Oliver emerged from the house carrying a stack of striped towels, fumbling when he saw me.
“Fuck,” he muttered under his breath, dropping the towels on a lounge chair. A similar sentiment clung to my tongue, seeing him walk across the pool deck in blue- and gray-striped board shorts. They clung to his narrow hips, the string tied under his navel. The golden scattering of hair caught my eye and I longed to run my fingers through it, knowing that my touch sent a powerful jolt through his body.
He’d crossed the deck in an instant, fingers blazing over the skin along my side. He fingered the ties at my hip, then the ones behind my neck. “I should have suggested this days ago.”
“If I’d known you’d be game for playing hooky all the time, I would have.”
He responded with a kiss, deep and toe-curling, and I wondered how in the world I’d let him out of my life. What had I been thinking? Clearly, I hadn’t been.
To his credit, after a few well-placed kisses, he did lather me up, making sure to double up where the scars lingered after so many years. His hands skimmed over the tattoo and there was no doubt of his desire when he brushed against me, but he held off and let me stretch out on the lounge chair that was less chair and more couch.
“This is new?” I asked, resting my head on the pillow.
“I may have orde
red it a few weeks ago when I saw it in a catalogue and thought of how useful a mattress would be by the pool.”
I raised an eyebrow. “Really? Planning ahead?”
“I’m a very good businessman, Heaven. I’m prepared for most situations.”
Our fingers linked in a lazy, unrushed way. I felt the build-up, the slow pace, and that too was different from our times before, when classes and friends and sports were always bearing down on us.
“Remember that time,” I said after a while, rolling over on my side. Oliver’s eyes glued to my chest, “when we came here late at night and skinny-dipped?”
“I do. You were wearing a white cotton bra and panties and I swear to God I almost came just seeing you emerging from the water, all wet and see-through.”
My cheeks heated. It wasn’t from the sun. “Stop. It’s not like you hadn’t seen me naked before!”
“I won’t stop. I literally almost ejaculated, seeing you. Instant reaction. There’s something about a thin layer of see-through clothing that makes a woman’s body even more appealing. At least, I think so.”
“You just like a challenge.”
He laughed. “You’ve got me there.”
We stared at one another for a minute, both of us thinking back to that time that seemed so long ago. We’d been so young. So horny all the time. He reached across the space between us and dragged his finger between my breasts, sending sparks across my skin.
I ran my hand down his chest, grazing his nipples with my nails, and tugging at the knot holding his shorts around his waist.
His stomach caved and his thumb circled the swell of my breast. I was so interested in Oliver, so interested in where his hands were moving, in how his body was reacting, I didn’t see the shadow streak across the pool deck or notice Jackson cannonballing into the pool until he shouted and landed with a crash in the water.
Cold water rained from the sky, showering over me and Oliver. I jerked up, droplets running down my body.
“Dammit, Jackson!” Oliver shouted and we both scrambled off the chair, but he was already lifting himself out of the water. He smirked when he straightened and that was when I noticed he was only wearing tight, black boxer briefs.
“You two looked like you needed some cooling off,” he said, sauntering over. Water rolled over his muscular physique and the little grin that tugged at his mouth made my stomach twist with desire. His eyes skimmed my body, leveled at my erect nipples. “Although Heaven may be a little too chilly.”
Bold as ever, he reached for me, dragging me against his cold, wet body. His lips were warm but it did nothing to soothe the goosebumps across my skin. Instead my body reacted, sending a surging shiver down my spine. It wasn’t until I felt the second set of hands grazing down my shoulders that my body warmed up—overheated actually, and once again I found myself blessed by the caresses of two men.
Jackson kissed me, then released me with a controlled spin so I faced Oliver. His eyes searched mine, making sure this was okay. I showed him how much with a kiss of my own, tiny ones atop his brown, round nipples. He sucked in a breath, his hands cupping my breasts. Jackson leaned into me, the hard length of his erection pressing into my behind.
This was good, so good. Why had we waited to do this?
My heart raced at the possibilities and I tasted them, both different, both familiar. How far would this go? I wondered. We hadn’t done much more than this. Hot make-out sessions that tended to end with me spiraling. So far, neither of them had gone that far themselves. I was letting them set the pace—wanting them to be okay with what we were doing, but now that I was so overheated and everyone was half naked, it was hard to think clearly.
I latched a hand in both their shorts and opened my mouth to ask them to go to the mattress with me, to see how far they’d go, when the sound of the back gate opening scraped against the pavement and we all looked up.
Hayden and Anderson stood in the doorway, eyes widened and jaws slacked. Oliver and I dropped our hands, like children caught doing something naughty. Jackson on the other hand, let his fingers linger, kissing me once on the neck, letting his intentions be known.