17
Maeve
And suddenly, he was taking his shirt off, and I felt like an incredible stalker for staring. When he got home a few hours ago and sat staring at me in the corner of the house, I knew I had him exactly where he needed to be. He felt bad for yesterday, and I wanted him to stew a little bit before I gave in to him. It was a dick move, but someone needed to put him in his place.
Now, he stood, fully clothed in the pool and slowly removing his black button-up shirt. As he peeled the layers of it, he slowly exposed hints of glistening, taut golden skin. Once he got it completely off, he chucked it to the side of the pool and then undid his belt and shimmied out of his pants.
“You’re lucky I had my phone on the counter inside, firecracker.” He winked at me when he finished. This was the Christian I knew. This was the Christian I liked to be around. The person without the heavy emotions and feelings. He was someone I could spend time with and be myself around.
But the closer he got to being freaking naked in this pool, I realized the wetness tightening in my core wasn’t from the pool water. I just had to convince myself it was okay to look, but touching him very clearly blurred a boundary, and I wasn’t ready for him to walk out on me again. It was a big blow to my self-esteem, so I had to protect my own peace and mentally vowed there was only permission to look.
“Oh, hey, neighbor,” someone said from the side gate, and I realized that Tatum, Gianna, Julian, and Elio were at the gate.
“Remind me to get a taller gate or better lock,” Christian grumbled.
“Go get some pants on, and I’ll distract them.” Christian swam over to me before hoisting himself onto the ledge of the pool.
“Are you going to wear your bikini around them? I think—” He gestured to where they had now anxiously gathered around the back gate, and Julian was trying to pull the lock from the inside.
“Oh, you’re right. Maybe I should go change, too.”
A large, reassuring hand held my shoulder as I prepared to jump out of the pool.
“Absolutely not.” This time, he stared right at me. “I didn’t say that because you look bad. If you let me finish my thought, I was going to say that you should flaunt it to every goddamn person who walks through the gate because you look amazing.” Was it hot enough outside to completely melt the insides of my chest? Because with his confession just now, I wanted to. This was the Christian that I loved. The kind one who knew how to build me up without even a second thought. The person who helped me harness my own confidence and strength.
“Oh, then yes. I was planning on wearing it.” His delicious smile crept back on his face before he turned around and got out of the pool like a dripping-wet Norwegian Viking and walked into the house.
I walked over to open the gate.
“What the fuck took you so long?” Julian grumbled as he came in with a cooler filled with mocktails.
“Maybe they were christening the house,” Elio murmured from behind the group.
“Ew,” Tatum and I said in unison.
“Babe, you look fucking hot in this, though. Where did you pull it from?” Tatum gave my hip a little bump, and I playfully laughed.
“Yeah, where has this version of Maeve been hiding?” Gianna sat with her pregnant belly on one of the loungers.
“I don’t know, you guys. I think she has always kinda been around, but I guess it’s a new house, new me.”
“Well, I’m feeling it.” Tatum pulled off her cover-up, and her little bump was proudly on display.
“I’m excited for the shower this weekend. My mom has already agreed to watch the girls for me.” We spent the next few minutes chatting about details for the baby shower Chels and I were throwing for them.
I felt his presence come back as he threw on some swim shorts and talked with Julian. The girls chatted around me, but I couldn’t listen. All I could do was stare at the V that made its way so fucking perfectly down his shorts. It was as if the fabric was almost holding his body by being molded into that outline. The way his tattoos glistened in the sun.
“Earth to Maeve,” Gianna asked, and I snapped back into reality.
“Wha-What? Sorry I wasn’t paying attention.”
“Shit, I’m very happily married, but I would stare at that Game of Thrones god standing next to my husband too.” Gianna looked in the direction that I remained focused on.
“I’m not staring.” I quickly snapped my head back to my friends, and they rolled their eyes.
“I don’t know why you guys fight this so hard.” Tatum popped open a can of the mocktail seltzer.
“He was gone last night with one of the girls he takes home. He will never change,” I confessed to my friends.
“On your first night here?” Gianna asked.
“Yup.” I popped the p for emphasis.
“Wow. That sucks. He is a playboy through and through, and you don’t need that energy, especially when you’re dealing with everything with Tyler,” Gianna agreed with me, which only made me smile more until I looked over at Tatum, who had not cracked even a nod of agreement.
“I don’t know, guys. It’s not my place to tell, and honestly, I don’t know the whole story, but there is just so much to his background. I think he kinda does it to protect himself.”
“Does what?” Gianna asked, but I knew exactly what Tatum was getting at. We sat on our lounge chairs just staring at each other, telepathically arguing that I disagreed with her.
“He uses women to somehow protect his heart.”
“That’s bullshit, then,” I added to the conversation while still shooting daggers at Tatum. “He cannot just go around fucking women and using it as an excuse for whatever he’s got going on. It’s just an addiction to mask another addiction.” I lowered my voice, but I still felt the heat of his stare on me.
“I agree with you.” Tatum offered me a sympathetic pat on the thigh while Gianna stayed quiet, presumably because I had just outed Christian as having an addiction but not wanting to pry.
“Especially after what happened last night.” I quickly slapped my hand over my mouth and totally didn’t mean for that to actually slip out. It was a thought meant to stay in my head.
“Oh shit. What happened?” Gianna leaned up on her chair, and we all huddled together like we were kids on the playground telling each other a deep secret. The boys must have thought we had lost our minds when they looked over at us.
“I shouldn’t have said that aloud. It’s really fucking embarrassing.” I shot Tatum a look because part of me wasn’t sure if she was able to keep this between us. I knew how close she and Julian were.
“I swear, I won't say anything,” she responded as if she could read my thoughts.
“I was just super overwhelmed with gratitude for this house. What he did for me and the girls is extraordinary, and he had held my hand during the tours, so I thought I was picking up on a vibe. I grabbed him, threw him in the office, and kissed him.” Their jaws were mutually hanging on the ground.
“Holy—”
“Shit.” Tatum finished for Gianna.
“Ugh. He pushed me away, and then we went on our way.”
“Wait, this all makes sense.” Tatum looked around like she was literally piecing puzzle pieces together. “He ran away because he was confused about the kiss, too. I bet he likes you,” she squealed. I shushed her.
“Nah. That’s messed up, then. He likes her, kisses her, and then it's too much, so he runs to fuck another girl?”
“Exactly,” I emphasized, just grateful that someone was on my team.
“I know it seems fucked up, but knowing Christian, I just think that’s how he processes big emotions.” I shook my head at my friend.
“You must know how absurd this sounds, right?” I asked my friend right as I quickly bit my words back because the three boys came over.
“Enough of the gossip. I miss having a conversation other than work,” Elio murmured and slid next to Gianna.
“Give them a break, El.” Christian laughed before assessing the seating situation. Julian sat next to Tatum in her lounge. Only one chair was left, and I was sitting on it. Christian looked down at the empty spot on my chair and shrugged before sitting. “Firecracker over here was probably just talking about how much she likes me.”
Everyone went dead silent. Christian and I just engaged in a staring war between each other in silence before I took the rest of my seltzer and lifted it over his head. Then I tipped the can. You could only hear the water lapping in the distance from the pool as the wind hit it. Otherwise, everyone stared at this exchange in utter and complete shock.
“No, you did not,” Christian said after whatever was left of the can was all over his head.
“Whatcha going to do about it, West? ” I teased him, using his last name like the guys in the military used to call him, and sometimes Julian did when they were around company other than family.
“You fucking—” He didn’t even finish that sentence before he hoisted me off the chair and threw me over his shoulder. I just banged on his incredibly hard shoulder blades. How did he have the time to make these things feel like steel?
“Put me down,” I half screamed but also giggled between each word. I lifted my head and saw our friends finally all relax. They were now joyfully watching this scene unfold. “I swear to god, Christian,” I threatened again.
For a moment, he paused. “Or what?”
“Or I will...” I had no idea what I would do. At this point, I think I was having too much fun to even care that he would dunk me. “Or I will take all the hot water in the shower tonight... on purpose .”
Three…two…one…whoosh. I was suddenly underwater, but he held me with a firm yet playful grasp. He had lowered me down, our bodies close, before he flung us both into the pool with a hint of mischief.
Kicking my legs, I felt his support as he lifted me, and together, we surfaced from beneath the water, bubbling with excitement.
"Pathetic comeback, firecracker," he murmured, his voice dripping with forbidden allure. It was barely audible, a seductive growl that sent shivers down my spine. The water cascaded from our foreheads while his hands remained locked around my waist, creating a scorching sensation. An electric current pulsed through our connection, a tangible reminder that, at that moment, it was just the two of us, and our existence was consumed by the moment's intensity. There was no one else in the world.
Summoning the courage to acknowledge the reality of our situation, I reluctantly broke free from his touch. We were destined to be nothing more than friends, and I needed to stop entangling myself in these precarious positions. Sensing the thick tension that had enveloped us, our friends joined us in the pool as if to break the spell. We spent the rest of the afternoon finding solace and distraction in each other's company.