Page 38 of Swamp Princess

I unbutton my skirt, letting it fall around my bare feet and step forward. Hector looks at me as I dip my toe in. The water is not even really cold.

“It’s a heated pool.” He explains and I jump in. I make sure to jump close to him, splashing him. I pop up laughing and he is staring at me. “Did you splash me?”

“I did.” I grin at him, and I watch as his face turns into a huge smile.

“Okay, princess.” Before I have time to react, he dives at me and yanks me by the waist. “Light as a feather.” Next thing, I am in the air and landing back in the pool. I come up laughing and suddenly, I am very grateful that I ran into Hector’s grandmother.

Hector and I swim for a while and it feels like everything melts away. As I’m floating on my back and Hector not to far from me, I smile. “Thank you for today. You and your grandmother are more than welcoming. God, I wish I could hide here.”

“Why couldn’t you?” I pause and stand to face Hector.

“I don’t want to impose, and you don’t know me. I wouldn’t expect you to let a stranger into your home. What if I was a murderer?”

“Trust me, I am not worried about any of that. I want you to stay. My grandmother likes you, and so do I. If you ask about Skystead Prep, I know some people and can have your homework forwarded for a week or two and you won’t get into any trouble.”

“Really?”

“Absolutely. I know this is super-fast but please stay. We both don’t know each other but I would like to get to know you, and there is another room here you can sleep in.”

“Don’t you have school?”

“I graduated already. I took all the required courses online.”

“Hector, how old are you?”

“Eighteen.” I sigh in relief that he is not much older than me.

“Okay, I will if you promise I’m not imposing.”

“I promise you’re not imposing. In fact, you’re like a breath of fresh air. Let me make some calls. I will be right back.” I watch him climb from the pool, his sexy arms and back flexing with the strength it takes to get out of the pool from the side.

I don’t know if I am making the right choice but somehow, it feels right. I need to hide, and going back home where the four assholes know I live, and dealing with my mother is not something I look forward to.

After a few minutes, Hector comes back, and I look up at him. “It’s settled. They said most of your work is turned in except for writing which the teacher said he will email you daily prompts.”

“Thank you.”

“No, thank you.” Hector jumps back in and we swim some more, enjoying the day. I could get used to this.

Chapter Sixteen

I watch my father slam the receiver back onto the base. I see Loyal and Remington stiffen in the chairs next to me. Our fathers aren’t very different, so they already know what to expect when it comes to them.

“Fucking little swamp bitch!” Brinley, he’s talking about Brinley. “Well, it looks like not only am I not allowed to have her removed from this school, I am to allow her to slide with two weeks off with a guarantee she won’t be touched. Since the bitch already turned in most of her work, I couldn’t come up with a legitimate argument.”

What the fuck is happening? How was it possible that she was able to pull that off? “How?”

My father stares at me with such malice, it takes me a moment to shake it off. “The bitch happened to find herself with a fucking man more powerful than I am.”

That scares me. A feeling that I have experienced twice now, and both times, it concerned Brinley. Where the fuck did she go when she left here? Who the hell is she with?

“Who is it?” Loyal asks from the side of me.

“None of your goddamned business you fuck-ups. Had you done what I fucking told you, she would already be out. I had a plan forming, and it just got shit on, but no matter, I will still get what I want.”

He sounds so sure, but if someone is able to put my father back in his cage, his plan varies on what he can slide past this man. We need to talk to Blaise. Even thinking his name pisses me off, but for whatever reason, I need to know what is happening.

We wait until my father dismisses us and I wait until we are far enough away. “We need to find Blaise.” Loyal and Remington stop walking and turn to me.

---