Page 24 of Justus
“Don’twait too long! Those ovaries won’t work forever, you know,” Janet calls, and Ijust want to dunk beneath the water and stay there.
Herwords don’t fail to reach Justus’s ears, and he gives me that panty dissolvinggrin of his. I roll my eyes at him before diving into the pool. I barely havetime to wipe the water from my eyes before I hear him yell, “Cannonball!”
Awave of water washes over me as he plunges into the water inches away. Mom andher friends crack up when he surfaces, and I splash water in his face. “How oldare you again?” I laugh.
“Apparently,not as old as your ovaries.”
Hisbody glistens in the sun, droplets falling from his curls, and suddenly, I wantnothing more than to feel his mouth on mine. The small groan he lets out when Iwrap my legs around him and press my lips to his tells me he feels the sameway. His lips are cool from the water, but his mouth is warm and inviting.
“Wehave an audience,” he murmurs, when we break apart.
“Ithought you were into that. Or do they need to be screaming for you to take offyour clothes?”
Iyelp as he pinches my ass. “Always with that smart mouth.”
Wrappingmy arms loosely around his neck, I smile at him. “You like it.”
“Andyou like it when I take off my clothes.”
“Hmm…doesthat mean you’ll dance for me later?”
Hiseyebrows shoot up. “You want to watch me dance?”
“Maybe.”
“You’llhave to dance with me. I know you dance with Ayda at the studio. Wait, didn’tAyda tell me Lisa is your sister? Why isn’t she here?”
“I’mnot a great dancer like Ayda. I took lessons when I was younger, and it wasn’tuntil I met Lisa, that I started dancing again.”
Confusionwrinkles his brow. “Met her? So you aren’t sisters?”
“Notby blood. We were best friends through high school and college, and since neitherof us had the sister we always wanted, we decided to choose our own. Weird, Iknow.”
Hisexpression softens. “No, it’s not weird at all. I’ll find my sister someday,but the guys are my family. We’re not stuck only with the blood ties given bynature. We can choose.”
Theconversation is getting a little deep considering we’re being ogled by fourwomen. “I promise to dance with you, if you hurry up those steaks. I’mstarving.”
“Yougot it.”
Thefood is amazing and everyone has a good time. It’s good to see Mom laughing andtalking with her friends. It reminds me of all the days we spent in thisbackyard when I was a kid, Mom and her friends drinking cocktails while all thekids played in the pool. Those were such good times.
Afterdinner, I take a quick shower to wash off the chlorine, and join my mom and herfriends on the back patio. They have lit a fire in the portable fire pit nowthat the temperature has dropped. Justus excuses himself to get cleaned up, andI take the opportunity to sneak away and check in with Ayda.
“Heygirl,” I greet, when she answers her phone.
“Iwas just wondering about you. How’s your mom?” she asks.
“Aboutthe same. We just had a little cookout for her birthday.”
“Andthe whole fake boyfriend? How’s that going?”
“Um…betterthan I expected.”
Aydamust be able to hear the guilt in my voice. “Holy shit. You fucked him!”
“Isit that obvious?”
Laughing,she replies, “Girl, look at him. It was bound to happen.”
