The Hookup

Seventy two

Hero

"Let's go on a tour, yeah?" I ask her. I know damn well I'm interrupting 'girl time'. I plain don't give a fuck. I need my girl time.

"Okay," Josephine says as she takes my hand and stands up. I give Piper a look in the meantime.

It's not that I want her away from my family. It's that she was upset when she left dinner. If anything, Jo and I have had good communication between the two of us. I don't want to derail that now.

"You okay?" I ask as we start walking down the hallway. Every move we make echos. The hallway like a sponge.

"Yeah," she says quietly.

Without any other questions, I lead us to the backyard. An expansion of come spring time will again be green grass. A large patio full of furniture that has been closed off for winter.

Well, this isn't ideal. I should have brought her in the summer.

A quick look to my left and I see the pool. The windows tinted with condensation from the inside out. The soft lights from inside the area calling out to me like a beacon.

"Hero!" Jo whisper yells as I pull her hand towards the glass enclosure.

"Come on." My feet carry me to the small door on the south side. It's unlocked, like it's always been.

As soon as I push open the door, humidity slams into me like a wall from the other side. The faint smell of chlorine invading my nose as I lead her into the pool room.

The water is still. A light teal-blue due to the lights under water. The moon shining through the glass ceiling that's arched almost like a chapel.

The floor beneath us is brick, red in color. Our footsteps echo as we make our way inside.

There's a heaviness is my chest. Mostly due to the humid air now in my lungs. The rest because I need her. In every way I can think of.

"Hero.." Jo's voice breaks the silence as I gently close the door we just come through. Keeping out the cold air once again.

"Peaceful, yeah?" I ask as I twirl her around in a circle. Her hand in mine. Then pulling her so our chests are flush against one another. Her eyes glistening from the dim light all around us. I can feel her heart beat through her shirt.

"This is amazing," she quietly says as she looks around. Large plants sit in almost every corner. Over grown from the amount of sunlight the floor to ceiling windows let in. Here in London, warm days and nights are few and far between. Even during the summer months. When I was eleven, my parents added the indoor pool onto the property so that Piper and I could learn how to swim. To my mother, it was like her own personal retreat.

"If I had to miss one thing about living here at home, it would be this very place," I smile down at her, still holding her close. My arms around her waist as I take a look around myself. "The best part," I say as I disentangle us and make my way to a lounge chair to my right, "No electricity. Only natural light."

"What—" Jo turns to face me just as I kick my sneakers off to the side. My hands take ahold of the button on my jeans and I pop it open with a smirk in return.

"Hero.. what are you—"

"We're going for a swim." I say matter of fact. I pull my hoodie over my head and toss it onto the chair.

"Your family.."

"Is inside. Where they'll stay for the rest of the night," I raise my eyebrow. A silent challenge, asking her to start remove her clothes before I take matters into my own hands.