Page 23 of Other Side Of Never
Starting a romantic relationship with me would be a terrible idea.
As for me, the last thing I needed was to get involved with another single dad.
Maybe the fact I automatically disqualified him as a viable option made me feel safe enough to think about him in those terms.
At the very least, he’d shown me I was still capable of feeling desire.That alone was a boon.
“Bridge!Bridge!Look at me!”
I lifted my arm to wave at Isaiah, then laughed as he squealed when Kian swung him into the waves.
Holy Shitburgers.
Water streamed over his muscles in rivulets dotted with sun-kissed diamonds.
I smiled weakly and waved once more before flopping back down on the blanket, my lady bits beginning to riot.
Pull yourself together there, lady.It’s not like you’ve never seen a half-naked man before.
I haven’t seen one like that!
Great.I closed my eyes and flung my arm over my face.
I was talking to my vagina.
And she was talking back.
After Isaiah leaped over his last wave, and Kian, thankfully, put his shirt back on, we walked down to Krippy’s for fish and chips.Talking about everything and nothing at all while Isaiah devoured my leftover fries, Kian’s quirked brow told me exactly how he felt about it.
I laughed.“I can’t slap him.”
He grinned as he put our garbage away, his big, calloused hand tagging mine to help me off the bench.Too bad he immediately dropped it as we ventured to the park and finally, an hour later, braved our way to Carousel Island to ride the ancient Merry-Go-Round.
“Look at me, Bridge!”Isaiah stood up in the stirrups, waving his arm around in the air with an imaginary lasso.
“You’re a real-life cowboy, Ace!”
Beside me, Kian chuckled.“He loves this thing.”
“The town council were planning to take the carousel down,” I informed him.
“That would have been a shame.”
I nodded.“Especially since it’s so important to Harley.Her brother who passed away, Hunter, loved it as a child.”I laughed.“Apparently, they used to sneak over here in the middle of the night when they were teens.”
Kian grinned.“That’s what kids do.How did they save it?”
I shook my head.“Daire bought it for her.”
Kian whistled.“They must have loved him very much.”
“I never knew him, but they talk about him often.Especially Harley.I think that’s part of the reason she’s so invested in Aaron.She says he reminds her of Hunter.I don’t know all the details, but it was a tragedy that affected them for years.”
“I’m glad Daire bought her the carousel,” he murmured.
“Me too.”
On our way back home, I looked on, astounded as Isaiah took off running for the toboggan hill.“Where does he get his energy?”
