Shit. I didn’t care. I wanted Gillian all to myself.
“Let’s go,” I shouted, loud enough for her to hear.
“Yes!” Billy thrust his fist in the air. “Uncle Fox is getting us pizza for dinner. We’re going to watch Marvel movies.”
Gillian arched her brow suspiciously but collected their things anyway. I didn’t care if she questioned my intentions. Not when my tight chest made it hard to breathe when I thought of her with another guy. Touching, kissing, fucking her.
What if she wasn’t still a virgin? Travis was sure she still had her V-card. But what if she didn’t? I hated the thought of her giving it to an undeserving asshole who didn’t know how to make her first time special.
Not like I would anyway.
I stomped out of the pool, livid at the idea of anyone else taking her virginity. I felt betrayed, which was fucking stupid. Gillian Barrett wasn’t mine. She could never be mine.
But I wanted to be her first and lasteverything.
What was happening to me?
She watched as I strode toward her. Then her gaze dropped to my tented trunks. Christ. I’d forgotten about my boner. Fuck it. She could see what she did to me. She wasn’t a child.
“You ready?” I gritted my teeth as the corner of her lip curled. Was it possible she could read me like a book? It wouldn’t surprise me, considering we’d known each other for twelve years.
“Mhm. Let’s go.” She pushed her towel into my chest.
Dammit, I smelled her as I dried my face and hair.Coconut. It made me want her even more.
Billy ran off like a wild monkey ahead of us, screaming, “Marvel marathon and pizza!”He was a terrific kid. Hella smart too. Which meant I needed to be careful. If he saw me making googly eyes at Gillian or flirting, Billy might say something. Just as he had about the dudes at the pool. I needed to control myself.
Gillian and I didn’t speak as we made our way through the complex to Travis’s unit. Mine was on the opposite end. The sexual tension between us was palpable. So not innocent. So fucking wrong on many levels.
Gillian was only nineteen. My best friend’s daughter. Totally forbidden.
She’d return to college in a couple of weeks. Then what? I wouldn’t like a long-distance relationship. I’d want my woman in my bed every night.
But dammit, she was everything I’d wanted the last couple of years: beautiful, playful, intelligent. She wasn’t manipulative like so many women I’d dated. She understood life was precious. Here today, gone tomorrow.
I had the privilege of watching Gillian grow into an incredible woman. She had shouldered a lot of the responsibility of raising Billy after Alyssa, her mom, died in a fatal car accident nine years ago. Billy wasn’t even one year old yet. Not once had Gillian complained about chores, cooking, or babysitting. She’d done it all. She was selfless and kind. Loving. And a helluva lot more mature than some women my age.
I guessed the heart wanted what it wanted. And Gillian owned mine. I was tired of fighting my desires. Denying the love I felt for her. Now she was here, making me feel all sorts of emotions I’d never experienced before. I wasn’t strong enough to resist her.
But wasn’t I too old?
What would she do when she hit her thirties and I was in my fifties?
No, I couldn’t do that to her. She should be with someone closer to her age, not a man old enough to be her father.
Dammit, I shouldn’t have told Billy we’d do pizza and a movie.
At the door, Gillian unlocked it and turned toward me.
Billy burst past us. “I’m showering first!”
“Make sure to wash your hair.” She laughed, shaking her head. “He always forgets.”
My beauty. Golden-blonde hair, smiling light-green eyes, and perfect pink lips. She had long legs but was a good five inches shorter than me. Her curvy hips and trim waist were calling for me to caress and kiss them.
“Hawaiian with jalapeños still your favorite?” I asked, shamelessly drinking her in.Stop already, Fox. You’re one fucked-up motherfucker.But I couldn’t stop myself.
She hadn’t bothered covering up her bikini. I could see her tan line at the top of her tits, her pebbled nipples taunting me. Did she have any clue how much I wanted to tug down her top and taste her? Reach my long, thick finger under the band of her bottoms and dip into her soft center to see if she was wet for me?