Page 45 of Krash & Bern

She splashed my legs. “What are you waiting for?”

“You to get out my way.”

She stuck her tongue out at me. “All this space and you saying little ol’ me is in the way?”

“Yup.”

I moved to the middle of the pool and jumped in. The feel of the water as I sunk to the bottom always relaxed me. I opened my eyes under the water and swam to Bernice. She giggled as I emerged beside her and wrapped my arms around her waist.

“Remember when we would go to the community pool together during the summer?” she asked.

I nodded. “Yeah. You would always sit on one of the pool chairs with your sunglasses on with a book in your hand. Whole time, I was in the water with the sharks.”

“There weren’t any sharks in the community pools!”

“But there could have been,” I countered.

“No!” She tossed her head back and laughed.

“All I’m saying is my life could have been in danger, and you would have never known,” I stated.

“That’s not true. Even before we were a thing, I always made sure I could see you whenever we were out together. I let you do your thing because we were always with your type of crowd, but I never lost you in a crowd.” Her hands found my neck, and she trailed her nails along the back of my neck. I missed this. I missed her.

“Can I kiss you?” she asked.

“Hell yeah.”

Our lips met. We both ignored the taste of the chlorine as my tongue slid across her bottom lip. In one swift motion, I lifted her up onto the edge of the pool, and her legs wrapped around me. I placed my hands on the curve of her ass while deepening the kiss.

“Krash…” She moaned against my lips.

“What, baby?”

She pulled away from me. Her brown eyes searched mine. “I want you. I want yousobad.”

“I’m yours.” I slid my hand into the waistband of her panties.

“For how long, though?” she asked in a soft tone.

“Forever.”

“I don’t want to cross the line with you, and you wake up tomorrow no longer interested.”

I shook my head. “That’s never going to happen. I knew you were the woman for me nearly ten years ago. We’d have three kids, two dogs, a cat, and a hamster already if it were up to me.”

“Three kids, huh?”

“Yes. Like I said, I made the biggest mistake of my life letting you go away and not putting in the effort to make it work. With this second chance, I’m going full throttle to show you how much I love you and want to see us last forever.”

“I’ve missed you so much, Keyshawn.”

Her emotions got the best of her. Her eyes glossed with unshed tears as her voice shifted and she fought the cry slowly pushing through.

“I’m not going anywhere, baby.” I placed my forehead against hers. We closed our eyes and let the music fill the silence.

“Make love to me, Keyshawn. I need you to make my soul erupt.”

The command had me harder than steel. “Are you ready?”

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