L is for Lifeguard #AtoZChallenge

Welcome to my A to Z Challenge Blog! Like or comment on this post, or vote at the end of the week for your favorites and I’ll continue the top four stories next month! (For details, see my Theme Reveal.) For the second week, my theme is romantic stories. Come back for Week 3 (Anything Goes) or Week 4 (Non-consent). Without further ado, enjoy L is for Lifeguard.

Winner! This post won for week 2. Check out the continuation here.

I sat down on the recliner at the pool, situating my towel just right and making sure I had the appropriate amount of sun. If I sat too much in the sun, my pale skin would burn. If I sat too much in the shade, I couldn’t see my daughter swimming. My daughter was obviously more important than my skin, but I also wanted to give her a little more independence. She was six now and was a decent swimmer. Plus, she was wearing a life jacket. So overall, I didn’t need to keep quite the watch on her I did when she was younger. Hell, I wouldn’t have been able to sit on the side of the pool while she swam even a year ago. This summer I had a lot more freedom to let her go out on her own a bit. It did help that she made friends easily. I swear, she could strike up a conversation with anyone. I was totally not that way. In fact, I was the stark opposite of that. Talking to new people scared the crap out of me. I was much happier sitting on the side of the pool with my sunglasses on, watching the kids play, and the other adults interact with each other and hide behind my dark glasses alone.

My daughter hit the water before I was even done situating my chair and towel. I wasn’t surprised because one of the friends she had made over the weeks was there. They were playing and squealing at a pitch that would bother a dog’s ears. And then I saw him. The lifeguard.

I’m sure you’re thinking, of course, there’s a lifeguard. There are probably several lifeguards. Well, yes, obviously there are. However, this was one particular lifeguard I had been watching for a couple of years. At first, it was idle curiosity. He seemed cute for a kid. I assumed he was about 16-17 at the time since 16 is the minimum age this pool employed lifeguards. But that was several years ago, and now he must be 19 at the youngest. Eye candy. Great eye candy.

As a single mother, I would take all the eye candy I could get. Bringing a guy home was tricky business with my daughter around. It was easier when she was in a crib because she couldn’t surprise me. But now she can get out of her bed, obviously, and come right into my bedroom. Of course, I could lock the door, but then she bangs on it and wants to know why it’s locked. So my house is tough.

My husband passed away while I was pregnant. Don’t pity me. He was an ass. It was better for everyone that he drove himself into a tree while drunk. I am sure it was an accident, but I wasn’t particularly heartbroken about it. So there is no shared custody.

I can hire a babysitter so that I can date, but that doesn’t help me with overnights. Not that it’s all about the bedroom, but who is going to date a woman who he can’t spend the night with in the foreseeable future? No one, that’s who.

So eye candy it is.

And Jake is definite eye candy. Okay, well, I think his name is Jake. I’m not sure. It could be John or Jack or something else entirely. I think I heard one of the other lifeguards call him a name that started with J, but there was a lot of background noise, so it’s hard to tell. I just started calling him Jake in my head. It was easier that way.

My head was turned in the direction of my daughter, but my eyes were glued to Jake. He was sitting in the lifeguard stand closest to me. It gave me a great view of his long hair, pulled back in a bun. Some men can’t pull off buns, but Jake could. Jake so definitely could. He was watching my daughter though, which was good because I wasn’t. I saw him tense and look like he was about to stand. His posture turned my attention to the pool, and I saw my daughter sputtering in the water. She had gone under and hadn’t been expecting it. I jumped up and went to her aid. She was fine, really. She had stood up and coughed a bit and then was back to playing with her friends before I could even get into the water. I glanced at Jake and saw that he had settled back into his seat with a relaxed posture.

I was more attentive to my daughter after that.

When the whistles blew to signify adult swim, I got my daughter settled on her towel with some snacks and drinks and reapplied sunscreen. Within a few minutes, she had scarfed down her snack, drank half the bottle of water, and asked if she could go hang out with her new friend. I shrugged and said she could go. I could see the other family sitting not far away. I really didn’t want to introduce myself to the people, but I felt like I should. Damn being a parent. Maybe I could sneak away and go for a swim while the kids were occupied.

I stood up and wandered toward the water, dipping my foot in. It was nice and warm. Warm enough that a swim would be nice. That was the last thing I thought before my whole body plunged into the water, sundress and all.

I must have hit my head pretty hard on my way into the pool, because the next thing I knew, I was lying flat on my back on the concrete side and Jake’s face was hovering over me, dripping pool water on me, his mouth inches from my own. Did I die and go to Heaven?

Winner! This post won for week 2. Check out the continuation here.

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