“Are you coming over when we get home?”
I didn’t smile back, I looked away and stared straight ahead. “Probably not. It’s late.”
“Oh,” she said quietly. “I’m not ready to go to bed yet, so I was thinking about taking a swim. Feel free to come over if you change your mind.”
I nodded and then waited until she drove away, sitting there in the dark until I’d convinced myself that going over to see her later was a bad idea. Finally, after I was sure that my brain got the message about that, I started the car and pulled out of the parking lot. I would have been home an hour ago, if it weren’t for the unexpected detour to Walmart that came up, which was nothing but an excuse to avoid going home for a little while longer.
Wandering around the store without a list was a surefire way to end up going home with random crap I don’t need, so I forced myself to stick to the essentials. Shaving cream and toothpaste, protein bars and condoms. Not that I was sure about the condoms being essential anymore. Things didn’t end on a high note with the one woman I want to have sex with, so there’s a damn good chance that a new box might go unopened, and for who knows how long. Admitting that makes my gut ache—although I’m not sure I want to deal with why that is.
Maybe I’m just pissed off that I’m not getting laid. Either that or maybe those pupusas are giving me a stomachache. If I’m lucky, then that’s the issue here. A simple case of food poisoning.
Because if that’s not what’s going on, then my life just got more complicated. Because I wanted tonight to be the beginning of something more for Anya and I, but she sure as hell didn’t act like she felt the same way.
Not that I can blame her if that’s the case. I’m changing the rules and asking for more from someone who just left a cheating ex. And on top of that, I’m not exactly at a hundred percent when it comes to cleaning up my own baggage. Chris may think I’ve done my time over the past year, but I still have a lot of work to do. But I’m also not a twentysomething guy anymore, one who believes that love is all that it takes to make a relationship work. I’m a thirtysomething divorced guy who’s only sure of one thing: nothing fixes itself.
I give the Greenes’ house another long look in the rearview mirror. I have two choices here. One, I can go inside my parents’ house, then lie awake in bed, rehashing everything that went wrong tonight. Or, two, I can walk across the street, take whatever it is Anya is willing to give me right now, and work on being okay with that.
I draw a palm down my face and sigh.
Who am I kidding? There’s no question here. Between what my body wants and where my heart is at, I know I’m going to end up across the street at some point.
I follow a concrete path around to the side of the house, unlatching the gate that leads into the backyard. Quiet music plays in the distance, something lazy and dreamy, matching up with the darkness and the warm night air. I follow the sound, stopping short just as I round the corner of the house and the pool comes into view.
Anya is drifting lazily in the water, on her back with her arms extended above her. She moves her hands through the water in a gentle arc and flutters her feet just enough to keep afloat and sliding along through the water. Her hair is slicked back from her upturned face, eyes fixed on the sky above.
And she’s naked.
Beautifully, boldly naked. Right here in front of me, like she doesn’t have a care in the world. Every rational thought I had during the last few hours evaporates, and within seconds I’m nothing but lust and desperation, aching for what she always gives me.
My cock thickens at the sight of her drifting about under the moonlight, her full tits and bare skin on display as water sluices over every inch of her body. The Greenes’ pool is surrounded on three sides by raised planter beds filled with flowering trees and bushes, which is all the privacy I can hope for in the suburbs, but it’s enough to save me from any worries that we’ll be seen by the neighbors. Between the darkness and the landscaping, I have Anya all to myself. I have to clench my hands into loose fists at my sides, just to keep from jumping into the water with all my clothes on.
With long strides, I eat up the remaining distance to the pool’s edge, yanking my dress shirt from my pants as I stalk closer.
“You drive me fucking crazy, you know that?” I growl, tugging the buttons on my shirt open and tossing it on the ground. “Out here like this, teasing me when you know I’m still a little pissed off.”
Anya has her gaze on the sky above, but her lips curl up into a sly, knowing grin. I growl again. She knew I’d love seeing her like this, with nothing but water between us.
I kick my shoes and socks off before unbuckling my belt, then pull my pants and boxers off in one move. Anya wades toward the edge of the pool and lets her greedy gaze eat up the sight of me, the same way I do with her. I grip my cock in a tight hold at the root, then slowly stroke up toward the tip, savoring the way she licks her lips and tracks the path my hand takes. When I reach the head of my cock, I work my fist over the crown until a bead of precum falls from the tip.
Her mouth drops open a little, eyes wide as she watches. I grit my teeth. All I want is to drag her out of the pool and put her on her knees in front of me, her gaze heated and her plump lips ready to take me. But first, I need to know what it feels like to be with her in that pool.
I slide in and wrap my arms around her. Anya’s eyes are on me, looking relieved and anxious at the same time.
“I don’t want us to be upset with each other,” she whispers. “I like it when we’re having fun together. Let’s keep doing that, okay?”
I don’t answer her. Not with words, anyway. Instead, I shove down the way my heart kicks a little, rejecting the idea that having fun is all we’re doing, and kiss her. Anya hands trace the length of my back, the tips of her nails nipping in along the way. I set my hands under the backs of her thighs and pull her up, trapping my cock between us as she wraps her legs around me. She brings her hands up to clasp at the back of my neck, making it so she can lean back into my hold, tipping her hips forward. She starts to move against me, her clit working across my stiff cock, and the easy slide of her bare pussy is enough to drive a groan from my throat. Being this close to her muddles my brain, but not so much that I forget about the box of condoms I just bought. I pull her closer, wrapping my arms tight around her so that she can’t move the way she was.
“We need to go in the house if you want me inside you. I need a condom.”
She wriggles around a little. “But I’m so close.”
I grunt, trying to avoid letting my lizard brain take over. I can do both here, at least I think can. It might kill me to stop from sliding home when she’s right here, but I’ll do it, just so Anya can take what she needs. I push my hips forward, adding some pressure where I know she wants it.
“You think you can come like this? Just by working yourself over my cock?” She’s nods jerkily, her teeth biting into her lower lip. “Then do it. Make that tight pussy come for me.”
Anya moans, dropping her head back so she can ride me with short, rough thrusts of her hips. I dip my head to swipe my tongue across her nipples, while using my grip on her hips to rut against her the same way I would if I was buried inside. She tips over the edge just as I take one of her nipples into my mouth, sucking on it gently as she comes. The sounds she normally makes are muffled as she tries to keep from letting her whimpers and moans carry over every fence in the neighborhood. Then she winds her body around mine and I bury my face into her neck, breathing deep. My arms start to shake a little, but not because she’s more than I can hold. It’s because it’s like she’s finally letting me hold more than just the weight of her body. She’s letting me hold her.