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I love you and miss you too! Have fun! Just not too much hahahaha I can’t wait to see you in a couple months.
Loving my mom is easy. She’s free and wild. It’s one of my favorite things about her, but it also means we’ll never have a normal mother-daughter relationship. My dad is my person.
I pull up his calendar on the ride home, checking his schedule. Tonight, he has a massage, which means Hollis also has a massage. It’s part of their routine. They have someone come to the penthouse. Hollis always has his first and then my dad, followed by time in the hot tub. Maybe it’s time to step out of avoidance mode.
Rix is washing dishes from her meal prep side hustle when I get home. A brand-new bouquet of peonies sits on the island. Tristan strikes again. She glances at the clock. “You’re coming in late.”
“I was working on a group project.” I didn’t tell her what happened with Hollis in Vancouver, but my coming in late all week says what I won’t.
She tips her head. “I’m heading to Tristan’s soon to cook dinner together, unless you need a little girl time?”
“You enjoy getting railed into next week. I was thinking about going to the pool for a swim.” It’s what I do when I need to think.
She rinses a mixing bowl and sets it in the drying rack. “Everything okay?”
“Yeah, just need to burn off some energy. All the sitting around is a lot.” I miss the hustle that came with working in the office alongside Hemi and Tally. We were such a great trio, and we were always on the move. I go down the hall to my bedroom to change.
Rix gives me an appraising look when I reappear a few minutes later in my bikini, coverup slung over my arm. “That’s quite the bathing suit choice for laps.”
“Is it too much?” I’m feeling antsy and anxious, like my skin is too tight.
“If you’re swimming with your dad, yes. If not, no.”
“Cool.” I slide my arms through my coverup. “Message me if Tristan’s patience wears out and he comes here.”
“Oh, that won’t happen. I’ve already told him under no circumstances is he to come over here, or else.”
“How’d he take that threat?”
“About as well as can be expected.” She grins deviously. “Enjoy your swim.”
“Thanks.” I shoulder my bag, leave the apartment, and take the elevator down to the pool. It’s empty when I arrive. Laps in a bikini aren’t the most practical, but clearly, I had a plan when I made this poor wardrobe decision.
I’m not disappointed. Half an hour into my swim, Hollis walks in. When I reach the end, I flip over and start a backstroke. He walks the edge of the pool in time to my measured strokes. Just like in the hotel room, he’s shirtless, all those defined muscles and his half-sleeve on display. He’s standing in front of me when I reach the end.
I pull my goggles up, resting them on my smiling banana swim cap, and grip the edge. His toes are close to my fingers. I tilt my head back and let my gaze climb his thick, muscled legs. Heat blossoms in my belly, traveling up my spine and into my cheeks as I remember the way he caged me against the wall in the hotel room. How his nose brushed mine. His lust-soaked gaze. The intense ache in my chest and between my thighs.
It’s a common theme these days, and it’s only exacerbated when Hollis is physically around. He’d been glaring at me all evening while Essie’s friend—Brandon? Brayden? I can’t even remember his name—flirted with me. That guy was nice enough, but his wasn’t the attention I’d wanted.
“How was the massage?” I ask.
“I’ll probably be sore tomorrow, but it was what I needed.” Hollis’s gaze moves over my face, then dips lower, beneath the water. “How long have you been down here?”
I lift one shoulder. “Half an hour maybe.”
“Not the most practical swimwear for laps,” he observes.
“I like the challenge of trying to keep it from falling off,” I reply.
His brow arches. “You’re a fucking problem, Princess.”
“I know.” I extend a hand. The ladder is only a few feet away, but I don’t even have to ask for help. His chivalry kicks in, and his fingers close around mine.
The electric zing makes my breath catch and goose bumps rise along my arm. The same reaction echoes across his skin. I brace a foot on the edge of the pool and a hand on his shoulder as he pulls me out of the water in one smooth motion. As soon as I’m steady on my feet, he releases me.
Neither of us moves. We just stand there, eyes locked, all the words I want to say stuck in my throat.
“Come on.” He inclines his head toward the hot tub.
