Page 10 of Lakeside Little
Nory was also seated at the table, but she didn’t have a plate or anything, she was just sat watching as I made googly eyes at Diego, and he stared back into them with a big smile.
“Another glass of wine?” he asked. “It’s the town’s signature blend.”
The pineberry wine was nice, a little too sweet, even for me, but it was very strong in terms of alcohol. “Sure,” I said, giggling uncontrollably. “You know, usually, when I’m in town for the summer, I spend it in the actual town with my cousin and the community stuff happening.”
“Don’t let me stop you,” he said, heading to the fridge in the same room. I caught a glimpse at the other two bottles of wine in the fridge.
“Why do you have so much wine?” I asked. “You didn’t get it all at the store earlier.”
He poured into my wine glass and nodded. “You’re right, I didn’t. I’m sure you probably think I’m the type of guy who would drink beer, but honestly, I cannot stand the stuff.”
I held both hands up. “I’m not judging you.”
“I know, I’m just saying, since the whole losing my job situation, I thought I’d be here alone, drinking away my sorrows in the evening, fishing in the morning, and then hopefully get all the sad shit out of my system.”
Raising my wine glass, he met mine with his. “I can cheers to that,” I said. “To getting rid of all the sad shit.”
“Cheers.”
We guzzled down our glasses of wine before calling it a night. Diego walked me home and told me that I had to get a good night of rest because we’d be taking the boat out tomorrow, my cousin’s husband’s boat out onto the lake. It was a sweet moment of him setting up a glass of water by my bed as I brushed my teeth. We kissed one final time where he commented on my choice of toothpaste, it was a minty berry that had a dissolvable glitter in it, of course that’s what I was going to brush my teeth with.
I was surprised the night ended like that, especially when I thought it would end in his bed, or mine, but that could’ve just been the wine and how it brought out a hornier side of me.
Waking at the crack of dawn to sunlight shining on my face, I let out a load groan and nearly whacked the full glass of water from the nightstand in the process. Instead, I discovered a note and some painkillers.
The note read. ‘I hope you’re reading this in the morning, and I hope your head is ok. I’ll be over in the morning, not too early though. Drink the water.’
I drank the water and took the painkillers. The slightest headache encroaching on the sides of my mind were enough for me to gulp them down the moment I spotted them. The entire glass. water went down in a series of gulps leaving me wanting more hydration.
Diego came over around eleven in the morning, I’d showered, had an instant coffee, and some toaster strudel which doubled as content for the social media accounts. I found it funny putting the dolls beside large objects and acting as if they were interacting with them. The toaster strudel in particular was nibbled at by a circle of dolls, at least that’s what my online story posts told.
“You smell delicious,” Diego’s first words to me. “And good morning, or afternoon almost.”
“I thought you were coming over earlier.”
“I think I drank a little too much wine last night.”
“Not me, I woke up perfectly fine.” My giggle gave it away that I was lying.
“Mhm, I’m sure,” he said. “So, I’ve sorted things with Mason, we just need to head to his house, which he said you know where it is, and Oliver should be home to hand over the keys for it.”
I rolled my eyes; it was a condition of having to do too much. “I thought it was going to be on the lake already.”
“I don’t think it is, but it shouldn’t be too big of an issue. I’m gonna be there doing most—if not all of the hard work.” He flashed me his muscular biceps with a quick trip to the gun show. There was a new confidence to him, I was in awe of it. It’s exactly what I needed from a Daddy.
“You’re gonna take someone’s eye out with those,” I giggled, gnawing on my lip a little. “Maybe not my eye, because I like looking at them.”
He smirked. “That’s right. You can sit in the car as a princess while I get it all ready. My van is equipped with one of those hooks on it that should transport a boat just fine.”
I knew he could take care of it all, I was just not really ready to be around fish again. “You’ve already convinced me, and I could get used to princess treatment.” I’d enjoyed eating it last night, but they were all so slimy and smelly sometimes. But seeing Deigo’s smile create little would-be dimples had me knowing that it was the best way to spend time with him, and also to farm content for the dolls. They needed a day out badly, even if Nory had told them about her awful experience falling face first into the lake mud.
“Good,” he said. “Now, it’s a warm day, sun is out and not many clouds, so you have sunscreen and a hat?”
“A hat!” I gasped, running around. “I think I have just the thing.”
In my suitcase, squashed behind clothes, I had a wide brim woven hat that made me look like I lived out in the country, or was a part-time scarecrow sitting in a field watching over crops. It was a little janky from behind squashed, but a small punch of the top and it was perfect again. Casting a nice area of shade around my face and the back of my neck. I walked into the living room, presenting myself with it in front of Diego.
“Wow, that wasn’t what I thought you’d be wearing when you came back out,” he said. “It’s definitely good for the weather. But have you applied sunscreen?”
