She moves closer to me as curiosity gets the better of her.
“That they were of him and sometimes of his friends. But none of them were of me. I expected that, but none were of him and Daniel. Not one.”
“Oh.”
I tell her what’s been going through my mind. The real reason that I’ve been feeling restless.
“I could deal with him being into men and put up with this marriage because I thought that he was a good dad. Seeing the reality of the situation hit me. I saw that he wasn’t a good dad. I just stayed in this marriage for my selfish reasons. To have a home. Not to be alone, but in reality, I was just unhappy.”
Her eyes dart to her phone, I know that she probably has to go to work.
“Damn! I need to go, and there’s so much more to say. Look one night, I’ll try and get one night off, or I can send Jason to keep you company,” she says as she wraps her arms around me trying to give me a friendly hug.
“No. I’m fine. I’m just here thinking too much. That’s what happens with an idle mind.”
She nods her head, but then hesitates probably confused about my reaction when she suggested Jason comes over.
That’s when I hear his voice.
“Did I hear someone mention my name?”
Jason comes round the back. Did he see Carla come behind there or something? The guy just doesn’t seem to be able to take no for an answer. I’m friends with his mother. He’s friends with my son. He needs to keep away. And he’s wearing some briefs that are leaving nothing to the imagination about the muscles that I’ve already seen are underneath.
“No. Your mom was just leaving.”
Carla darts me a look. “Sorry, I thought that you could do with company. Jason, maybe you should come back another time when Daniel’s home.”
I shake my head thinking that I'm selfish. Maybe I'm too hasty, and I’ve obviously made Carla feel uncomfortable with my outbursts.
“I'm just silly. It’s not an issue. Maybe you’re right, and I do need the company.”
Jason kisses Carla on the cheek. “Mom, don't worry, I’ll be a perfect gentleman.”
His mom smiles at me, but then waves a finger at him. A warning. Something that I would do with Daniel. Something to say that he should behave.
I give her a reassuring smile as Jason comes near me. He’s so damn close as that he doesn’t even wait to check to see if Carla’s gone. Instead, he growls as I stand and hold my towel so damn tight that I’m nearly sweating.
“Are you going to sit there and hug your towel all afternoon or are you going to join me in the pool?”
He doesn't wait for a response before he jumps into the pool. I wish that I could go inside and get one of the many swimsuits that I used to wear when I was married to Tom. I’d bought the bikini because of the way that Jason made me feel that day. Or maybe subconsciously, I’d bought it because I wanted him to see me in it?
Jason
Holy fuck!
“Jennifer, come over here and keep me company!”
I'm playing with her; I only came to dip in the pool. I have so much work that I need to be getting on with this summer. I didn’t tell Mom about my grades. They weren’t that great considering it was my first year in college. I should be studying, the coach talked to a few of the professors about my lack of ‘academic achievement’ and they gave me some work to do over the summer. The coach said that I should aim for an hour per day. I’ve only been back two days, and so far all I’ve done is spy over the wall to see if Jennifer’s in the pool or anywhere outside of her house, so that I could have an excuse to come and see her. The moment I saw her climb into the pool I took up the opportunity to come over. I tried to find my skimpiest briefs, but I didn’t expect Mom to be here. I thought that she was going straight to work. I wasn’t listening as she called out because I was on a fucking mission and it started and ended with our neighbor, Jennifer.
“Jason, don?
??t you have any friends that you could be hanging around with?”
I do, but I don’t want to be anywhere but with her. I bet she’s been begging for me ever since she came over to the house. She may be playing hard to get, but she’s not fooling anyone. Most of all not me. I know that she wants to strip and give me a little taste of what she has under that towel. I’ve never seen her in a bikini. She always used to go in the pool in a one piece swimsuit. Part of me wonders if I’m the reason for the change in swimwear.
“Yes, but don’t you want my company?”
She hesitates as she replies with her voice trembling, “I could do with you putting some lotion on me. The sun’s burning my skin; it’s pretty hot today.”