Page 20 of Promised Summer
I hated knowing I was the one who made him like this, but if my staying could help mend a bit of the trust I’d broken, then there was no way I’d refuse.
“Okay.”
“Yeah?” he asked, hopeful and uncertain.
I smiled, and, embodying the brave boy who’d filled my summers, I mustered up my courage and did what I’d been thinking about for way too long.
I kissed him.
This time, Jones was the one gasping with surprise. His lips were as soft as they were in my dreams, but dreams could never compare to the real thing. His beard scratched my smooth cheeks as he parted my lips for more, making not only my skin tingle, but my heart as well.
And just like that, under the same lazy haze of the sunset over a decade later, all was right again.
Chapter Nine
JONES
It was a wonder how one’s favorite things could change. Like how my top three favorite things had these past couple weeks.
Now my list, in no particular order, went like this: watching Karla and Lily play on the front lawn as the sun set behind them, Ryan’s Concord grape pie, and kissing Ryan.
Oh, who was I kidding?
Kissing Ryan was definitely at the top of that list. He was literally the boy of my teenage dreams, and now the man was mine. Well, notmine-mine because we didn’t talk about labels and all that, but he was mine enough to kiss, and that was enough for now.
They’d been coming around my place most days after work, but my favorite were the Saturdays they stayed the night.
I knew it was because Karla needed extra comforton those days after starting up therapy again last weekend. Ryan had found a local therapist, who specialized in children’s trauma, an hour outside of town.
Ryan took her this morning as well, and when they arrived at my place this afternoon, Karla was a bit more reserved than usual. I wished I could whisk away everything bad that had happened to the sweet girl, but I knew that wasn’t how real life worked. Instead, I could only be a place of comfort for her.
By nightfall, after an afternoon of playing with Lily, her daddy, and me, she was all smiles again, ready for her bath, and then for her daddy to read her a bedtime story.
Lily always followed after them into the guest room. The little traitor happily slept in my bed on the nights they weren’t over, but easily abandoned me to sleep with Karla any chance she could.
I couldn’t blame the dog. The precious girl had literally everyone wrapped around her little finger, me included. I’d painted the guest room a pretty pale yellow when she’d shown me what her bedroom at her nana’s looked like, and Ryan confirmed it was her favorite color.
I told myself I was planning on repainting the room anyway, so it wasn’t like I was doing it for her, but when she came over and saw the room and yelled “Yellow!” louder than I’d ever heard her before, I couldn’t continue lying. If it made her that happy, I was willing to do anything she wanted. And the sweet kisses Ryanrewarded me with later that night were a perk I definitely wanted more of.
I went onto the back porch and started the hot tub. It was a beautiful, clear night with stars twinkling brightly in the sky. It was the perfect time to try out the tub since I hadn’t been able to yet.
I couldn’t help the groan that escaped me when I slipped under the warm water, nor the second groan when the jets hit the perfect spot on my lower back.
“Sounds like you’re having fun out here,” Ryan said, leaning against the sliding back door with a smirk on his handsome face.
“I’d have a lot more fun if you joined me,” I answered.
“I didn’t bring my swimming trunks.”
“So? It wouldn’t be the first time I’ve seen you naked,” I teased, though it would be the first time I’d seen a full-grown, adult version of Ryan in the nude. I both anticipated and worried I’d be too stimulated by the sight.
“Just kidding. I pulled out one of mine for you. It’s over there,” I quickly said, chickening out. Maybe being naked with Ryan in a hot tub wasn’t the best idea right now.
Ryan glanced at the trunks I’d placed at the patio table, but didn’t move to grab them. Instead, he pulled his shirt over his head, and my breath stuck in my throat.
For someone who worked a desk job, he kept himself in good shape, though, as a kid, he’d always been on theslimmer side. Now, his lean body had changed into one with a wide chest and toned muscles. He had a light dusting of dark hair on his chest, and a more sensual patch at the base of his stomach that probably led down to…
Ryan dropped both his pants and underwear in one smooth action, and there was no question where the treasure trail led to.
