Page 26 of Holding You
I glance at the beach volleyball net, where Ruby and Miles lower the height for the kids. Ruby is wearing a black bikini today and it’s—fuck, my thoughts right now should be illegal.
They’re nothing compared to the ones I had when I saw her in the store a couple of days ago. There is just something about the long skirts she wears with shirts that stop just at her belly button, giving me a tease of the smooth skin of her stomach, that turns me on.
Then, I made her smile. A genuine smile.
But of course, one of the school moms walked up and ruined it.
Praising me for buying fucking food.
Blows my mind. Has this town never seen a single dad care for his child?
“You and me against them?” I ask, pushing those thoughts to the back of my mind.
“You, me, and Luca against Ruby, Max, and Miles.”
“What about Shay and Quinn?” I ask. “Don’t they want to play?”
“They are reading over there.” Max points and sure enough, both ladies are lounging with books in their hands.
“Alright, let’s do this.”
“Careful now, Ruby has played this a time or two,” Mr. Asher warns me, joining the party with a bucket filled with ice, beers, and bottles of water.
“Noted.”
She’s probably the only Asher sibling besides Hudson who has any kind of athletic skill.
But I’ll never let the boys know that I think about that.
Boys basketball is sacred … you know, when we get around to playing it.
I follow Susie and Max to the net. An upbeat song is playing from Miles’s Bluetooth speaker.
Luca is waiting at the side of the net. He points me toward the middle.
Ruby is directly across from me with a smirk.
“I’ve seen you play sports before,” she teases in an attempt to get under my skin.
I let out a sarcastic laugh.
“But you’ve never seen me play volleyball.”
“No, but I imagine with your age, it won’t be easy.”
“My age?” I nearly gasp. “I’m not that much older than you.”
“Yes, you are.”
“Eight years.”
“Almost nine,” she rebuttals.
“That’s not much of an age gap,” I defend myself.
“Oh, it is.”
“No, it’s not.”
