23. Halo

"What are we doing here?" Arianne asks two days later as I park up outside the hotel Gwen works at down by the shore.

"It's a surprise." I got inspired, overhearing Gwen talking to Clutch about how few people are hanging out by the pool at her hotel this summer.

"Should I be nervous?" she asks.

"No. It's all good, I promise. Let's head inside."

"Whose truck is this?" she asks as we step out and I grab Lola from her seat in the back.

"Mine needed an engine tuning, so I borrowed Switch's."

"That's nice of him."

"Yeah," I say. Although the truth of it is, I don't want my truck parked outside a hotel, even if it is for just one night. No point drawing attention to where I am. Switch agreed to let me swap for the night as a precaution.

"I know it sounds silly, but it's been a long time since someone organized a surprise date for me."

The word date makes me feel a bit nervous. It's something I never really thought about doing. But here I am, trying my best to make a woman I didn't want to fall for happy.

"Like I said, your ex is a cunt." We just came from the club's lawyer's office. She just filed for divorce and her ex will be served soon.

"This is too fancy," she whispers as we step inside the hotel. There's a lot of cool white marble and a giant vase with a thousand flowers in it on the reception desk.

She looks pretty in her sundress, Lollipop looks cute in hers, and I'm not wearing my cut. Which feels weird as fuck, but I didn't want us getting kicked out of this place before we've even checked in.

And again, I'm suddenly hyperaware that my cut makes me easily identifiable. If I were on my own, I'd wear it proudly, but I'm aware that it could lead to my…the girls getting hurt.

Fuck it.

Fine.

Mygirls.

Two nights ago sealed the deal on that. It didn't even involve sex.

It involved affection and care and intimacy. I fell into an impossibly deep sleep with Arianne in my arms. And when I woke up, she was gone, but I could hear Ari's and Lola's laughter downstairs.

Last night, I fucked her over the back of the sofa after Lola had gone to bed. It's like now that I've broken the seal on accepting my fate, I'm permanently horny for Ari. Even now, I visualize bending her over that marble counter, flipping her skirt, and taking her from behind.

The woman on the check-in desk looks at me snootily until she checks my name on the system. "Oh. You're a friend of Ms. Hills. She said to call her when you get here."

It takes a moment for Gwen to arrive. "You made it," she says, kissing Arianne's cheek, then Lola's. "You want one?" she asks me.

I bend my cheek to her, and she kisses it too. "Hey, sweetheart."

"I got you a lovely room," Gwen says, holding out her hand to the check-in lady, who gives her a key. "Thanks, Maria. That's your room number." She points to it on the little card the key was slipped into. "Great view, and everything you asked for is set up."

"Thank you." I check my watch.

"We're staying the night? But I didn't pack anything," Ari says.

"It's in the back of the car. I packed for all of us. Go with Gwen, kitten, and I'll get us settled into our room. Meet me out by the pool when you're done."

"Aww, ‘kitten' is so cute," Gwen says, placing a hand over her heart.

"Says the princess."

Gwen puts her tongue out at me. "I happen to love it. Anyway, yes, Ari, come with me."

Ari looks up at me, her eyes wide. "Where am I going?"

"For a massage."

Ari swoons a little, then steps up onto her toes and kisses my cheek. "I've never had one before. We could never afford it. Thank you."

"Go. Enjoy it."

I'm glad I'm in the pool when Arianne walks towards me two hours later, rocking a bikini that looks banging on her. She has a small sarong around her waist, and her body glistens with what I guess is the oil they used during her massage.

My cock is like a divining rod, hardening in her direction.

"Gwen got me this as a gift." She sits down on the edge of the pool and dips her legs in. "Do you think it reveals too much?" She puts her palms over her breasts and glances down at her chest.

I take her arms and pull them away from her body. "Not too much. You look great. Too good to be fair. You want to come in the pool with me and Lolly? She's loving it."

As if knowing we're talking about her, she squeals and splashes at the water in her floating ring with its little umbrella of shade.

Arianne shakes her head. "You wanna know a secret?"

"Sure." I place my hands on her thighs and massage them gently.

"I can't swim."

"Not even a doggie paddle?"

She shakes her head again, the sun catching her strawberry-blonde hair. "Not even a little bit. I never learned. Had no reason to."

"That's not safe."

Arianne huffs a laugh. "My life has never really involved public water, and swimming won't save me from drowning in a bathtub."

I pat her thighs. "Get up, go rinse under the shower, and meet me at the shallow end."

"Why?"

"I'm going to teach you how to swim."

Arianne looks around the pool, where there are three other people. "No."

"None of them are watching us. They're too busy scrolling on their phones. Go. Shower."

She bites down on her lip. "Fine."

I watch for a second as she stands because her ass looks great in that bikini, then grab the edge of Lola's inflatable.

"Let's go, Lola. We're gonna teach your mom how to swim," I say as I swim the two of us up the pool.

Lola grins at me, her fist in her mouth, drool escaping. "Ba, ba, ba, ba."

"I agree, kid. Soon as you're old enough to be out of this floaty thing, I'll teach you too."

Strikes me she's crying less these days. I wonder if the life we're giving her is making the difference. Which is kind of shitty because I'm not sure how much difference I've actually made. Except my house is clean. And Ari and I don't fight, at least not in front of Lola. Maybe she's finding a stability she can relax into knowing she's safe and fed.

Then it dawns on me that I said the word mom.

Does that make me Dad? Something primal beats in my chest.

It's an unexpected awakening deep inside. In just under a month, Lola has gone from being a responsibility I didn't want to…

I struggle to find the words as I swim.

Precious.

Yeah. Something precious.

I've always loved her as my little sister, but now she feels more like…mine.

When I get to the shallow end, I stand and wait for Ari to rinse off in the shower. Wish I had my camera, because when she tilts her head back in the spray, her side profile facing me, the sun behind her, she looks so fucking hot. Like, mental-spank-bank hot.

So, I stare.

Take in the curve of her ass and lower back, the length of her legs, the way one heel is raised so only the ball of her foot touches the ground. She's sexy as fuck and doesn't even realize it.

The water stops, and she squeezes out the end of her hair.

"This has ‘bad idea' written all over it," she says as she approaches the steps to the pool.

I swim a few feet away from the shallow end, towing Lola. I can touch the bottom. Arianne likely can't. "Ari, just jump. I'll catch you; I promise."

She eyes me carefully. "Is this a test?"

"I'm not going to let anything happen to you. It would make me really fucking happy if you'd allow me to teach you." I open my arms and raise an eyebrow. It's all she needs to jump from the side of the pool.

Trust and bravery make for easy bedfellows. It's why Navy SEAL training is so focused on the concept of a team. You can be braver when you trust those around you. If you know for sure the person behind you truly has your back, you feel safer stepping out in a conflict zone.

Ari squeals as she hits the water, and I reach for her. It's a little messy. Flailing arms and legs that feel the need to kick the water as soon as they hit it. She splutters as I lift her head above the surface.

Once she realizes she's safe, she wraps her legs around my waist and her arms around my neck and clings on tight. "If you let me go, I'm putting rat poison in your breakfast."

I laugh at that, and there's a sense of ease in my chest that I haven't felt for a long time. "Okay, first things first, have you got any reason to be scared of the water?"

Ari leans towards Lola and tugs her closer to us. "Beyond, you know, the fear of drowning?"

I kiss her lips softly. "I won't let you drown. I'm a Navy SEAL. I passed the swim requirements with elite times and survived all the underwater challenges, including the drowning test. I'm invincible underwater, kitten. You just have to trust me to not let that happen."

She wiggles against me, her pussy riding right over my cock. It would take nothing to slip free of my shorts, tug her briefs to one side, and slide right into her.

As if sensing my thoughts, her cheeks turn pink. "Tempting, isn't it?" And she wiggles her hips a second time.

My hands drop to her hips, gripping them tightly. "Brat."

Lowering one hand, I rub my thumb over her clit.

She sticks her tongue out at me, and I squeeze the cheeks of her ass as I kiss her.

Lola squeals beside us, breaking the moment.

I walk us back to the shallow end so I can put Ari's feet on the pool bottom.

"Are you sure this is safe?"

"Watch me," I say, moving Lola in her float closer to Ari. And then, yeah, it's pure ego the way I fucking show off for her. I do a handstand on the pool floor. I swim an entire length underwater. Then I get beneath her legs and stand with her on my shoulders.

She screams and grabs hold of my head. "Oh my God. Don't drop me."

I lower her gently and disentangle myself from her legs. "I'm a dolphin, Ari," I say when I break the surface. "I'm not going to do anything that puts you at risk. No sink or swim, no drown proofing, and no floating tests. I want you to hold on to the edge of the pool." There is a narrow overflow shelf, perfect for gripping. "You're going to hold on to it, and then raise your legs and kick."

Little wrinkle lines appear across her nose. "You just want me to kick?"

I place her hands on the edge. "Yes. Now try it."

The look on her face is one of skepticism, but I turn her around, stand behind her, and push her slowly forward from the hips until her hands touch the ledge and her ass is up against my dick.

"Grip it, Ari."

She glances over her shoulder at me, her eyes bright with humor. "I like it when you talk dirty to me."

Playfully, I smack her ass, but the water takes the speed out of my stroke, making it a tap that sends water up her spine. Lola laughs, as does Ari.

Never particularly thought I deserved a medal for doing what I signed up to do in the Navy, but if the two of them are my reward, I'll take it.

I step to the side and place my palms beneath her stomach. "Stop sassing me and kick your legs."

She finally does as I say, first raising her butt, then her legs. I take some of her weight while she figures out how to do what I asked.

"You're being such a good student, Ari."

"Ahh," she squeals as I feel her abs flex and relax, trying to find her center of gravity.

As she kicks, the water splashes Lola and I, and Lola laughs loudly, so filled with joy that she stretches out her arms to catch the drops.

And I realize I'm really fucking happy.

Nothing exists outside the three of us. It's a respite from the chaos of the world I live in beyond the grounds of this hotel. I wonder if it's even fair of me to expose the two of them to its dangers, but standing here right now, I struggle to see a future that doesn't have them in it.

And I sure as fuck couldn't deal with being in Lola's life while watching Ari live her happily ever after with someone else.

I'm still thinking about that seven hours later, after a disastrous attempt at taking a tired and cranky Lola to the restaurant for dinner. From the bed we're all finally sitting on, I look at the debris of our meals strewn around the room. I ate at the small desk, Lola sat in a high chair I had brought up from the restaurant, and Ari ate perched on the side of the bed.

Lola lies between us, finally passed out from overexcitement, tiredness, and a quick bath to remove all the pasta sauce from her face. I'm too scared to move her to her travel cot in case it wakes her up.

"Hardly the romantic evening I had planned," I say quietly.

Ari rolls onto her side to face me and tucks a pillow beneath her head. "I don't know. You planned a surprise for us and booked a much-appreciated massage for me. We had fun in the pool together and shared parenting and laughed. Thanks to you, I can now swim the width of the pool. I always thought there was romance in the work, you know. Being in it together. It was romantic, Jax, and I'm really grateful."

I sweep a piece of hair behind her ear. "Regardless of what happens between you and me, we're always going to be in this together, taking care of Lola."

Ari smiles. "I think I can honestly say there is no one I would rather do this with."

"Aren't you worried about how young you are? Being tied down to a baby at twenty-three."

"I've already lived a lifetime. At least, it feels that way. I was never one to go out clubbing or any of those things. Mom used to say I was a home bird. Guess I've always wanted the picket fence."

I kiss her lips softly. "The picket fence?"

"You know, a husband who loves you, a family, a dog, a nice home, and a picket fence."

Lola mumbles in her sleep, and I take my cue to lift her and put her into her travel cot.

Because even as I return to the bed and pull Ari into my arms, I struggle to bite down the need to promise that I'll get her any damn fence she wants.