I felt another sprinkle of droplets hit my foot, so I sat up to find a smirking Nash bobbing in the water by my feet. “What are you doing out here?” I asked, smiling as he shook his head back and forth, looking just like a wet dog with those big brown eyes.
“Well, I’ve been watching you for awhile. I was out mowing the grass for my mom, and I couldn’t believe you were out here just laying in the sun while it’s so fucking hot. Want to go for a swim?”
I looked over at Zoey and Callie who had both fallen asleep as well and nodded my head, really needing a cool off. “Sure.” I slid into the water, letting out a loud sigh as it cooled my body down and grinned when Nash splashed me.
I chased after him as he took off in the opposite direction, creating a typhoon of water around him as he took broad strokes. I looked around for him when the water finally became still and knew what was coming when I couldn’t find him.
I felt a tug on my ankle seconds later and was pulled under, holding onto his hand as he dragged me back up to the surface. “Sorry,” he said sheepishly as I spit a mouthful of water onto his face. “I just can’t help myself, you’re such an easy target.”
“It actually felt pretty good thanks. I needed it. I won’t be surprised if I actually end up burning.”
“I wouldn’t mind helping you rub some aloe on that,” he replied, no smile present upon his face as I stared back at him. I didn’t know if he was joking or not, so I ducked under the water again to avoid him. When I came back up that serious expression was gone as he floated on his back, and I swam to the edge of the raft. “How are your sister and your niece doing?”
“Good, I was actually thinking of taking Madison to the zoo tomorrow while Serena’s working. Do you think you would want to come with us?” I looked up at Callie and Zoey who were now awake and both gave me quick nods of their head when they heard his question. I couldn’t help but roll my eyes. They were so worried about my love life. It’s not like I needed to have a boyfriend at all times.
“Sure, that sounds good.” Nash knew I wasn’t very comfortable around kids since he now knew about the abortion. He had taken it shockingly well, better than Mariah had probably expected and didn’t judge me at all. I was kind of shocked that he was asking me.
“Awesome, I’ll pick you up around nine if that’s all right. Madison likes to get an early start to her day.”
“Sounds great.”
“All right, well I better head back in and see what else I can do around the house for my mom while I’m home. The guys and I are taking a road trip next week, so I might as well let her use and abuse me while I’m here.” I grimaced at his choice of words, abuse making me think of all that he had suffered over the years from his dad, but the smile never disappeared from Nash’s lips, so I tried to not let it bother me.
“You have fun with that, I think we’re going to head back in for lunch in a bit and veg out for the rest of the day.”
Callie and Zoey joined me in the water after he swam to shore, breathing out sighs of relief as the cool water suddenly felt good. Zoey looked like she had a little bit of red tint to her skin, so we decided to take our picnic inside and hang out for the rest of the day.
I couldn’t believe how much we had to catch up on after only being apart for two weeks. We made a list of places that we wanted to check out while we finished off most of the sandwiches and cookies Grams had made. “Are you guys sure that you don’t want me to tell Nash I can’t go tomorrow? We could get an early start and go see a few of these places.”
“Absolutely not. We’re most definitely sleeping in tomorrow. I’m sure we’ll just be waking up by the time you get back.” Zoey nodded her head in reply, stuffing a handful of chips in her mouth.
“All right.” I was kind of looking for a way out of it, but I had all ready agreed, so I guess I would have to go through with it. I had a feeling it would be a very interesting day.
Chapter 24
“Nash, is she your girlfriend?” This is what I heard as soon as I opened up the passenger door to Nash’s truck the next morning. I looked towards the back seat to see Madison strapped into her car seat, her blonde hair pulled into two lopsided pigtails and a pair of daisy sunglasses covering her eyes. Nash smiled into the mirror as I shut my door and sat down stiffly.
I hadn’t really had much contact with kids really ever and since having the abortion, I seemed even more uncomfortable around them. It always made me think about what could have happened if I kept the baby. Would it have been a girl or boy? What would I have named it? Would I have been a good mom? I shook my head, clearing those thoughts that always crept forward and grinned when Nash responded to Madison.
“Well, Della’s my friend and she’s a girl, so-”
He was quickly interrupted by her tiny four-year-old voice. “So she is your girlfriend, I knew it. She’s pretty.”