Chapter 10 The Lighthouse

After another grueling bike ride and run, we're on the playground cooling down. "I still want to see you swim."

She's back to that again. Time to distract her.

"C'mon." I tap on the monkey bar over her head. She reaches up and I spot her through a pull up.

She drops down and laughs. "I can't even do one pull up."

I grip the bar and bust out fifteen of them fast and hard with varying hand grips.

Her mouth drops open, and her eyes are glued to my biceps. "Show off."

I climb the pole and sit on the bar like a monkey. "This is my thing. Swimming is not." I jump off and catch the bar in a dead hang then pull my knees up and through into a backwards somersault, dropping and landing on my feet.

She laughs. "You are incredibly strong. You should go on Round Table Gauntlet."

I wipe the sand from my hands. "Did I tell you about that?"

"About the Round Table show? No. Why? "

"I've always considered trying out for that competition. I train like I'm going on it. I think I could win it."

"You should do it."

"Nah." I shake my head. "I use it for training motivation, but it's just a dream."

"Weren't you the one who told me to go after what I want?"

"Yeah." I look away because she caught me with my own words.

"You should do it. No doubt." Her eyes lock on a black BMW moving slowly past Henry's truck. "That looks like Donnie's car."

Her hands shake and her gaze darts around. "Oh no." She touches her head like she's reaching for her cap, which she took off after our run.

"Let's go." I grab her hand and take off sprinting around the dune. We're laughing the whole time as we run a mile to an old abandoned lighthouse. "In here." I pull away the board blocking the door and bring her up inside it. The heat makes the lighthouse smell stuffy and dusty.

She climbs up onto a ledge and peeks out the tiny square window as her chest heaves with her heavy breaths.

"You think he saw us?" she asks me.

"Don't care," I reply and stay on the ground watching her from below .

"We don't wanna get caught." She squints, still trying to see out the tiny square.

I take her hand and tug her down. "Tell me something. Why're we hiding?" My arm wraps around her waist and pulls her hips close to mine.

She puts her hands flat on my chest and pushes but I don't let her go.

"Is it cuz your dad thinks I'm a punk?"

She blushes and pushes her hair back. "I'm sorry about that."

"I'm not a punk-ass kid."

"I know that. Don't take it personally. My dad doesn't like most guys who show interest in me."

"So screw him. You make your own decisions." I'm testing her. I know he has a lot of control over her, but I want to know why and how deep it goes. I already know he wouldn't allow her to have a dog and he wouldn't want her to date me.

"I wish I did." She looks down at the sandy floor of the lighthouse tower.

I take her chin between my thumb and index finger and force her to look at me. "I think you're underestimating your dad. If he loves you like he says he does, he'll let you choose your own life. "

Her pretty brown eyes grow sad and her mouth turns down in a frown. "Things don't work the way you'd think they should when it comes to him."

"I think you should try it."

Her bottom lip juts forward and trembles. "I've tried. It doesn't go well."

Right. The bruises. He beats her into submission. Once again, I want to beat the hell out of Vaughn Bianchi.

"Anyway." She forces a smile to her lips. "Tell me why you can't swim."

Okay. She doesn't want to talk about that yet. I get it. Why can't I swim? I don't know.

"I can swim. Just don't like it." I shrug.

"Why?"

It's hot and stuffy in the lighthouse. "Let's go outside."

We climb through the tiny door and sit with our backs against the outer wall of the lighthouse, our butts in the sand. The fresh ocean air feels good.

"So tell me why you don't like to swim." She bumps my shoulder with hers.

"Couple times I've been pushed in, panicked, thought I'd die. "

"Who pushed you in?" She tugs at a blade of grass sticking up out of the sand.

Your brother, the asshole, but I'm not telling her that story. Not yet. "Growing up, most of the foster homes didn't have pools, but I'd been to the Boys' Club a few times and learned to swim there. I was still learning when I got sent to a family out in Rochester. They were a five minute walk from Finger Lake. This kid, Alphie was his name, he had it out for me. Most of the kids didn't appreciate the foster kid coming in and having to share their toys, but Alphie especially made it known they weren't adopting no orphans . He pushed my head under, smashed it into the muddy bottom, and held it there. I guess since then I've just avoided swimming altogether." I haven't put it into words before, but that's the truth. Until her brother pushed me in again, I hadn't tried swimming.

"That's terrible. I'm sorry that happened to you. Kids can be so mean."

"Yeah."

"You should definitely try to overcome your fear."

I shake my head. "Not necessary. Don't need to swim nowhere."

We're quiet for a long time, just watching the waves when she says, "I'm going back to Manhattan tomorrow."

I nod. I think she mentioned it during our bike ride. She's not saying it, but that most likely means no more workouts with me. It's one thing to hang out on the beach in the Hamptons, another to be seen in the city with a punk like me. I don't want to talk about that shit, so I turn and grab her neck and pull her face to mine.

She gasps as our lips collide. It's salty and sweet and we've both instantly forgotten what we were talking about. My hand slips behind her back and pulls her closer till her boobs are touching my chest. She looks so good in her sports bra, I want to rip that thing off so bad. Normally, I'd never go this slow with a girl. They usually don't want to wait and neither do I. Everything about Mila is different. This girl I need to handle with care.

My hands wrap behind her knees and pull her on top of me till she's straddling my hips. I lay down and wait for her to lean over to kiss me. Oh, she wants it. She follows my lips down and crashes us together again. Her hot core is sitting right on my dick. We could be naked and doing it in thirty seconds.

But this is Milana Bianchi. She definitely can't be seen making out on the beach with a punk . But damn it feels good to have her on top of me. Gonna let her do her thing for a few more minutes. My dick is hard as a rock wanting to pump inside her.

"You're lucky this spandex is impossible to get off or I'd take you right here on the beach."

She gasps and laughs. "Let's go back inside the lighthouse." Her eyes twinkle with mischief .

Tempting. Very tempting. But I'm not doing it with her for the first time in a dirty old concrete tower. "Not here. But I'll tell you one thing, Mila. When we do it, I want you on top of me like this. Want you to work your hips, take what you need to get you there. Want to watch you enjoy it all. Watch your face when you come on my dick."

She bites her lower lip and blushes as the wind blows her hair into her eyes.

"Now, let's get back to the truck."

She sits up and pouts. Cute. "Come to the beach house tomorrow. My family will be gone. We'll take a quick swim in the pool."

The pool? "No way." I got bad memories of that pool.

"Please?" She kisses me again with tiny kisses all over my lips and chin.

God, I love this attention from Mila. She makes me smile. "Maybe."

"Maybe?" She sits up and bounces on my dick. "Maybe is not no!" She's laughing and smiling. "I'll take a good solid maybe."

I slap her hip to urge her to climb off me. "Let's get back. We'll see about swimming tomorrow."

She smiles to herself and hops off. She brushes the sand from her butt and takes off running, no warning. She snuck a head start. I let her get a good ten seconds ahead before I take off. I pass her right before we get to the parking lot.

"Oh my gosh. How did you pass me?"

"You're tired. I can go all day. Stamina." I kiss her next to her Jetta and open the door for her. "You got everything?"

She puts her water bottle in her cup holder and fishes out her keys. "Yep. I'll see you tomorrow at the pool?"

I have to smirk at her determination. "Maybe."