Page 68 of Keeper
He pulls me back to him so he can see my face. Frowning, he gives my protective sheet a yank like he’s offended that I’ve tried to cover myself up. “That park is sort of special I thought. I haven’t been back there in ages, so I’d like to see how it’s holding up.”
I force a smile and quickly heave myself off of the bed, busily picking up my clothes from last night. “I’d rather stay in London today. Let’s go do something fun and different! Oh! There’s this adult ball pit in Hackney that some students in my class were talking about. Apparently the balls glow in the dark. Doesn’t that sound like fun?”
“A ball pit?” He arches a skeptical brow at me.
“Yeah, it’s for adults. There are cocktails and everything. You can cop a feel when we’re literally balls deep.” I lean over on the bed and press a chaste kiss on his lips.
He laughs. “I’d never pass up a chance to go balls deep with you.”
“Yay!” I peal a bit more loudly than I intended. Stopping at the doorway, I look back at the gloriously naked Booker and ask, “Shower first?”
Glowy McGlow, formerly known as Ballie Ballerson, is an immature adult’s wet dream. A virtual playpen kitted out with two hundred fifty thousand clear balls set upon an LED dance floor that shifts into different colours.
It’s bloody ridiculous.
Poppy’s eyes alight with excitement over the setup as she all but drags me through the crowd on the second floor where the bar sits. Apparently Ballie Ballerson is the cool place to be on Sunday afternoons because it’s packed with patrons sipping on planet-themed cocktails as they take breaks from the rigorous efforts of ball surfing.
Poppy adjusts her crop top that’s displaying her perfect hourglass figure. I notice heads turn to check her out and wonder if this is always how it was for her, or if I’m just realising it now because we’re together. I can’t fault the blokes for noticing her. She’s striking with her short blonde hair mussed high atop her head with some product. She’s got an edgy yet classy look about her because of her angelic face and graceful neck. The combination is really fucking sexy, and it makes me feel like a lucky bastard.
When we make our way down the stairs to the pit, she looks over her shoulder and smiles brightly, her white teeth glowing in the black light. Hesitating before we step down into the balls, she yells over the loud music, “Come on, Booker! Stop looking so serious and go balls deep with me!”
“We could have stayed home for that,” I yell back with a wink. She giggles, holding her hands out to me, fingers wiggling, body shaking with anticipation.
With a dramatic eye-roll, I plunge into the depths with her. The balls are waist deep on Poppy and hit high on my thighs. We move past a few groups of people until we’re in a corner that’s less congested. Laughing the whole time, we toss balls at each other. At one point, she tries to trip me with her foot and shove me backwards, failing miserably and managing to topple herself over instead.
I laugh and help her up out of the balls, snaking my arms around her bare waist and squeezing until she squirms. She feels so good in my arms. So right. I love that I can press my lips to her neck whenever I want. Being with her like this is surprisingly easy.
I catch her completely off guard when I wrap my arms around her and fall back, pulling her down on top of me. Her gleeful laughs are all I hear as the balls engulf us, sinking us lower to the colourful ground.
“This is fantastic!” she shrieks, face close to mine as the colours shift from pinks to purples, to blues, to greens, illuminating her happy smile.
“It’s all right,” I smirk from behind her neck.
She rolls over so we’re face-to-face. “Shut up! You’re loving this and you know it.”
“It beats singing competitions in the woods,” I exclaim.
Her eyes narrow and she begins wrestling with me in the balls, trying and failing to pin my arms beside my head. She wraps her legs around my hips, and I roll us so I’m the one on top. I hold her hands above her head and slowly thrust my pelvis into hers. The gasp she sucks in makes me smile.
“Yeah, I’m hard,” I whisper in her ear.
“You’re insatiable!” she giggles, looking around nervously.
“It’s your fault for looking so bloody gorgeous all the time.”
I stare down at her affectionately and she gives her own hips a little thrust. “You better get control of yourself, Harris, or we’re going to end up in the papers like your brothers.”
Shaking with laughter, I release my hold on her and we go back to playfully chucking balls at one another. Truthfully, it’s the most I’ve laughed in ages. Playing with Poppy like we used to when we were kids but with the added benefits of being able to kiss her is a pretty fucking fantastic combination. It makes me wonder what life would have been like if we’d tried this when we were younger. Would it have worked out? Will it work out now? There are really no guarantees. I just have to trust that if it doesn’t, she’ll hold up her promise to not let it ruin our friendship because Poppy is not someone I’m willing to lose ever again.
After playing in the balls for almost an hour, we’ve both worked up a sweat and decide to make our way back to the psychedelic bar for a drink. I order a beer and Poppy gets some sort of Saturn drink garnished with a floating balloon.
She looks so bloody happy as she sucks the red liquid through the straw. “This is so much fun! My mum and dad never let me play in ball pits growing up.”
“Why is that?” I ask, taking a pull from my bottle of beer.
“They said children piddle in them.” My nose crinkles and she giggles adorably.
Setting my beer down, I reply, “Until Vi had Rocky, I had no clue what that parental fear is like. But after watching her a couple weeks ago, I have a newfound respect for parents. There are a lot of scary things that could happen to her in the blink of an eye. It’s a lot of pressure to be a parent full-time. Makes me content to just be an awesome uncle forever.”
