Page 69 of Love Expert
For eight long years, I hated him and everything he represented.
Not once in all those years did he lash out or throw my hate back at me.
Makes him a better man than me.
“Look, Dad!” Jeremy cannonballs off the seat ledge and splashes into the center of the tub, pushing off the floor and bursting above the surface once more… for a second, anyway. Then he sinks under and flails.
Shaking my head, I extend my leg and wait as, like I expected, he grabs on and uses me for balance.
“You shouldn’t jump into water higher than your head when you can’t swim, dumb-dumb.”
He whips his head back, his hair flipping with the momentum. “Did you see my cannonball?”
“Uh-huh. Did you hear the thing I said about drowning?”
Nodding, he tosses himself off my leg and splashes his way back to the ledge. “That’s why I didn’t get in till you did. I knew you’d be mad if I drowned.”
“Mad,” I chuckle. “Sad. Irreparably devastated.”
“You needed something?”
I swing around and lock eyes with Maggie’s golden stare, her arms folded on the frame of the tub and her chin resting gently on her piled hands. “What?”
“Rose said you wanted to talk to me about something.” Smiling, she drags her plump bottom lip between her teeth.
It’s plump because of me! Because of my teeth. Because of how fucking hungry I am for her.
Sadly, we’re in public right now, and my son is watching, so I lift my hand and drip a single water droplet onto the tip of her nose. “You should hop in.”
“Yes!” Jeremy scrambles from one side of the tub to the other, crushing my cock under his heel as he walks across my lap. He’s braver than me, freer than me, because he sets his arms on the lip of the tub too, and presses the tip of his nose to hers. “Hop in, Maggie.”
“Aw… I don’t know.” Her cheeks blaze bright red. “I’d feel a bit silly taking my clothes off in front of everybody.”
“I took mine off!” He thrusts tall and shows off his bare chest. “It’s okay. Nobody cares.”
“But—”
“I can’t swim, Maggie.” Dropping to his knees, he flutters his lashes. “You wouldn’t leave me in here all alone, would ya? I might drown.”
“Your father is right there!” she laughs. “Nice try, though, cheeky boy.”
“You wore a swimsuit, didn’t you?” I flash one of those smiles that tend to annoy her.I know you fuckin’ did! I saw what you’re wearing under that skirt, beautiful.I shuffle just an inch to the left. “Climb in and sit with us. Jeremy promises not to splash you.”
“I do!”He splashes. “I promise I won’t! ‘Cept if it’s an accident, but if it’s an accident, I’ll say sorry and I’ll mean it.” He charges back over my cock again, digging his heel in and drawing a grunt of pain from the depths of my soul, then he readies himself on the seat, claps his hands together, and jumps.
Maggie’s eyes follow his every move. They strain to see through thebubbles, and lighten as he bursts above the surface again. She enjoys her moment of relief, but then he goes under once more.
“You should probably get in,” I murmur, sneakily extending my leg under the surface. “He can’t swim, and you’d feel pretty awful if he drowned on your watch.”
“Oh my gosh. You’re both monsters!” She grabs the hem of her sweater, hesitating and staring into the bubbling water. Her eyes grow larger with each second he remains under. What shedoesn’tsee is the way he latches onto my foot in secret, or how he cruelly plucks my leg hairs as he crawls closer. “Billy! Pull him up.”
Cool as a cucumber, I settle back and lay my arms over the lip of the tub. “You pull him up.”
Unable to wait any longer, Jeremy surges out of the water right beside me, spitting everywhere and gasping for fresh air.
For the first time in his life, he studies Maggie through wounded eyes. “You didn’t save me!? Even after I shared my secret chip hiding spot?”
“Oh, for goodness’ sake.” She tears her sweater over her head and reveals a delicious string bikini top in the same shade of purple as the lavender she put in her garden a few weeks back. Tossing her sweater to the chair holding my clothes, she glows tomato red assomeonewhistles from across the yard.
