“Jesus,” he mutters to himself, snatching the bottle from me, and I chuckle.
He starts with my shoulders, smearing sunscreen onto my skin with fast circular motions, and works his way down. But the lower he gets, the slower his movements become. I almost get up when he slows down, but I stay. Even when he’s not rubbing circles anymore and instead, running his greasy hands up and down my slick back, I remain right there. I peek over my shoulder to find his gaze is locked on my back, and he doesn’t notice when I turn around to look at him.
So I turn around, letting him continue with whatever fantasy’s going on in his head until he clears his throat and his hands leave my body.
“Alright. I’m done,” he announces, and I let out the breath I was holding.
I sit back in the pool chair as he wipes his hand on the towel he brought out, his back to me, and I undo my bra. Might as well fluster him some more. Besides, this time he might run away seeing me topless, and I want to enjoy the sun without his presence.
He turns around and freezes, his eyes locked on me, and his mouth falls open as he takes me in, lying stretched out on the pool chair with my hands above my head.
He doesn’t turn around as quickly as I thought he would. He sucks in a sharp breath as his eyes start to roam down my body, but after a moment of staring at me, he finally catches himself.
“Fuck, Alana! Warn me when you do shit like this!” he gripes as he spins around.
“Quit acting like a fucking prude,” I say with humor in my voice, just to grate on his nerves. “You’ve seen these before. Besides, you didn’t seem to give a damn when you were ogling them just now.”
“You didn’t say anything about sunbathing,” he says, dodging my statement.
I suck my teeth at him. “You’d want to do this too after being shut in a room for almost two weeks,” I guilt-trip him, and he doesn't have a comeback to that because what the fuck can he say. “You can easily go back in the house if you’re going to be childish about breast.”
He’s quiet for a moment before he says, “I’ll be back there at the table to give you the privacy you want.”
When he leaves, I let out a sigh of relief, and I shut my eyes, sliding down further into the chair. I wish I could soak this warmth up faster. It feels so good. Veronica still hasn’t said anything. I’d ask her why, but if she wanted to talk, she would have, and right now, the silence is nice. When she wants to talk, she will, but until then, I’m not pressing her. For once, I want to hear my own thoughts uninterrupted.
Maybe I have to accept the fact that I won’t get out of here in one fell swoop. I might have to take it in steps after all. First, get out of the room, then get out of the house. I’ll need to somehow get Kameron to take me with him on one of his trips into town and get away from him then. I just have to get him to trust me enough to take me with him.
But that could take forever, and I’m too pregnant to keep waiting. I don’t want to hobble around Mexico huge and pregnant trying to find a way out of here. I need to find a way out much sooner than that, but I have no clue how I’m going to do that.
Something’s happening with Kam,Veronica tells me, and I open my eyes to look at the clear blue sky above as her voice interrupts my thoughts.I can’t put my thumb on it exactly, but something’s different.
He’s frustrated as fuck. I clear up for her.I’m pissing him off.
I think you should continue being you…she tells me.It seems to be working. He keeps coming back to you even though you keep giving him reasons not to.
I can’t help but laugh. I think he might like the abuse. Rich people have some weird-ass kinks sometimes. He might like being humiliated.
My bathing suit top hangs over the back of the pool chair, and I know Kameron’s behind me, sitting at the table. I can feel his eyes on me as I reach for the sky. I place my hands on my hips and look at the water for a moment before I decide I’m done making Kam fidget. I put my top back on and walk alongside the pool towards the stairs.
The cool water on my feet sends a chill through my entire body. I slowly walk in, adjusting to the temperature first before submerging myself. I swim towards the deep end, and when I get there, I flip onto my back. The water holds me up, and for the first time in days, I don’t feel heavy as fuck, and it’s such a relief. I stay on my back for a moment, enjoying being weightless, before I flip over.
I do a few laps from one end to the other, releasing some of the frantic energy that’s been storing itself in my muscles. After a few regular laps, I turn over to back stroking around the pool, and my chest aches as I look into the clear blue sky, wishing I was looking at it from anywhere else.
I notice movement out of the corner of my eye, and I find Kameron sitting on one of the pool chairs, watching me. The sight of him sitting there with his dark gaze tracing me around the pool sends tremors across my body, but still, a mischievous grin spreads across my face.
I flip over and swim to where he’s sitting, taking my sweet time, and when I get there, I send a wave of water up to him. He only has time to close his eyes to brace against it, and once it’s done, he lets out a sigh.
“Why?” he asks, a hard edge to his voice as he wipes water from his eyes.
“Quit staring. And go find me some goggles,” I demand, swimming around on my back in the water in front of him.
“You splash me with water, then you ask for something,” he states, trying to understand. “That’s not how you go about getting favors.”
“Don’t stare next time, and you won’t get splashed,” I rationalize with him. “Now go get them. The chlorine’s fucking with my eyes.”
He sighs and gets up to go back into the house.
He’s going to get sick of you at some point,Veronica says.