Page 47 of He Saved Me

But I don’t care; I dunk her several times and she screamed as if she’s afraid I would let her drown, but I will always keep her safe.

“Let’s try and do a back float,” I tell her while reminding her to breathe naturally.

“Relax and bend your knees and lift from your ass.”

She laughs and says, “You can’t just say butt, can you?”

“Why? Ass sounds better.” I give her a wide grin; I love hearing her laughter.

After a while, she masters floating on her back.

“My skin is getting all pruney. I need to get out of the water.” Shorty glides back toward the wall and braces her forearms on the edge of the pool.

I spin her around, catching her by surprise. She lets out a squeal when I grip her ass and set her on the edge of the pool. I lift myself up in midair with both hands on each side of her body and kiss her softly. She leans in by wrapping her arms around my neck and deepens the kiss.

“Get a fuckin’ room!” Wyatt yells, while Jag boos and Ash cackles like an idiot.

Shorty giggles against my lips. I plant one last kiss on her lips before I pull myself out of the water.

* * *

Six o’clock rolls around, we decided to order several pizza’s versus going out. I go inside to use the bathroom, and when I come back outside, Shorty is in the water with her back against the pool wall.

I sneak up behind her. I get on my knees and lay flat on my stomach as I gently pull her head back and lower her in the pool, keeping her face above water. She smiles. “What are you do—”

Not being able to hold on any longer, I lean over her, sealing my mouth over her lips and holding the back of her head so she doesn’t fall back into the water.

I pull back up for air. She spins around, resting her forearms on the edge of the pool, face flushed and fire in her eyes.

“I’m making up for all the lost kisses over the years.” I wink and lean in to steal another kiss.

* * *

After a few more stolen kisses, Shorty and I climbed out of the pool and settled on the lounge chairs with the guys.

I skim Shorty’s bare thigh with my fingers, causing goosebumps on her silky tan skin. I laugh to myself when she stirs in my lap at the same time my phone buzzes. I pull it out and groan when I see Addy’s name on the screen.

“Everything ok?” Shorty’s hypnotic voice reels me back in.

“Yeah, everything’s good.” I smile, hitting the ignore button. Addy has been trying to “work things out” between us, but there’s nothing to work out. We haven’t been a real couple in the last year.

“Yo, D!” Wyatt’s words come out like a laugh.

“What?” I turn to the side and see Wyatt and Jag laughing so loud that even Shorty started to join in.

“Ash? What are you doing man?” Jag chuckles, taking a drink of his beer.

“Huh?” My brother stumbles away from the patio door with phone against his ear.

“What are you doing, man?” Wyatt asks.

“I’m callimh am uber.” Ash half slurs.

“For what?” Jag asks, still laughing.

“I need a rice. I’m roo dfunk tp drive.” He hiccups, swaying on his feet.

“Dude, you livehere. You don’t need to call an uber.” Jag’s hysterical laugh breaks free.

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