Page 195 of Steeling Her
“I’m good, yeah. So far so good. I’m crashing at Haley and TJ’s, but I’m looking for my own house right now,” I reply with total honesty. I’ve been looking in different spots around LA for a place that I want to call my home for the next few years. It’s hard finding the right one. I’ve been to multiple house showings and listings for the past few weeks ever since I’ve arrived. It’s draining just looking for the right home, but I know it’ll be worth it by the end when I walk in.
“Where have you been looking? California has such beautiful homes out here.” She sighs looking up and her sons home that he shares with his family.
“Um, Bel Air is at the top of my list right now. It’s a little more private, which is just what I want,” I tell her. I like my privacy; it’s been invaded too many times to count by crazy fans breaking and entering as well as paparazzi looking to catch who my latest fling is. I want somewhere where it’s quiet; a place I can come home securely to. I’ve been searching for the right home in a gated community.
The right home I can share with her daughter, if she’ll let me.
A genuine and sentimental smile takes over my face as I think of sharing a home with Carter someday.
“Amazing! Those houses are a real beauties! You’re lucky to have that as an option!” And I am. I’m lucky to have the means to buy myself one if I want it. “Working hard pays off!” She winks at me before taking her seat again next to her daughter, who has refused to look at me since I’ve come over to talk to her mom.
“Yeah—” I begin but get stopped by a little toddler standing by the edge of the pool soaked to the bone while her friends play in the water.
“Nick! Can you come swim with me?” Taylor yells at me. I know I can’t deny her this, especially on her birthday. My attention is stolen by her mother coming outside with a small swimsuit of her own, making Chris’s tongue hang out at the sight of his other half in a barely-there swimsuit. He gives her a loud and proud wolf whistle to tease her with while his eyes travel her body with lust, memorizing every inch of her body which I’m sure he’s already done.
“Looking good, Mama!” He winks at her while she blushes back with an eye roll. She moves over to the table to get a red plastic cup to fill up with the wine she opened away from the kids. She makes her way over to Chris, who hasn’t stopped eye fucking her since she came out.
“Sure, I’ll be right over once I’m finished talking to your grandma, okay?” I answer the birthday girl. She’s glad about my answer because she nods her soaked curls before jumping back into the water with a small splash following after her.
Her parents embrace one another while Carter mutters something under her breath, but I’m not close enough to hear it.
I rotate around and acknowledge her mom again, knowing that I need to keep my promise to her granddaughter. “I better get into the pool or else I’ll be dragged in. It was nice seeing you again, Elaine.” I walk away from the three of them. I know the little madam is persistent with what she wants.
“Don’t I know it,” Elaine jokes with me making me chuckle as a response. It’s hard not to.
I maneuver my way around the table to get to where my sister is sitting so she can hold onto my car keys, wallet, and phone so they don’t get wet. The guys tend to like messing around and don’t care about belongings all that much.
I slip off my sneakers at the heel and throw the socks inside them. As I walk away, I leave TJ to greet Elaine next and walk towards the deep end of the pool for me to dive in without an injury. I can’t be since I’m the quarterback for the Chargers.
The one surprise I have is from when I became single again. I slipped right back into a dark space. I was in a deep hole and decided to get tattoos to feel some sort of external pain to help me cope with the internal pain, but it made it ten times worse. Not a single soul in this house knows about my tattoos. The tattoos that I’ve added to over the years.
So, as soon as I strip off my top and pull it over my head, I throw it over to the side where the sunbeds are at with piles of towels resting on them. Jason is already in the pool playing with the kids like they were his own. For a young guy, he’s not bad with them. He’s goofy, so they all love being around him.
I catch Carter’s eyes staring at me just as I am about to dive in. I know she’s trying to see what I had inked on my skin. I can see the curiosity getting the better of her as she rises out of her seat to get into a better position. When she sits back down again to make it look like she wasn’t just gawking at me, I laugh to myself before taking a long deep breath. She was staring at me, and I caught her in the act.
I take a deep, deep breath; one, so I could go underwater; two, to compose my thumping heart and veins.
I smirk down at the extravagant pool and feel the cool liquid hit my skin as I submerge myself underneath the surface of the water from the hot California weather. Once I break the surface, I swim to the side and lean my back against the side of the pool and settle myself over at the edge.
I see a little pink and yellow swimsuit paddle over to me with her head floating above the surface. I grin at her as she makes her way over to me as I encourage her to keep going. She holds her hands out toward me and I drag her through the water and hold her up with relative ease.
“You good?” I ask her and she nods, gurgling the water through her mouth. She’s so adorable. I can see why they all melt over her.
She hugs me around my neck and I can see TJ pouting playfully over her shoulder.
“Looks like Uncle TJ wants a hug too.” I laugh and point at TJ, who is pretending like he’s crying as he stands beside the table I was just at. When I see Carter’s boyfriend make his way directly over to her, it makes my blood boil. I don’t like him; not one bit.
She loses focus and blinks back up at him as he leans down to tell her something.
“I can give him one too!” She waves over at him and I swim over to the steps, thinking she’s going to swim the rest of the way herself and climb out to give him a hug, but she turns around to face me and points over to my best friend. “Let’s go!” She splashes the water as I lift us both out of the water and walk over to him. As I near her aunt, I can feel her eyes on me.
As of right now, her niece is covering the tattoos on my left peck and rib.
The one over my heart. The only one to ever be near my heart.
As soon as I hand Taylor over to TJ for his hug, I could hear a small gasp.
I’ve been caught. She sees it finally after five years of being apart. She knows what it means. She knows what’s inscribed on my chest. On my skin. On my heart.
