Page 87 of Forever Yours

I would tell jokes to the kids to get them to relax and take their minds off the water. I didn’t think that would work so well with David.

Legs outstretched behind me with my chest on the board, I replied, “Antonne David. I like it.”

He shrugged. “Antonne was my dad’s name, so I go by David.”

From his tone of voice, he didn’t sound like cared much for his dad.

“Mine is Michael.”

His head cocked to the side, and it reminded me so much of Fallon.

“Elijah Michael. Very biblical.”

It was. Elijah was a prophet, and Michael an archangel. Insight hit me out of the blue. Was that why Julien called me Angel?

“Start swishing your feet around, get used to the feel of the water. It’s dumb, I know, but trust me.”

“I do trust you,” he said, kicking his feet back and forth. “I’m sorry if I made you uncomfortable the other day… in the shower room.”

I knew my cheeks flamed scarlet red. I felt the heat creep up my face. Not because of what he said, but because he had walked in right after Julien and I had fucked.

“You didn’t. I hope we didn’t make you uncomfortable.”

“You didn’t.” He opened his mouth to say more but nothing came out.

“Ready?” I asked, holding out my hand for him to take.

“No.” He grabbed it, strangling my fingers in a death grip. “Please don’t think I’m a wuss.”

“I don’t.” I tugged, and he slid off the side into the water.

“Holy shit, it’s cold!”

He panicked and grabbed hold of me, making me bob up and down. I could feel the goose bumps that had exploded all over his arms and chest.

I slid the board under his arm but held on to him.

“Grip the side of the pool. I’ve got you. You’re safe. We’re just going to stay like this for a minute and get acclimated.”

I flicked some water at his face and burst out laughing when he gave me a droll look, one that said he was mentally rolling his eyes at me.

His teeth chattered when he said, “You’re a little shit, you know that?”

“How’s football going?” I asked, trying to distract him.

Hoping not to be too obvious, I situated the kickboard at his chest. He let go of the edge of the pool and gripped the top with both hands.

“Good. You’re still coming to the game?”

I gently pulled him away from the wall. “Absolutely. Will be there with my pom-poms.”

Amusement lit his grin. “Can’t wait to see that.”

He hadn’t noticed yet that we had floated several feet from the wall.

“We’ll go to the hydrotherapy pool later and do some deep water running. I’ll even throw in a few squat jumps because I like you.”

“I like you, too, blondie.”

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