Feels Like Summertime(27)

“Hm?” I ask, but my eyes don’t want to open.

“Jake,” someone says again. Finally, I force my eyes open. I find Katie looking down at me. “I’m home.”

“Good,” I say, and I close my eyes again. “I missed you.”

She laughs, and I feel the covers rustle. “Why are you on top of the covers?”

“It’s not my bed,” I reply.

She touches my arm. “You’re cold.”

“A little.” I rub my face, trying to wake up. “Are the kids okay?”

“I just checked on them. They’re fine.”

“I should go,” I say.

There’s a beat of silence. “Or you could stay,” she says.

My heart stutters. “I could stay,” I whisper.

“It’s late,” she whispers back, and she rolls me over so she can tug the covers from beneath me. Then she covers me with them. The warmth of her next to me seeps into me all over. “You’re so cold,” she says. She rolls over and tugs my arm around her. “Is this okay?”

I pull her back against me, with my hand on her hip. “Yeah,” I whisper. “It’s nice.” I press a kiss to her shoulder. “It’s perfect.”

She wiggles her bottom in my lap and then gets still.

“Thanks for letting me take a nap, Jake,” she says.

I brush her hair down between us and take in the scent that’s all Katie. “You’re welcome.” I kiss her shoulder again.

There’s not one tiny part of me that feels like this is wrong. Not the least little bit. It’s right. It’s Katie. It’s me. It’s me and Katie, and her kids are in the rooms adjacent to this one. I’ll have to wake up early and get out of here before they wake up. That’s a good plan.

I tuck Katie closer to me and close my eyes.





25





Jake





The first time I ever got caught doing something I shouldn’t have been doing with Katie Higgins, I had to clean the bath house at the campground with a toothbrush every day for a week. Looking back, I spent a lot of time in that bath house. It’s a miracle I can get near a toilet now. In fact, I tend to keep my toothbrush in the kitchen. Toilets are nasty. Toothbrushes in toilets are even nastier.

But holding Katie into the early hours of the morning…that was priceless. I’d do it all over if given an opportunity.

That day started like most others. I got up, went to play lifeguard at our small swimming area, and I ogled Katie as she played volleyball in the sand with her friends near where I worked. She waved at me every few minutes, and I caught her looking at me often, which made me smile.

“Jake, get your head out of your ass and watch the swimmers,” Pop grumbled at me when he caught me watching Katie rather than the water.

“My head’s not in my ass,” I grumbled back.

“Get your head out of her ass then,” he said, nodding toward where Katie had moved over and was sunning herself in a modest bikini.

“But Pop,” I complained, “her ass is worth it. Just look at it.”

Pop didn’t look, but he said, “As asses go, I suppose you could find a worse one to look at. Maybe you’ll find one when you’re cleaning toilets.” He threw a towel at my face.

I blew the whistle at a kid running down the dock, and he slowed to a fast walk before diving off the end.

“Speaking of Katie’s ass, Pop, do you think I could take the boat out tonight?”

He sorted through the box of tools he had on the dock in front of him without looking up at me. “What for? And what’s the boat got to do with Katie’s ass?”

I learned to drive a boat before I could drive a car, which was the case with most kids who grew up on the water. “I want to show her the lake.”

“Is ‘show her the lake’ code for showing her your penis?”

“Pop,” I growled. “Seriously?”

“You can use the canoe. Take it or leave it.”

I opened my mouth to complain, but Pop held up a finger. When Pop held up a finger, I knew I was done. I could take the canoe out, though. That was good. It would work.

“Take condoms,” Pop warned. Then he walked away while I was still shaking my head and smiling.

I wrapped my hands around my mouth and yelled Katie’s name. She raised up on her elbows on the blanket where she was sunbathing, and her naked belly scrunched up. Damn, she was pretty. And curvy in all the right places. She held her hands up in question at me.

I crooked my finger at her, motioning for her to come to me.

Fred, who was working at the lifeguard station on the opposite dock, let out a wolf whistle.

Katie didn’t come to me, though. She lay back down on the blanket and ignored me. Her friend leaned over close to her and whispered something but Katie just shook her head.

I wrapped my hands around my mouth and called her name loudly again. “I can’t come to you, Katie!” I yelled.

She rolled onto her belly and shot me the middle finger over her shoulder.

Pop chuckled from behind me. “You might want to work on your delivery, son. A Jacobson has to have more game than that.”

I could hear Fred laughing from his perch across the lake. I looked out and saw that there was only one person in the small swimming area. I motioned for Fred to keep an eye on him, and then I pulled my whistle from around my neck and tossed it onto the lifeguard chair. I dove into the water and swam to where Katie was lying on a towel on the sandy beach. I stood over her and shook the water from my hair like a dog after a bath. Both she and her friend squealed and Katie rolled over.