Dirty Dreams novel · Chapter 19 of 24

Chapter 19: Slow

Tate floated on his back in the above-ground pool with his arms out and his eyes on the sky.

The water was black, and the moon was a thin white scratch over the maple.

"You can come in," he said, without turning his head.

"How did you know it was me?"

"Dylan walks like a bear. Brody walks like he's being filmed."

"And Wyatt?"

"Wyatt doesn't walk. He apologizes at the door."

I laughed, and the sound carried across the grass.

I pulled my tank top over my head and left it on the lawn.

I climbed the ladder and slid in with nothing on, and the cold took my breath.

He stood up in the water, shoulder deep, and let me come to him.

"Why didn't you come upstairs?" I asked.

"You were deciding."

"I was deciding for them."

"That's why."

He lifted a wet hand and pushed my hair back.

"Nobody else should be in the room when you decide about me."

"Is that what this is? Deciding?"

"I don't know yet. Rule one."

"Say it."

"Nobody touches you unless you say."

"Then I'm saying it," I told him. "Touch me. Slowly."

He took his time.

He kissed my forehead, and the corner of my eye, and the place below my ear.

The water slapped softly at the sides of the pool.

His hands moved over my back, long and cool, and I shivered in the middle of the warm night.

"You're cold," he said.

"I'm not."

"Then why are you shaking?"

I didn't answer.

He lifted me out of the water and carried me across the grass, dripping.

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