Pool Day

Carrie picked out a white bikini, nothing too revealing. They didn't have that type of relationship yet, after all. She and Jerome found the shattered husk of her old cell phone, and she was able to retrieve the sim card from it. He bought her the new iPhone she'd been begging you for for months. He really was her knight in shining armor.

You had texted her plenty, increasingly worried. But you hadn't called the cops on your dad, hadn't taken any actual action to help. You were in her doghouse bad.

Carrie: Look, I'm not going to talk to you for awhile. Your dad is a real piece of shit, and tried to give me (and my promise) to another guy. You're lucky that the new guy is pretty cool, so I'm going to take some time to get to know him better. When I'm ready to talk, I'll unblock you. Bye.

With that, Carrie settled into enjoying the infinity pool. She swam laps, she enjoyed the hot tub, anything to put more space between her and yesterday's trauma. Finally, Jerome returned home. He stripped down to just trunks, exposing his imposing physique, a six-pack and strong arms. Carrie bit her cheek. Hold it together Carrie, she thought.

Despite the sexual tension, they both had fun. Carrie was holding an inflatable ball, looking at the hoop. Jerome towered over her. She feinted to the right, then did a spin move to the lift, adroitly dunking the basketball into the mini-hoop. She did a little dance, taunting him.

"So what's that make it?" Jerome asked teasingly.

"Umm...4 for me, 18 for you." They both laughed.