Page 37 of Undeniably Perfect

Friend, Kent, friend. I repeat the mantra in my head several times as I throw on some swim trunks. I call up to Tabby on my way to the pool.

“I’ll be out in the pool. Get your ass down here,” I yell.

“Just a minute.”

I walk out back and dive into my pool. I swim a few laps until a motion on my right pulls my attention from my stroke. I tread water as I look over at Tabitha in a string bikini. Holy fucking shit. If God himself carved the perfect woman out of stone, it wouldn’t even come close to her. She awkwardly tries to cover herself.

“Don’t you dare,” I practically growl, and she freezes with her arms crossed in front of the most fucking perfect pair of tits that I’ve ever seen.

“I…” She trails off, her vulnerability only makes her more attractive.

“You’re beautiful, Tabitha,” I say to her. “Don’t hide yourself.”

She sighs. “I’m…I mean…I don’t normally wear bikinis in front of people I just met, but it’s the only bathing suit I have that doesn’t smell like smoke still.”

I pull myself out of the pool and she watches me. I know I look good but that’s because I spend way too many hours working out each day for my job. I take pride in my body, it’s my job to take care of it. I stand before her, water dripping down my skin. I take her hand and walk over to the hot tub, turning on the jets. I lead her into the water, and she sighs with contentment.

“I don’t think I ever want to leave this tub. This feels great,” she says, closing her eyes and leaning against the side.

As I submerge into the bubbling hot water, watching her natural beauty, the urge to kiss is so strong that I can’t stop myself. Almost in a trance-like state, I feel the magnetic pull toward her. I’m inches away when I hear someone yell.

“Wuz up, fucker?”

I stand up and step back, looking around as though I’ve gone crazy and am hearing voices. To my great disappointment, I see my two good friends, Ward Snare and Amery Walsh, standing on the deck. Then I look beyond them and see that Nate Thalen and Lyla Perkins are there, too. Of course, they’d choose tonight to all come over for a swim. They have their own pools, but my hot tub and pool are the biggest, so by default my house is the hangout place.

“Who’s that?” Tabitha asks. I look down and her eyes are wide as she stares over at the foursome standing on my deck.

“You guys ever heard of a phone?” I ask them.

“Uh, fucker, we texted you like five times. Then figured you decided to go back to the city, so we were just gonna crash here. We were all down at the pub tonight,” Ward says as he starts stripping.

I watch as Tabitha’s eyes nearly pop out of her head while mine just roll. Fucking Ward. Ward Snare is my shortstop and he’s like a brother to me, but he is also built like Thor and the women and men alike ogle him everywhere we go. However, he’s a claimed man. He’s been with Nate for a couple of years now. Nate was Lyla’s best friend and when Lyla started to date Amery, it wasn’t long before Nate and Ward hooked up. Nate’s more like your super fun party guy next door. The two of them totally complement one another and also look like they stepped off the runway. Amery, a former player, who now scouts for our team met Lyla on a flight. They kept bumping into each other and one thing led to another. They are a cute couple, like sickeningly cute, but fun. I’m usually a fifth wheel, but the four of them never make me feel like the odd man out.

“Hi,” Lyla says to Tabitha as she pulls off a sundress. All four of them are in their underwear instead of bathing suits. Tabitha’s eyes couldn’t be any wider if she was a cartoon character.

“Uh, hi,” she says, but her face still shows shock.

“I’m Lyla. That’s Nate, Ward, and Amery,” she introduces the pack.

They all wave at Tabitha.

“Tabitha,” she manages. I realize then that I’m standing directly behind her, even though we are inches apart, I can feel the heat radiating from her body and I know she’s got to be blushing.

“Nice to meet you. Sorry, we didn’t know you had company, KJ, or we would have partied over at our house,” Lyla says sheepishly.

“It’s OK. Tabitha is the photographer that I’m working with for the charity event. Her studio and apartment had a fire, so she’s staying with me,” I explain. Ward gives me a knowing look and I give him a “shut the fuck up” look.

“Well, you picked the right client to stay with. Kent’s house is da bomb!” Ward says to her as Amery hands him a beer from my outdoor kitchen. Yeah, yeah, my outdoor kitchen has a full wine and beer fridge. I mean, why wouldn’t you have one?

“Anyone else?” Amery asks. We all shake our heads as he immerses himself into the hot tub.

“So, you’re a photographer?” Lyla asks.

Tabby nods.

“Mostly people or do you do other stuff?”

“Mostly people, but…” She looks around shyly, her cheeks turning that telltale sign of pink that I’m beginning to crave. “I also enjoy doing cityscapes and urban decay.”

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