Page 20 of Restrictions

“Be careful, sweetheart.” It’s chilly for late August and has been raining most of the day, but Sebastian still wanted to go swimming, so we put on our suits and went down to the basement. I sit on the edge of the pool, letting my feet dangle in the water as Baz plays in the shallow part right next to me, climbing up the stairs and dipping into the water cautiously. I’m looking at my phone, going over my class schedule because school starts tomorrow.

But my mind is on Asher and his face when he found out I’ve only had sex one time in my life.God, he thinks I’m a freak.

“Whoa!” I look over in time to see Baz slip on the watery step and hit his mouth on the ledge.

“Baz!” I drop my phone in the water as I jump in and grab him, his little face distraught and bleeding. “Oh my god. Are you okay?”

He places his hand over his mouth, wailing, and I see the blood as I pull him out of the pool and run, holding him against my chest as I make it to Asher’s room.

“Asher!”

He’s lying on his bed, shirtless and in sweats with bedhead, but he’s awake and on top of the comforter. He jumps up and runs to me. “What happened?”

“He slipped in the pool.” I try to collect myself, but I’m shaking with fear as Asher takes Sebastian from me and looks at his face, quickly grabbing a washcloth from his bathroom, wetting it, and putting it over Baz’s lip.

He places Sebastian on the bed and kneels in front of him, his muscles flexed tight as he examines him. The whole time Baz has been screaming with big fat tears sliding down his cheeks. My heart breaks. “We should take him to the hospital.”

Asher is calm and cool. “Just a second.” He lifts the washcloth and looks at Baz’s bottom lip, it’s swollen, but the cut isn’t deep and has already stopped bleeding. He looks over his shoulder at me. “He’s okay.” He turns back to Baz. “What happened, little man?”

Sebastian sniffles and pokes out his bottom lip. “I fell. I hurt myself.” His voice is so sweet, and I’m finally able to breathe again when I hear it without the hysterical screaming.

Ash smiles and ruffles his hair. “Yeah, I can see that. You’re one tough kid.”

I watch the pride on my son’s face as he smiles. “I know.”

“We’ll get you an icepack, and you’ll be good as new, little man.”

“Will I have a scar?” He looks hopeful that he might.

Asher laughs and stands up. “I don’t think so. I guess you’ll have to try harder next time.”

“Asher...” I warn, and they both laugh at my horrified expression.

Baz hops off the bed and places the washcloth to his lip again. “I’ll just keep this on it for a bit.”

“Okay, buddy. Be careful though.” Asher nods his head in my direction. “Don’t want to scare your mom too much.”

Baz giggles again and runs out of the room, heading into the room where I put some toys for him yesterday. He likes to be near Asher, so I figured he needed a play room down here too.

My knees give out, and I slide down the wall, resting my elbows on my thighs as I grip my hair, still in my wet bathing suit.

Asher leans down in front of me. “Viv, what’s wrong?”

I look up at him into those playful, amused eyes. “He fell in the pool. I should have been paying closer attention. I was right there.”

He tilts his annoyingly handsome head to the right and laughs, sitting down on his butt in front of me. My eyes linger a little too long on his sculpted abs and the sinewy muscles of his arm as he leans back on his hands. “Exactly, you were right there. He’s fine. It’s a split lip.”

“I’ve never seen his blood before.”

His eyebrows draw together. “What?”

I know that sounds stupid when my son is three. “I mean, maybe when he had his vaccinations, but nothing like that.” I look down and see Baz’s blood on my black swimsuit and my skin where I held him to my chest.

“Yeah, I’m sure that was scary, but he’s okay. Fuck, Viv. He’s going to get hurt. A lot.”

I look up at him in alarm. “What? Why?”

“He’s a three-year-old boy. He’s curious. He’s going to get hurt all the time. I mean shit, I think I broke my arm twice before I was twelve.”

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