Page 50 of Until Then

Hands on my hips, I turn to Layla. “Where’s your brother?” Then I pivot to Izzy and add, “And your sister?”

Izzy looks at her freshly painted red nails. How do I know they’re freshly painted? Because she sat at the kitchen table last night doing them herself. “Sorry,” she says without looking up. “I don’t have a tracker on my sister.”

“I’ll call him.” Layla pulls her phone out of her tote bag.

I wave her off. “It’s fine, but if they’re not here in ten minutes, we’re heading out without them. Got it?”

With her lips pressed together in concentration, Layla types out a text to her brother anyway.

She’s just put her phone away when the two people in question crest the hill coming from Brooks’s driveway.

“Hey!” Reid calls out with a wave, then cups his hands around his mouth. “We’re coming! Sorry!”

I take it back. My grandchild is not the cause of most of my gray hairs. My son has earned that distinction.

When they reach the boat, Reid hops on with ease, then offers his hand to help Via.

“Hey,” Via says to me with a shy, soft smile. “Thanks for inviting us.”

I give her a nod, wishing things weren’t so awkward and wondering if our interactions will always be like this. We went on a single date. That’s it. The age gap between her and my son is large, but it’s not… well, it’s not the gap Izzy and I would have. Not that anything is ever going to happen between us.

It can’t.

Now that we’re all here, we head out onto the water. Izzy moves over to Lili’s side and whispers something I can’t hear above the sound of the motor and the waves.

The sun is high in the sky, and the day is hot. I applied sunscreen before we left the house, only because Izzy stared me down and watched me do it.

Thankfully, Layla agrees that Lili isn’t quite old enough to go tubing. It’s possible we’re both being overprotective, but I’m okay with that.

Once we’ve found a calm spot, away from the other boaters, I lower the anchor.

Reid and Via are quick to jump into the water to swim, laughing and splashing and so overwhelmingly in love that I can’t help but feel a pang of longing.

I assumed that, eventually, being single would get easier. Instead, that longing, the desire for a connection, continues to grow. Anymore, it’s so acute that I’m not sure it’ll ever be quelled.

My eyes drift in the direction of Izzy like they have no choice.

She’s on the bench, next to Layla, head tossed back in laughter.

Look away, I tell myself.

But I can’t.

I take her in, my attention gliding down the smooth column of her throat, to the perfect breasts threatening to spill out of that too tiny top, down her stomach to her hips and her crossed legs. Her skin looks warm from the sun—golden and shining with some sort of oil.

“Grandpa?” The sound of Lili’s voice snaps me out of my trance. Thankfully, Izzy is deeply absorbed in her conversation and hasn’t noticed the way I’ve been drooling over her.

“Yeah, princess?”

“Did you bring your fishing stuff? Can we fish?”

Thankful for the distraction from the too-beautiful woman on the boat, I nod. “I do. Let me get it set up.”

Lili chats my ear off about her friends, the day camp she’s been attending, and basically anything and everything else she can think of. All the while, I force myself to keep my focus from veering back to Izzy.

It’s been way too long since I got laid. That’s got to be the problem. I might not date much, if at all, but I’ve had the occasional hookup. I’m only human, after all. But it’s been over ayear since my last, so I just… need to go out and find someone. Once I do, all this will go away.

Ithasto. I don’t want to think about the alternative if it doesn’t.

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