Total pages in book: 76
Estimated words: 90721 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 454(@200wpm)___ 363(@250wpm)___ 302(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 90721 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 454(@200wpm)___ 363(@250wpm)___ 302(@300wpm)
His arm felt like a metal band across my back, ensuring in its strength. My heart rate slowed, and it was only then that I realized how perilous this position could be.
My crotch felt like it was on fire where it was touching him. Could he feel it? The longer it sat against his warm, hard belly, the more and more heat it seemed to emit. Then my heart was pounding for a different reason.
“Have you ever tried to learn to swim?” He asked when he came to a stop with the water up to his collarbone.
“Uhh,” I said intelligently. “Yes. I took swimming lessons, but each time I got into the water about waist high, some sort of survival mode seemed to kick in, and I’d start freaking out. Up here,” I said, pointing towards my head. “I knew it wasn’t going to hurt me. Not with all those lifeguards, or my father around. But down here,” I indicated towards my heart. “I just couldn’t do it. I was scared shitless. My father tried, as did my mother, but after my last freak out, they didn’t try anymore.”
I hoped he wouldn’t ask more questions on the matter, but with the quizzical set to his mouth, I knew I wouldn’t be that lucky. I’d have to tell him my most embarrassing secret.
“Did you have an accident when you were younger to make you not want to be near water?” He asked, with his eyes still on my own.
I thought long and hard for a moment, contemplating the merits of just getting the inevitable over with early. He’d have to know eventually that I had ADHD. He’d wonder about the way I acted, and I’d have to tell him. Then he’d leave. Wouldn’t it be better to just go ahead and do it before I became attached? Sebastian, a man I’d only known for a little over two weeks, had the power to break me. Not wound me, but literally break me.
Finally, I was able to look away. Laying my head onto his shoulder, I looked out over the calm lake, and started to explain.
“I was around seven or eight when my parents decided that I had a problem. I was in gymnastics, karate, softball, soccer, and girl scouts, all within about a six-month period. I’d be interested in it for about a week or two, but never much beyond that. There were other signs, too. I was hyperactive, regardless of my sugar intake. I had hellacious temper tantrums. At first they thought I might be bi-polar, but then I went to the doctor, and they diagnosed me with ADHD.” I explained.
When he didn’t interrupt or say anything, I continued.
“They pretty much explained my symptoms to my parents, and knew exactly what I had before they even got to the actual tests. They prescribed me a medicine, and they saw a different kid. They decided to try out the swimming lessons again with me on the medication, however, that particular medicine mellowed me out so much that it made me overwhelmingly scared to try anything, and I guess that just kind of stuck.”
He waited to see if I’d say anything else, and when I didn’t, he spoke. “Are you on those meds now?”
“No, they changed a few times in my growing years. Now I’m on what they consider adult ADHD medication.” I told him.
I felt like I was holding my breath, waiting for him to just haul me to shore and drop me like the proverbial hot potato. But he didn’t. He surprised me.
“You wanna try to swim now?” He asked, surprising the ever-loving shit out of me.
I clung tighter.
He chuckled. “Alright, we won’t do that today. We’ll just get used to the water. So why the big secret? ADHD isn’t that much of a surprise, now that I think about it. It doesn’t make you any different than half of the United States.”
My snort escaped before I could contain it.
“What?” He asked, momentarily tightening the arm that was still clamped tightly across my back.
I lifted her head from his shoulder, and looked into his eyes. They reminded me of beer. A light beer, with the golden brown color. “That’s a bunch of bull. It’s affected my whole life.”
“You’ve let it affect your whole life. You’ve got it in your mind that you can’t change it, and you’ve sat in the same rut. You’re a very smart woman, I’ve learned that in the time I’ve been allowed to spend with you over the past couple of weeks.”
My temper flared. “My last boyfriend left me because I kept zoning out during sex. He said that I didn’t pay enough attention. That it was causing him to be sexually unsatisfied. That was his answer anyway, when I caught him wining and dining some blonde.”
Sebastian’s arm went from around my back to cup my ass, tilting it so my core grinded against his hard abs. “Honey, if he lost your attention during sex, he wasn’t doing it right.”
His arrogance astounded me. That and the hot pulsing need that was now coursing through my veins, and settling in my overheated core. Good thing we were in the water, otherwise he’d be able to tell I was soaking wet by his high handedness.
“I zoned out during conversations with him. We’d watch a show, and I couldn’t sit still for more than an hour, and then couldn’t tell you what it was about. I wrecked his car. I’m sure I did more to deserve the break up.” I practically snarled.
His eyes turned from amused to serious. “You did nothing to deserve him cheating on you. What he should’ve done was tell you he was no longer interested in you, instead of finding a new woman to fuck behind your back. And who the hell doesn’t get tired of sitting for more than an hour? Why do you think they make concession stands and shit at the movies?”
Our conversation was interrupted when Sebastian’s father yelled that the food was ready. Everyone that had been milling in the water around us went in, but Sebastian stayed. His hands didn’t stray from their perch on my ass, either.