“Ha ha! I got you.” Ava declared as she swam away from her dad, claiming victory over him.
Luke laughed. “That’s only because I let you.” He said with a wink watching as she looped her little body around a foam noodle and floated away from him. He sighed as the hot sun beat down on him giving him somewhat of a headache. Maybe it wasn’t the heat that was getting to him and just his lack of sleep. He spent most of the night mulling over his argument with Cara. Be patient, his brother said in his letter. So much for that, he really screwed things up with her by forcing her to feel what took him months to come to terms with. While Cara was busy fighting her addiction, Luke was otherwise occupied fighting his feelings towards her. He didn’t have much success in his efforts because he was hopelessly in love with her before she even kissed him. What a way to go down, he said to himself with a firm shake of his head.
She may portray herself to be this pillar of strength lately, but beneath the surface, she was still Cara, struggling to grasp control of her life. He had no business putting pressure on her, no business at all. She gave herself to him and he gave her an ultimatum in return. He sucked at relationships, that’s probably why he steered clear of them. The one relationship of significance he had, went down the tubes. He had pressed Marie, when they found out she was pregnant. He had tried to do the right thing, by society’s standards, offered to marry her and make them a legit family. Marie hightailed it out of his and Ava’s life the first chance she got. You think he would’ve learned his lesson and not put pressure a woman. He had seven long years of being a single father to show for how, well, forcing someone to think and feel the same as he did worked in the long run.
He didn’t want to lose Cara too. He needed to apologize and tell her that he had it all wrong. He’d step back. They’d take their relationship one day at a time. He could do light and easy. He could give her casual. He could reel himself in for as long as it took for her to get on the same page.
He turned his head and caught a glimpse of her. He groaned as he leaned against the wall of the pool. She was a sight in a bikini, a fucking delicious sight that made him want to forget the pep talk, he just had with himself, and bend her over one of the lounge chairs. Her ass pitched high as he buried himself into her tight pussy. Yeah, casual should work just fine. He couldn’t hide his eyes if he tried, and cursed himself for not having his sunglasses on. Her firm tits bounced with each stride she took. He turned his head, forcing himself to focus on anything other than her.
Ava climbed out of the pool and hurried over to Cara. “Cara, watch me do a cannonball!” She said enthusiastically as she pulled her goggles over her eyes to complete her stunt. She jumped into the water splashing everyone in the same vicinity.
Cara chuckled as she took a seat on the edge of the pool, dipping her legs into the water.
Ava swam over to her.
“Did you see?”
“Great job!” Cara said with a smile, lifting her sunglasses to rest on the top of her head. “Have you been practicing?”
“In between dunking Daddy, I try.” She said with a giggle.
Cara’s eyes shifted towards Luke and she offered him a small smile. “Poor, dad.” She said softly.
“He’s used to it by now.” Ava said before her eyes widened. “The slide’s open. Can I go down Dad?”
“Sure, just stay where I can see you.” He said, but before he could finish his sentence she had already taken off to where the other kids were taking turns down the spiraling water slide.
“She seems to be having fun.” Cara said, turning to face Luke. He nodded in response causing her to gnaw on her lower lip nervously, an awkward silence engulfing them as they fought to find their words. Cara piped up first. “Luke... can we talk?”
Luke pushed himself off of the wall of the pool and padded over to her, stopping to stand just in front of her legs that dangled in the water. He wanted to spread them apart and make his way between them, to feel her wrap around him. Yeah, he wanted it almost as much as he wanted his next breath. His eyes met hers and he swallowed the lump in his throat that seemed to form every time his eyes latched onto hers. She opened her mouth to speak, but he quickly lifted his finger to her lips, silencing her.
“Don’t.” He said gruffly. “I should’ve come to you last night to clear the air between us.”