugged and piled frozen pizzas on top of the popsicles. ‘She’s a bit demanding for me.’
Wiping his own ass seemed too demanding for Nick.
‘Why lead her on?’
‘She’s just a bit of skirt, Dad. Are you telling me you’ve never just taken advantage of an easy lay?’
The urge to slap him upside the head hit me. ‘No, I can’t say I have.’
‘It’s not like we’re going to see each other after the summer, I’m going travelling, anyway.’
‘What about your studies? How’s college going?’
‘Dropped out. I want to travel.’
Anger bubbled up in my chest, halting my steps as my fingers whitened around the cart handles.
‘You what?’
‘I left. I don’t need to go to college. I have the college fund to cover my expenses, and when I get home, I’m going to make my own video games. Become the next GTA.’
‘With what investment? What knowledge? You couldn’t code a simple switch. Why not switch courses instead?’ The years I’d spent saving up to send him to college with no debt wavered in front of me. The sacrifices I’d made. He hadn’t even called me about it.
Another bag of frozen treats careened into the cart, Nick clearly unbothered by his admission.
‘I don’t know. I’ll figure it out.’
‘You need to get a grip, Nick. At your age?—’
Nick cut me off with a sigh. ‘Yeah. Yeah. You stepped up when you had me and you think I need to do the same. Well, Dad, I’m not the one who knocked some chick up at fifteen. You’re hardly the one to be lecturing on responsibility. Why would I listen to you?’
Sharp knives to my heart .
‘I come here every year to see you. To spend time with you. Yet all you do is play your games. Why are we even bothering with this charade? Do you even want me here?’
Another non-committal shrug.
Silence was my companion for the rest of the grocery shopping, guilt warring with anger.
I might not be able to speak sense into Nick, but perhaps I could let Francesca know that she’s wasting her time on him.
Even if that meant she’d no longer end up in my home.
The air-con ruffled my hair as we drove along the lakeside road, the conversation dead as can be. Nick stared at his phone screen for the duration of the journey, EarPods in. I may as well have been one of those driverless cars. A robot.
By the minute, it had become clearer that our summers together had come to a close. Nick had no interest in them past it being a free place to crash and play video games for a few weeks, and I had to admit that spending my expendable vacation time and money was no longer worth it.
You can only maintain a relationship if it goes both ways. Trying to do it from one side, alone, was flogging a dead horse.
Beyond the smattering of trees that hugged the gently lapping lake, a flash of white caught my eye. Dark hair twisting in the warm breeze.
Francesca.
Stealing a glance at Nick to check if he’d noticed her, I bit my lower lip. Nick wouldn’t notice if she sat in his bloody lap, far less sat hidden amongst tree trunks.
Minutes later, we pulled up to the lake house, and I tossed my keys at my son.
‘Unload the bags for me. Make sure you put the frozen food in the freezer before it melts.’
‘But Dad—’ Nick started, before taking one look at my expression and opting not to fight it. Instead, he sighed like a teenager impatiently waiting for a call from her crush.
‘I’m going for a walk. I’ll be back soon.’
Walking as if headed in the opposite direction to where Francesca sat, I looped back through the trees once out of sight. My pulse quickened with each step closer, inspiring a level of giddiness I’d long since felt.
Francesca’s feet swirled in the water, sending soft swishing noises into the air to mingle with the low tone of her voice. But to whom did she speak?
A tress of dark hair skims her tanned shoulder, making me desire to trace its path over her skin.
No.
You’re here to warn her off, Alex. Not to seduce her.
Liar .
‘I don’t disagree,’ she said, her voice barely above a whisper. Stopping at the end of the wooden jetty, I search around her for the recipient of her conversation. No one to be seen.
Her head snapped to me the moment I set foot on the rough wooden boards.
‘Alexander.’ The smile she gave sent bolts of lightning to my chest.
‘Francesca,’ I reply, stopping short of her. ‘May I join you?’
With a nudge of her hips, she shimmied to the left, making room for me beside her. Removing my shoes and socks before rolling up my jeans, I took a seat.
‘Who were you talking to?’ I asked, dipping my feet into the cold water and letting the refreshing wave wash over me.
‘Oh.’ A pink blush crept into her cheeks, dancing high amongst her freckles. ‘You heard that?’
‘A little.’
‘The frog and I were just chatting about the weather.’ With a flick of her wrist, she pointed to a black-eyed frog sitting nearby. ‘Sorry, that’s weird, right?’
Weird. Charming. Delightful.
‘Not at all.’ I tipped my head to the amphibian. ‘Morning, good Sir.’
Francesca let out a bubble of laughter, mesmerising me entirely. A piece of hair traced her cheek. The urge to reach over and tuck it behind her ear pulled at me.
‘Have you had a busy morning?’ She fiddled with the hem of her pretty summer dress, making it tickle over the tanned expanse of thigh. Each distracted movement was torture.
‘Went into the town to do the grocery shopping.’
‘Do you have anything tasty planned?’ Her tongue darted out over her lower lip, wetting it. The temptation to reach forward and lick the trail grabbed me. Pressing my fingernails into my palm, I resisted.
She’s still with Nick.
‘Mostly frozen stuff I can bung in the oven. Whatever is easiest.’
‘Are you hungry now?’
Fucking starving. Not for food, mind you... With every breath, her chest pillowed around the fitted top of her dress, so delicate and soft. Tiny beads of sweat gathered along her collarbone in the baking morning sun, growing higher by the minute.
Clearing her throat, she dragged my eyes back to hers. I waited for the inevitable rush of embarrassment and guilt for being caught ogling, but it didn't come. Her pupils dilated and we hung there with the unsaid between us. An undeniable electricity. Her lips called to me with all the voracity of a starved wolf. The need to devour her pulled at my soul. I’d felt lust. So many times. But this was greater, a feeling that told me Francesca belonged to me.
‘So are you?’
Her voice pulled me from the reverie. ‘Am I?’
‘Hungry...’ She tilted her head a touch before sitting up straighter and reaching beside her. ‘I made cherry tartlets.’
Damn. Tiny pastry parcels filled with a darkly oozing cherry sauce, whole cherries gathered in the centre and with a dusting of powdered sugar, which looked somewhat worse for wear in the growing heat.
‘I’d love one.’
She pulled back the plastic wrap and sat the plate between us. The first bite made me groan, flavour exploding in my mouth. A shiver of absolute delight passed through her at my reaction. I’d eat every single thing she made just to watch the joy that filled her.
‘So good,’ I sighed, licking my fingers as I finished the treat.
‘Do you know my parents won’t even try anything I make? And Nick eats them without so much as a mention. I love baking, but half of the joy is in sharing it with others. In getting feedback.’
‘Why won’t they try them?’
Francesca tipped her face to the sun, closing her eyes and letting the heat wash over her. ‘They claim it’s because they don’t like sugar, that being dentists, they can’t support the gluttonous over consumption of sugary treats. But it’s baloney. I’m at dentistry school and everybody eats sugar. I’ve even tried with stevia and savoury treats, but there’s always a reason. Truly, I think they just want me to fit their avatar, and anything outside of that isn’t worth attention.’
Consuming a second tartlet, I let her talk. Her parents must be mad, because it’s like eating a literal dream.
‘Are you like that with Nick? Do you want him to be a carbon copy of you? Or do you support him no matter what he wants to do?’
Ooft. Like a kick to the groin .
‘I don’t really care what Nick does for work, but I hate that he’s doing nothing. He told me today that he’s dropped out of college, and wants to take his college fund to go travelling.’
Turning her face to me, she popped open one eye, squinting in the harsh light. ‘Travelling can be good.’
‘I know. I don’t believe he’d see anything other than a screen, no matter which country he travels to.’
Letting out a giggle, she shrugged. ‘I can’t argue with that. He’s pretty focused on his games and his guy pals.’
I swallowed. Time to bring up the elephant in the room.
‘Can I ask you a question?’
‘If you like,’ she answered, dipping her finger into a tart before licking the red syrup from the tip in a way that made my stomach flip.
‘Why is a girl like you with a guy like Nick? I know he’s my son, and I love him, but seriously, he’s a bit of a waste of space at the moment.’
‘And you don’t think I’m a waste of space?’ Her voice dipped to a sultry low that stole my breath.
Swallowing down the urge to spill my jumbled thoughts about how wonderful she was, I shook my head.
‘I guess I’m just wiling away the summer. Plus, our air-con’s broken, and yours isn’t...’ With a soft tilt of her shoulder, she shrugged.
‘Just about anything would be a better use of your time than sitting next to a video game zombie.’
‘You sound like my mother.’ God. That comment hit with a kick. ‘Why do you care what I do with my time?’
There was no good answer to that. Why did I care?
‘I don’t. I’m just here for the tarts.’ A big fat lie.
‘Don’t you have anything better to do with your summer?’ she asked, a sparkle in her eyes. ‘Than sitting here with me?’
Oh, darling, I’d sit here until my skin burnt to a crisp and the bugs consumed me just for a bit more time lost in your sunny attention.
‘I don’t.’ I responded.
Francesca leaned back on her elbows, her skirt riding a little higher and taking the last of my sanity with it.
‘You’ve told me plenty about Nick’s failings... but none of your own. Are you the perfect man?’ The lightness in her words carried along with the light breeze. Was she testing me?
Fortune favours the brave. But would saying the things bouncing around in my head end with her thighs around my ears, or cuffs around my wrists?
Shit or bust .
‘I’m far from perfect.’
‘So what’s so wrong with you?’
Grazing my teeth over my bottom lip, I smiled. ‘I want to taste my son’s girlfriend to see if she’s as delicious as the treats she makes.’
The blush that ravaged her cheeks and chest made her resemble a tomato. When she failed to tell me to shut up, I couldn’t help but push further, sensing my opportunity to figure out her position. Would her boyfriend’s dad thinking that way creep her out... or turn her on?
‘Or perhaps that I stayed up all last night wondering whether you hate sex, or just the lacklustre sex my son gives you.’