Page 23 of Lore
“I was looking everywhere for you,” Lore says as he walks over, sitting down next to me. Dove sits up and smiles at him. “Good morning.”
“Swim!” she yells, and he laughs, then turns to his son.
“You finished swimming, Rider?” he asks him.
Rider frowns and looks back at me. “No. Mama just wanted me out of the pool.”
“You can go back in,” I tell him, and he grins and runs off. I turn to Lore. “I didn’t know that man…”
His eyes widen in realization. “That’s Ghost. Don’t worry, he won’t harm you. You’re safe here, okay? Ghost will stay out of your way. He’s more of a loner. But if anyone makes you feel uncomfortable, come right to me.” He stands up and pulls his pants down, leaving him in nothing but a pair of black boxers.
“What are you doing?”
“What does it look like?” he replies with a lopsided, boyish smile.
And then he runs and jumps in the water, splashing Rider, who laughs so loudly I’m sure the rest of the clubhouse is now wide awake. Rider jumps on Lore’s back, the two of them playing together, and I blink away tears as they both smile the same damn smile.
“Give Dove a turn too,” I hear Rider say, always wanting to include his baby sister.
He throws Rider in the air, then turns and looks over at us. “Dove? You want to come in, Princess?”
She quickly tries to jump down from the hammock, so I get up and help her, lifting her over to the edge of the pool. Lore holds out his arms, and she does the same until she’s safe against him. He lifts her on his shoulders, and she squeals in happiness.
“You coming in?” he asks, arching his brow at me in challenge.
Throwing off my white cover-up, I only give Lore a few seconds to check me out in my white bikini before jumping into the water and splashing all of them.
“Mama!” Dove calls for me, and I take her into my arms while Lore picks up Rider and throws him into the water.
This is what Rider has been missing out on. I’d never throw him around like that. I’m feeling anxious just watching it, but he’s laughing and having the best time ever. Trent would never play with Rider like this, and it makes me feel even fucking worse, although who knows if Lore would have been able to even give this to him back then. I guess we’ll never know, but all we can do is move forward.
Lore splashes water on the back of my head, and I know he remembers just how much that annoys me. I don’t like being splashed or dunked. “You’re going to pay for that!”
“How! You can’t do anything with that sweet girl in your hands,” he teases, and I turn around to face him.
“Neither can you.” I grin, splashing him right in the face.
Dove’s sweet giggles make me melt, and I gaze down at her lovingly. When I look back up at Lore, he’s watching me with an unreadable expression on his face.
And then Rider jumps on him, breaking the moment.
We stay in for another thirty minutes before getting out, and I can feel Lore’s heated gaze on me as I walk to pick up my towel.
“You don’t have any other swimsuits?” Lore asks in a low tone as the sliding door opens, and the twins step out.
He quickly stands in front of me, blocking their view. “No, why? I packed quickly, didn’t exactly bring a lot of options.”
I only brought my bikini because I promised the kids we’d go for a swim at some point.
Without looking away from me, he picks up the towel and wraps it around me. My brow furrowing, I turn around and help the kids get dry, bending over to wrap Dove’s towel around her.
I hear a choking nose behind me, and Lore mutters something that sounds like, “Christ.”
But when I spin back around, his expression is blank. “Come on, let’s get you both in a hot shower. And then I’ll make you something to eat.”
“Ora and Lu are cooking a big breakfast now,” Lore says, holding his hand out to Rider.
For someone who never wanted children, he’s a natural with them. He lifts his head and looks at me. “If you ever want me to do something…” he trails off, clearing his throat. “Just tell me. It’s going to be a bit of a learning curve getting this whole dad thing worked out.”
