“Oh no, I’m not telling him that part.”
“I don’t want you to get into trouble. I just said yes because I’d love to see what a real Christmas is like again. I haven’t had it in so long.”
“It will be fine. You can take a cab to my place and no one needs to know. Plus, there’s no alcohol in my house, so it’s a safe place to stay and it will give you a fresh perspective on your treatment.”
“So, just to clarify, you are in love with me,” I jokingly exclaimed.
“No!” She laughed and started to chase after me in the pool. “You came in the middle of the conversation. I was making a sarcastic remark.”
“About loving me?” I teased as I swam faster.
“Oh my gosh. I don’t love you. I don’t even know if I like you.”
I stopped dead in my tracks as she came up behind me and tried to push me under the water. Her hands pressed on my shoulders as she pushed her own body out of the water and tried to get me to go under. But her tiny little frame was no match for me, and in one swift motion, I grabbed her around the waist and thrust her under the water.
Quickly, I pulled her back up though, and held my arms around her as she wiped the water from her face. Messing around with her in the pool was fun. It felt like we were old friends just having a blast and hanging out.
“I’m the pool wrestling king back home.” I laughed.
“Oh, you’re going to pay for that.”
Her tone was serious, and as I looked at the expression on her face, I got a little worried that she was mad at me. But then she wrapped her legs around my waist and grabbed my head and successfully pulled me under the water.
Cassidy’s legs were wrapped around me still, and I pulled her under the water with me. Our bodies touched in so many places that I wasn’t sure where mine started and hers ended. My hands grabbed for her ass and I let my fingertips lightly move up and down the seam of her swimsuit. Oh, how I wanted to slide them under that fabric and feel her wet center. It took every bit of my self-control not to touch her longer, deeper, and in more places.
We both thrust our bodies back up and out of the water. My hands stayed wrapped around her ass and her legs held onto my torso. Our eyes locked onto one another and for a long minute, we didn’t move.
Cassidy saw me. She saw through the jerk that I was when I first arrived. She saw through my bullshit, and even though she didn’t know all that much about me, I still felt like she knew me. It was indescribable how I felt so close to a woman who I hardly knew.
Cassidy leaned in close to my earlobe and I thought she was going to kiss my neck like I had kissed hers. I didn’t pull away. If she was going to make a move, I wouldn’t deny her. I wanted her, and I was only holding back because I didn’t want to cause her trouble. If she wanted me, hell, I was totally game.
Her breath was on my skin, and I prepared myself to feel the touch of her lips on me. She could do absolutely anything she wanted to do to me and I’d be fine with it. I hadn’t had a woman in weeks, and my body felt like it was going to explode. Her lips were so close to me that I felt myself urging them to move closer and closer. I wanted her. I wanted this to happen.
“You should probably let go of my ass,” she whispered as her thighs loosened and she pulled herself away from me.
Reluctantly, I released her from my grip. Nothing about it had been what I wanted to do. If it had been up to me, we would have been making love on one of the pool chairs by that point.
“Your ass was in my hands. I couldn’t help it.”
“So, you’re coming to my house to meet my family. But you’re sleeping on the couch and there will be no funny business. Do you understand?” she asked firmly as she took two steps away from me.
“Yes, ma’am,” I said with a fun salute.
“I’m serious. My father is a great guy, but if he thinks we are messing around, he’ll shoot you.”
My eyes widened as I lost about three shades of pigment in my skin. I didn’t want to get shot, and I clearly wasn’t able to control myself around Cassidy. Maybe I shouldn’t be going over to her family’s house. Angry fathers weren’t really something I was good at dealing with. Now mothers, on the other hand, I was really good at dealing with. Mothers loved me.
I had not had the chance to meet many girls’ families over the years, not since high school at least. One-night stands weren’t really conducive to meeting the parents. Suddenly, I wor
ried that I would say or do something wrong if I did meet them. Certainly, she was joking about getting shot, but what else might he do if he didn’t like me?
“Um….”
“I’m kidding. He’s a pushover. Don’t worry. His bark is worse than his bite.”
“He barks and bites?” I asked jokingly.
“You’ll be fine. Bring a present for them, it will help. I always buy them horrible things. It’s sort of a running joke between us that I’m the worst Christmas shopper ever.”