Total pages in book: 19
Estimated words: 17792 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 89(@200wpm)___ 71(@250wpm)___ 59(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 17792 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 89(@200wpm)___ 71(@250wpm)___ 59(@300wpm)
She casts me a glance over her shoulder. "You said you wanted to know about the landscaping."
I didn't say that. She knows I didn't say that. Even the petal on the ground knows that.
She reaches the pool and sits at the edge before I'm at the bottom step, feet in the water, looking at the infinity line where the pool meets the dark.
"Did you know that Mosasaurus isn't actually a dinosaur? It's a massive marine lizard."
"So why was he named Mosasaurus?"
"No idea, but I'll read up on that. But it was an apex predator, obviously. It also had a double-hinged jaw and over a hundred teeth."
"So it ate pretty much everything in the ocean?"
"Yup! Including sharks."
I'm listening to Nadine talk about Mosasaurus at two in the morning, and I'm going to remember this night for the rest of my life.
She turns to me and splashes me with her feet. "Am I being weird?"
"No. You always talk about random things all the time."
"So, it's a no?"
"You're being your usual brand of weird."
"What does that even mean?"
"You're being Nadine."
She kicks more water at me, and it lands on my shin, warm from the heat still sitting in the pool.
"What was that for?"
"Making a point."
"What point?"
She lifts one shoulder. "That I could."
Nadine's toes skim the surface, making lazy ripples. I'm stretched out beside her, palms braced on the warm stone. In one smooth motion, she slides into the water. Water swallows her with a splash.
She disappears for a second, arms reaching up, and my legs vanish from under me. Cold water grips my calves as she tugs with both hands, laughing. It’s a ridiculous attempt. I outweigh her by a lot. I’m stronger. I could easily anchor myself, keep her there, drag her back up instead.
But she’s looking at me like that again—grinning, determined, hair already slicked back from her face.
I let out a dramatic sigh. “You’re lucky I’m generous.”
With zero real effort, I let myself slide forward.
The water rushes up my back, soaking my shirt as I fall into it. The shock of cold hits my skin, but her arms are still around my legs. Nadine surfaces properly now, eyes bright, laughter echoing across the pool.
"You know, you have similarities to that Mosasaurus."
Nadine beams. "Why? Because I'm like an apex predator?"
"No, because you have the strength of a lizard, on a minor scale."
She shoves my shoulder. I don't move. She tries again, harder, and I catch her wrist.
"You remember the day we moved Rachel's couch?" I ask.
She blinks at the shift. "The one from the alley?"
"The one you said was structurally compromised."
"It was structurally compromised. The frame was split."
"You made me check every joint before we brought it up."
"Because if it collapsed in the stairwell, we'd be liable for damages."
"You wanted to leave it on the curb, so you spent twenty minutes explaining why it was a bad idea."
Nadine's quiet for a second. "You remember that?"
"You were wearing my jacket because you forgot yours. It was November. You had your hair up, and you kept pushing your glasses up your nose while you argued about a couch."
"I don't remember the jacket."
"I do."
The humor in her eyes is gone, replaced by something darker. "Why are you bringing this up?"
"Because you've been noticing things wrong with the world for as long as I've known you, and I've never once wanted you to stop. I will always let myself fall into your trap."
Nadine laughs and tilts her head back to look at the sky.
I'm looking at the line of her throat and the pool light catching the side of her face, and the words are right there. Three of them. Short. True for nine years and counting.
I know what they are, but I also know tonight's not the night, because Nadine's still figuring out what the last hour meant, and I'm not going to hand her something that big while she's still processing. I've waited nine years. A few more weeks is nothing.
But…
Fuck, she's beautiful. The day I met her, while I was carrying Rachel's things to her dorm, my brain stopped functioning, and my body went into overdrive. In three seconds flat, I went from wanting to fuck her to wanting to marry her. It was disorienting, especially for someone who had never felt that kind of attraction in like … ever.
Now, she's here. Pretending to be my wife, sure, but after what happened earlier, I think it's safe to assume I have now successfully crossed the friendzone.
She sees me as a man, I've tasted her pussy, and she's sucked me off. It's a start.
It's a beat too late when I realize I should not have been thinking about that because now, my cock roars to attention. If I step out of the pool, there will be no mistaking what's going on with me.
I try to think of non-sexual and non-Nadine things, but she wraps her arms around my neck and presses her body against mine. From the widening of her eyes and the undeniably sexy smirk she gives me, there's no doubt she just felt all of me … and likes it.