Page 75 of Finally Forever
So cool! A wide smile parts my lips. I search for the entrance or stairs but can’t find them. “How do I get in?” I ask Riley when he breaks through the surface.
He brushes his long hair from his face and points at rocks that form steps. I hadn’t noticed them before. “Follow that.”
I swim over and climb the first few steps when Sebastian shoots out from the waterfall. The full teeth smile on his face steals my breath the same way it always does, along with his tan skin, muscles, broad shoulders, and six-pack abs. Damn, that man is gorgeous.
He shakes his hair from his eyes and catches me staring. My cheeks heat and I turn away, then race up the steps to escape the stupid embarrassment buzzing through me. He’s my fiancé. I can gawk all I want.
A path leads up and up, rounding the back of the rock wall and stopping at a palm tree that marks the entrance to the slide. Water rushes down in a steady stream. I grab the bar above the hole, flutters erupting in my stomach, and slide down feet-first.
A squeal rips from my throat at the first drop. It’s bigger than I expected. The slide twists and turns. Light appears ahead and a second later, I’m ejected from the waterfall into the pool.
Bubbles blow from my nose as I swim to the surface. I laugh and spit out water.
“Fun, right?” Riley says, where he treads water near Sebastian.
They waited for me to exit? How sweet.
“It was so fun!”
Riley points to the highest point of the rocks. “That’s a diving platform. Nathan did a backflip off it.”
I stare at him across the pool, my eyes wide. Why am I surprised?
He swims around like a dolphin with Kensie on his back. They are so damn cute together.
“What’s that?” I point to the other waterfall, noticing a cave.
“A grotto.” Riley swims over to it and disappears behind the wall of water.
I swim over too, with Sebastian by my side.
We pass through the waterfall into a small cave with a curved bench hugging one wall. Jets pump out warm water and glowing jewels—real or fake, I don’t know—decorate the rocky walls.
“This is magical. Like something at Disney World.” I sit on a section of the bench. “I always thought grottos would be gross, but this is cool.”
Sebastian joins me on the bench, putting a foot between us. “Grottos are mostly gross. At least the ones I’ve experienced. This one, not so much.”
“What grottos have you been in?” None with me.
“We had one in our New York home, where I grew up.”
I gape. “You had something like this in your home?” He never talked about his life in New York with me. I never pushed because I thought it was too painful.
“It wasn’t like this. My father preferred the Grecian style. Like Caesar’s Palace.” A hint of disgust taints his voice.
“And it was indoors?”
He nods and wipes water from his face.
“Must have been a massive space.”
“It was in the pool house at the back of the property on the Hudson River.” His voice and expression carry no emotions.
This is why I never pushed him to talk about his past with me. He shared enough of the stories of his abuse, all at the hands of his father. His mother was murdered by his father at that house, too.
Without thought, I rest a hand on his thigh and rub my thumb over his skin, soothing him. I’ve done it a hundred times before. He turns his head slightly toward me but doesn’t try to make eye contact. It hits me then, what I’m doing. I consider removing my hand. Is he okay with me doing this? Does he want me to stop but doesn’t know how to tell me in front of Riley? Gah. It never used to be this hard with him.
Not that the beginning of our forbidden relationship was easy. We had our share of difficulties. I never questioned his wanting me, though, or how he’d react if I touched him. Not after we kissed for the first time. After that, he couldn’t keep his hands off me. I miss that.
