The Hunter In Me

6 - Grainy

An hour later, Emily and I were eating lunch in her enormous backyard. To avoid the scorching sun, we sat under the umbrella of one of her patio tables.

I held up my sandwich. "This is delicious. Thanks for inviting me over."

Emily beamed at the compliment and popped a chip into her mouth. "It's one of the four things I can make. You'll have to come another day, and I'll fix spaghetti."

I took a bite and made a noncommittal humming sound. Damn, her tan legs looked good in those shorts. It'd be hard staying distant from Emily now that she was showing an interest in me.

Dragging my focus from her smooth skin, I examined the backyard. Mature banana trees circled a concrete area the size of my house where water flowed over stacked rocks into a swimming pool, and the constant trickling was a peaceful sound. It was the fanciest yard I'd ever seen, and a world away from my deck surrounded by a mix of sweetgum, and pine trees, and a couple picnic tables.

No wonder her parents wanted her to wait until college to date. They were probably hoping she'd find someone higher class than the typical family around here. I was lucky there wasn't a private school close enough for her to have attended or we never would've met.

She followed my line of sight and said, "I should've thought about it. I would've told you to bring your suit so we could swim."

"That's alright. I was just checking it out. It's nice."

"When I was younger, I'd stay in there until my mom insisted I get out for bedtime. The first year we had it, I even got her to let me have lunch while I floated around." Emily giggled, making me smile.

"Isn't there some rule about waiting after you eat to swim?"

She flipped her ponytail over her shoulder. "I'm a rebel. What can I say?"

"You live dangerously," I joked, but all I could think about was her cute laugh and the adorable way she wrinkled her nose when she was kidding.

We finished eating, and she stood to collect our plates. "Come on, let's go in; it's getting hot."

"I can wash these. You cooked, so I'll clean." I lifted the dishes, but she took them and waved me away.

"That's okay; I'm just going to rinse them and stick them in the dishwasher." Emily walked inside ahead of me, and I had to force myself to stop studying her curves and the way the tip of her ponytail swung just above her cute round butt.

"Earth to Bash?" She stared at me with her eyebrows raised. I must have zoned out while gawking.

"Sorry, I got distracted. What did you say?"

"I asked about your back. Were the scratches bad?"

"Oh, nah. I kind of forgot about them after everything else that happened."

"It was crazy! I won't be going there again. That was enough of Nolan's dumb ideas for me."

I nodded, glad she wasn't planning a return trip, and she walked behind me to yank my T-shirt up. "Let me see where that cat got you." She gasped. "Bash! There are some nasty scrapes here. I can't believe this doesn't hurt."

Emily dropped my tee, and I shrugged. "It's alright."

Shaking her head, she grasped my arm and towed me down the hall. "You're such a guy. Let's put medicine on those."

I chuckled as Emily led me to a bathroom big enough to park my truck in, then dug around the cabinet, getting out antibacterial gel and bandages. Standing, she waved her hand, instructing me to spin and face the counter.