Page 30 of You Found Me
She gave a half bow. “Thanks for coming. It’s been lonely around here.”
“Not anymore!” a male voice called out.
She couldn’t see who’d said it, but she gave a little laugh in the general direction she thought it came from.
“No. Not anymore.” She waved at everyone on the patio. “Enjoy!”
Della spotted a group that included Scott Baldwin by the deep end of the pool. Marshall, Larissa, Ralph, and a few others clustered around him. She headed in that direction.
“Della,” Scott said when she got close, “do you know Emma? She was inScreech 3.”
The curvy girl in a bright green one-piece suit that perfectly showed off her flaming-red hair held out a hand. “Thanks for the invite.”
“Of course. And who’s this?” Della turned to the leggy blonde in turquoise standing next to Ralph.
“Kennedy Aniston,” the girl said with a little wave. “Loved your last concert. I was lucky enough to be in the third row.”
“That’s so sweet of you to say,” Della told her. “I’m glad you were there. It was a special night.”
Scott touched her arm. “You up for pool volleyball?”
“You should totally join us,” Emma said with enthusiasm. “It’ll be a blast. Girls on boys’ shoulders so we can play in the deep end. It’s only five feet.”
Della pictured herself riding Scott’s shoulders and nodded enthusiastically. “Hell yeah, I’m in.”
It took some time to get the game going. The first challenge was staying seated on Scott’s shoulders for more than a few seconds. They were both wet, and his shoulders were slick. Her hands slipped more than once, only a little on purpose.
After several failed attempts, she finally managed to get her legs wrapped firmly around his neck. She tucked her feet up against his chest to steady herself. Water lapped at her ankles, and Scott grasped her thighs tight enough to keep her steady.
The skin-on-skin contact sent little thrills of excitement up her spine and through other body parts.
“There you go!” Marshall said with a laugh of approval. “Here, you start us off.”
Marshall tossed the ball at her, but it sailed a little too far to the left. Scott swerved, and she almost dove off his shoulders to catch it.
His grip tightened on her legs, which was the only reason she didn’t fall off. She managed to snag the ball and bring it in, then overbalanced and pitched forward.
She wiggled and squirmed in a heroic effort to keep the ball and stay upright. The motion sparked heat in her belly that settled into her crotch, while thoughts of what they could be doing if they were in the bedroom and not the pool danced through her head.
It had been too long since she’d been touched like that. Way too long.
“Steady there, girl,” Scott laughed.
Della settled into place and held the ball up. “Ready?”
Marshall swayed back and forth while Larissa gripped his head with both hands. “Set!”
Ralph and Emma shouted, “Ready” at the same time. Emma perched perfectly on his shoulders while he looked unsteady and too short to be in the deep end of the pool. The water was up to his shoulders, but it didn’t seem to bother him.
Or maybe he just liked having a pretty girl’s legs wrapped snuggly around him.
Della looked at Kennedy and her partner, a bronzed California beach bum with too much five o’clock shadow and full-sleeve tattoos. “Ready!”
Della didn’t think she knew him, but she guessed he was a musician by the sheer number of music notes on his body. The way he flexed his hands and arms made her think drummer.
Della nodded. “Here we go!” She launched the ball, and it just cleared the top of the net.
Marshall leaped forward in an attempt to catch it himself, causing Larissa to topple into the pool.