Top Dog

She rolled her eyes when I reached for my phone.

“Hello?” I asked.

“Brooke. It’s Kevin.”

“Good morning,” I said.

“Wasn’t sure you’d be up.”

“So you decided to call anyway? What if I had been sleeping?”

“You sleep like a log. You wouldn’t have picked up.”

“You don’t know that. I might be a light sleeper now.”

Morgan started laughing as I shot her a look.

“I called to see what you guys were up to today,” Kevin said.

Silence fell on the phone call as Morgan looked at me with a curious eye.

“Um—we’re going swimming,” I said.

“Where at?” Kevin asked.

“Just off the pier,” I said. “Why?”

“Well, maybe the kids and I will see you guys out there.”

“Maybe,” I said.

I hung up the phone and dodged all of Morgan’s questions. My mind was still spinning the sound of his voice around like a song. I peeled off my pajamas and slipped into my bathing suit, then slathered sunblock onto my skin.

“Ready?” she asked.

“Ready,” I said with a nod.

The two of us dove into the water from the small porch of our hut and swam out into the ocean. I looked over and saw Kevin’s vacation home in the distance. I saw him bobbing up and down in the water while Daniel and Sydney were having a blast sliding down the waterslide. Soon the current was pushing us over to their side of the beach.

“Hey there, stranger!” Morgan said.

I shot her a look as Kevin whipped around.

“Fancy seeing you out here,” he said, with a grin.

“The kids look like they’re having fun,” I said.

“They love that waterslide. I knew they would when I found the house.”

“I wish I had a waterslide like that growing up,” Morgan said.

“You can go down it, if you’d like,” Kevin said.

“Oh, hell yes,” Morgan said. “See you losers later!”

I shook my head as my friend swam off to go indulge her inner child.

A cheeky grin slid across Kevin’s face as he looked me over. It was all I could do not to blush from head to toe under the weight of his gaze.