Bayward Street by Addison Jane Page B

looked over at the clock on the oven. As long as we were home before dark, they wouldn’t start to worry. We had a few hours.
    “Not yet.” I tried to force my voice to sound strong and not sad, as I thought about the concept of heading back to Bayward Street.
    “Let’s go for a swim. Heath can show you his skills.” Braydon laughed. Heath reached over and smacked his brother in the chest.
    I looked at Layla, her face was beaming. “Um…”
    “I’ll grab you girls some suits from upstairs, I think I can guess your size.” Helen grinned before hurrying out of the room.
    Layla clapped her hands excitedly. “I haven’t been swimming in years.”
    I screwed up my nose.
    “What’s wrong, Fay?” Braydon asked. “I bet you look hot as fuck in a swimsuit.”
    “Braydon,” Heath warned.
    Bray rolled his eyes. “Like you weren’t thinking it.”
    “I can’t swim.” The words rushed out, and suddenly everyone’s attention was on me. “My parents didn’t exactly allow me to have any extracurricular activities when I was growing up. And we never went to the beach or did shit like other families.”
    Braydon looked over at his brother, their eyes met briefly before Bray shook his head. “Fuck me,” he muttered as he stomped out the door. I heard his heavy footsteps on the staircase and cringed.
    It still felt weird, talking about my life before. Sometimes, I wondered whether it had even happened. It was so long ago that sometimes it felt like a dream, or a nightmare, I guess. But I could remember every single detail of the smells and the sounds.
    Heath stepped around beside me and brushed a stray hair back from my face. “You’ll be fine, the pool has a shallow end, so you don’t even have to swim.”
    I nodded, forcing myself to smile up at him. He dipped his head and kissed me gently.
    “Here girls, these should fit just fine.”
    I jumped back, Helen had kicked off her heels so I hadn’t heard her coming. She smiled at me like there was nothing wrong, but I couldn’t help but wonder what must be going through her mind knowing that her son was kissing a homeless girl off the street.
    I caught Heath smirk as he turned and walked out. “I’ll meet you out there.”
    “Come on,” Helen urged, flicking her head for us to follow her. “You can get dressed in the pool house.” Layla and I jumped down off our stools and trailed along behind her. We looked at each other and Layla mouthed the words ‘pool house?’ with her eyes wide.
    I just shook my head. We were out of our depths here, and I wasn’t talking about the pool.
    Helen was right, the swimsuits she picked out did fit perfectly. Layla wore a beautiful emerald colored tank top with matching bottoms, trimmed with gold. It accentuated her generous bust and showed off her flat stomach.
    Mine was much the same, but a deep velvet red with black accents. It was a halter neck so it pushed my boobs up and together, showing off some cleavage.
    “Come on, Fay!” Layla pulled me from the pool house, and I couldn’t help but laugh. She was like a little kid, excited about a new toy.
    The second we stepped into the pool area, though, we both froze.
    “Holy shit,” Layla whispered.
    Braydon and Heath both stood at the end of the pool, Braydon laughing and Heath smirking. “Bro, you know I’m not gonna race you. How ‘bout we grab a football and see who can throw it the furthest?”
    Heath rolled his eyes and Bray laughed. “Exactly!”
    I couldn’t help but stare as they threw shots at each other. Both their bodies were… amazing. Heath was taller and broader in the shoulders than Braydon, but he was a swimmer so I knew his upper body must be ridiculously strong, and it showed.
    Both boys had the hint of abs that became more prominent as they flexed, with the indent of their hips showing off a ridiculously toned and attractive V-shape which disappeared under their swimming shorts.
    “I’m sure teenage boys are supposed to be covered in acne and