“The kid?” What is he talking about?

“Colby.”

“No, Colby is with—” A loud knock cuts me off. I turn my head to see Colby sitting in the backseat of a very fancy car. He waves at me. “What are you doing?” I run over to the car. I hear the lock unclick. I pull open the door. “What are you doing here?” I look him over, making sure that he’s okay.

“Someone dropped him at the house.” I look over my shoulder at Kale, who is looking at my ass.

“What? You weren’t supposed to be home until ten.”

“Nine,” Colby says. “Look how cool this car is. Kale has the best villain car.”

“Come.” I hold my hand out for Colby to take.

“I’ll take you home.” Kale starts to go around the car to get in.

“I’m really sorry. I thought we agreed to ten. I must have misheard her or something.” I can’t believe he was alone. What if Kale hadn’t been there? He would have really been all by himself.

“Get in the car,” Kale orders, clearly irritated. He didn’t come because of Colten or to find me. It was because of Colby. It’s a good reason, but still not what I hoped for. I should have known better. Disappointment fills me anyway.

“I have my car. Thank you for bringing him to me. I’m really sorry. It won’t happen again.”

“Get in the car,” he grits out. My eyes start to sting. He’s pissed because I made him come here. No, he’s more than pissed about it. He might even fire me.

I look down at Colby, who is not the least bit fazed by Kale. I messed up. What if he had an attack and no one was around? It was selfish of me, and guilt settles deep inside.

“I’m fine,” he huffs at me, reading my mind. He taps his pocket where his inhaler is.

“Colby.” Kale only says his name and he hops back in the car, no questions asked, smiling. Kale looks back over toward me. “I’ll put you in the car.” My mouth falls open. He wouldn't dare.

“No, I have my car and his booster seat is in there.” Colby groans at the mention of his booster seat. Kale comes back around the car. Is he really going to put me in the car? I stand there but he walks right past me to my car where he opens the door and pulls out the booster seat.

“Oh, man, I thought you were on my side, Kale.” Even as he complains about it, Colby moves over for him to put the seat in before he shuts the door.

“In. The. Car.” He stares down at me as he opens the passenger side door. The rain is coming down heavier now. My dress is starting to cling to me. “Please.” That one word breaks me.

I get in. He shuts the door behind me, coming around the car and getting in before starting the car and taking off. The whole encounter only confuses me more about who Kale really is.

That might be my problem. I was too focused on things I shouldn’t be. Colby is my priority and tonight I failed. The drive home feels longer than ever.

15

Kale

“Don’t be mad, Summer,“ the boy says from the backseat.

“Why did you leave? I thought you loved Cana and the kids?” Summer sounds genuinely distressed about this, but I don’t really know why. So the kid wanted to go home. What was the big deal?

“I do, but I just got bored there. And I thought the place would be empty...” He trails off, not wanting to admit that he had hoped that I would not be there so he could explore the place by himself. Summer sends me a guilty glance which I ignore because it wasn’t something I was going to get mad about even if it did break the rules. Colby is seven. He’s a quarter of my size. Stomping on him would be like hurting that little fluff ball. I’m an asshole, but I’m not hurting kids. “Besides,“ he starts again, “Kale was there so it’s no big deal.”

“There are places in the house that could be dangerous.“

“I stayed away from the studio. I don’t even know where it is.“

“The basement.” I tell them.

Colby jumps on that. “See, the dangerous part of the house isn’t even attached the house.”

A thought occurs to me. “Do you know how to swim?”

“Swim? No,” he answers.

It’s my turn to feel guilty. “I’ll teach you,” I offer gruffly. “When we get home, you’ll need to put on some trunks. Do you have a pair?“

“No, he doesn’t have a pair of swim trunks,” Summer answers for him. “Why? Do you have a pool in the back by your studio?”

“I have one in the basement.”

“You do?”

“We do?”

Both respond at the same time but with very different tones. Colby is excited and Summer sounds upset.

She twists in her seat to stare at her brother. “If you had stumbled down there, you could’ve drowned.”

In the rearview mirror, I can see Colby scowl. He crosses his thin arms across his chest and glares at his sister. “I didn’t. I just went into the library because I forgot one of my cars there.”

“But you could have and that’s what’s important here,” Summer insists. She turns to me. “And you! How are you suddenly so calm? Back in the restaurant, you were almost ready to punch Colten out.”

My brows furrow together. “You want me to punch your brother?”

“No, of course not.” She lets out a frustrated sigh. “I don’t get it, though. You’re upset one minute and then talking about helping my brother learn to swim.”

“That’s easy. You’re here and Colten’s in the restaurant. Colby’s safe and he’s going to learn to swim. Problems are solved.” I rub a hand over the scars. “I didn’t even have to wear a mask.”

I wink at Colby in the rearview mirror. He grins. “Masks are cool though. You should make one since you’re an artist.”

“Colby John,” Summer exclaims. “Kale does not need a mask. He looks fine the way he is.”

I can’t get Summer’s comment out of my head. Her words replay themselves as if they’re on an endless loop so that even while Colby is splashing enough water out of the pool to flood the entire basement, her “fine the way he is” is all I can think about. Neither the kid nor Summer have swimsuits, and nothing I have fits the munchkin so he’s swimming in some Iron Man underoos while Summer dangles her bare legs in the water. It’s a good thing the kid is here or I’d have dragged her into the pool, pretty dress and all.

I should’ve made her wear the maid’s uniform because when she makes her own clothing decisions, it’s always something revealing—either tight as fuck yoga pants or those filmy dresses that cling to her curves.

I had to move Colby to the waist-high water so no one could see my erection. Swim trunks aren’t great for hiding hard-ons and the heated pool is causing zero shrinkage. If anything, the warm water pulsing around my dick is giving me all kinds of filthy ideas. There are jets in the other end. I could hold her right in front of them and let the pulsing stream batter her cunt while I fuck her tight anus.

“Ouch!” Colby yells. “You’re holding me too tight.”