Page 21 of Seven Year Itch
My eyes are wide because the psychopath is dead serious. We don’t even have stakes. There was no bet, no money wager... nothing. This is literally afor-fun family game, and you’d think his multimillion-dollar company was on the line with the way his nostrils are in a permanent flare.
“You need to calm the fuck down, or I’m going to call for Mom,” I call back over my shoulder.
“Pussy,” Max grumbles as he prepares to serve.
“That’s an offensive term, you know.”
Max looks at me like I have two heads before he tosses the ball up to launch it over the net. When I turn back to see what happens, everything starts to move in slow motion.
The serve falls perfectly in front of Luke who easily bumps it into a soft pass to Wyatt. Wyatt makes eye contact with Dakota, whose eyes light up with fire as she nods and points up to the sky.
What the fuck does the point mean? That doesn’t seem good!
Wyatt nods back and lifts his hands to the ball, launching it into a high set. My body tenses when I watch Dakota sink shoulder-deep into the water, her hair sticking to her temples as she bursts up out of waves like a phoenix rising from the ashes. She pulls her arm back as she catapults a solid two feet over the net, and I look left to see if Max and Ethan are seeing what I’m seeing.
But Max isn’t watching the ball. He’s staring at me with murder in his eyes. “Loook ooout!” he yells, his voice also in the slow-mo mode that’s playing in my head.
“You’re gonna diiieee!” Ethan squeals while pointing directly at me, and I swear I see all signs of childhood innocence leave his eyes.
My head jerks back to the match as I launch myself up to try and block the spike she’s about to send my way. But instead of focusing on the ball, my gaze drifts down her body, and my jaw drops when I see that one perfectly large, D-cup breast has completely exposed itself. It’s sprung free from the tiny black bikini triangle that everyone knew was no match for the power and athleticism radiating through her veins during this match. Her pale pink pert nipple winks back at me as water sluices off its large peak, and I feel my traitorous cock twitch as my eyes flash back up to Dakota. A devious smirk brightens her clear blue gaze before sparks burst through my vision, and the ball smashes into my face causing the lights to go out.
“Is he going to have to go to the hospital?” I hear Ethan’s frantic voice cry as my body is being dragged through the water.
“No, Ethan.” Max sighs. “But we’re going to have to get out of the pool because Calder ruined it with his blood.”
“Blood?” I croak and lift my hand to my nose. I pull my fingers back and see that yes, that is in fact my blood, and it seems to be pouring from my nose and leaving a trail behind us. That doesn’t seem good.
“Help me out, Luke! Calder’s ruining the pool,” Max barks.
“I don’t want Uncle Calder to ruin the pool!” Ethan cries.
“It’s not ruined,” Cozy says, finally bringing in some voice of reason. “They’re just going to have to treat it with chemicals, so we’ll have to take a break for a couple hours.”
Ethan continues crying as Everly says, “We still won, though, right?”
“Hell yes, we won,” Wyatt replies, and I look up to see them both high-five over my lifeless body. “Who wants to play pickle ball?”
“This is my nightmare,” I mumble as the string from the tampon currently shoved up my nose sticks to my lips.
“It’s stopping the blood,” my mom says as she touches the bridge of my nose.
“Mom, that hurts!” I jerk my head away. “Why do you have to keep touching it?”
“I’m trying to make sure it’s not broken, Calder. I can’t imagine you’d want to have plastic surgery here in Mexico.” She huffs indignantly. “You boys always play too rough. Almost forty years old and you still all act like children.”
“It’s Max’s fault.”
My mom hits me with a scolding look and stands to place her hand on her hips. “I’m going to go check on the baby. Just sit still and try not to stain anything.”
I close my eyes to rest for a bit until darkness descends over me and I hear a faint “Hey, Killer” poke through my slumber.
When I look up, the devil appears in a vision, and I hold my hands up and scream, “No, Satan! It’s not my time yet. I have so much more life left to liiive!”
“Would you knock it off?” Dakota scolds and chucks a bag of ice onto my naked chest. “I was coming over to apologize, but you’re making me glad I did it.”
My smile hurts my nose as I set the ice off to the side. “Don’t act like you’re not happy about this.” I yank the tampon out of my nose, grateful to see that the bleeding has stopped.
“I might be a little happy,” Dakota confirms with a spark of glee in her eyes. She sits down on the lounge chair beside me and turns her muscular legs in my direction, giving me a nice view of them and her long valley of cleavage.
