His eyes sparkle with amusement when he catches me looking him over. “Oh, don’t worry. I’m willing to reciprocate. But first…” Without warning, he bends and sweeps one strong arm under my knees, the other landing around my shoulders.
I let out a squeal when he picks me up in his arms. My drink splashes my arm until I reach out to set it on a table, struggling to escape from Russ’s grasp at the same time.
“Oh, no. It’s into the pool for you,” he says, louder now, so others can hear it. From somewhere in the background, I hear my mother cheering in approval.
But I have eyes only for Russ. For the way his gaze sears through me, devouring every detail of me.
I kick feebly as he walks toward the pool, carrying me as if I weigh nothing at all. Like I’m lighter than a feather. “No fair!” I call out. “At least let me take my shift off.”
“No phones in your pockets?” he asks, one eyebrow lifted, amusement glittering on his face.
“If I told you yes, would you set me back down?” I ask, unable to keep from grinning in spite of myself.
In response, the hand he has wrapped around my knees slide up my thighs. I swallow hard at the feel of his hot, strong palm resting against my outer thigh, right where…
Right where a pocket would be.
“Well, I’d set you down if I believed you,” he says, his smile growing wider. “But since you don’t have any pockets…”
“No, Russ!” I let out one last yelp before he tosses me. For a second I’m sailing, and I catch a glimpse of everyone in the deep end scattering out of the way. Then I hit the water and sink into it, feeling myself instantly soaked through from head to toe. When I splutter back to the surface, my mother is laughing with delight, and Russ’s eyes glitter with amusement. He checks me out shamelessly, studying his handiwork.
“That was so not fair,” I call out as he retreats from the poolside to peel off his shirt. Then my protests die on my lips, because I’m momentarily distracted by the sight of Russ’s shirtless chest.
Fuck.
I’ve seen him without his shirt before, of course. Dozens of times, at parties just like this one. My mom always makes everyone who comes over swim, since she says she wouldn’t let Dad splurge on such a fancy addition to the house without taking advantage of it whenever possible. Still, it’s different now, seeing Russ’s cut abs and his sculpted chest, speckled with a faint dusting of hair around his happy trail and across his pecs, just enough to remind anyone looking that he’s a Man, capital letter and all.
It’s different now, because I look at him, and all I can think is he fucked me. That man was inside me just a couple days ago.
My whole body goes taut with tension, and it’s all I can do to tread water and keep my head above the surface, because my body wants to sink down under it.
A few other couples tease at the poolside, a woman pushing her boyfriend in, another pair sliding into the shallow end with their drinks in hand. But I barely even pay any attention. My eyes are fixed on Russ, watching him peel off his jeans to reveal sculpted, muscular legs beneath his trunks.
Trunks that, I’m pretty sure, would show just how interested in me he was, if given the proper motivation. They fit pretty tightly, after all.
All of a sudden, I know what my revenge needs to be. I shoot a glance at the far end of the pool, but Mom and Dad are distracted now, sipping drinks and chatting with friends. I duck under the water and grasp the hem of my cover-up. It’s hard to struggle out of in the water, since the fabric is soaked through and clings to my body. But I finally manage to wrestle my way out of it, and I resurface at the ladder into the deep end. I climb up it to deposit my dress on a side table, then turn to face Russ, deliberately slow, letting the water drip off my body, knowing I look good in my bikini with my curves on display.
Sure enough, the second my eyes find his, I’m rewarded with a flash of white hot lust. He drinks me in, taking his time to size me up from head to toe, his eyes lingering on everything. My chest, my waist, my hips, my legs. When his eyes drift back to my face, I wonder if I’m imagining it, or if there’s a faint bulge already visible in his swim trunks
Without waiting to find out, I slowly saunter back to poolside and kneel down to perch on the ledge, making sure to turn so my side faces him, and leaning back just a little to let my breasts show to their full advantage.