Free Poolside Pleasure by Renee Ashley Williams

Poolside Pleasure
    “Hello?” Dakota Frances placed her cell phone against her ear as she exited from her air-conditioned sedan into the ninety-degree Texas heat.
    “Dakota, it’s Jill.”
    Shit. She should have checked the caller ID before answering. Her ex-friend’s voice brought back painful memories of betrayal.
    “What the fuck do you want?” It couldn’t be Steve since Jill already had him. She’d been screwing him for the past eleven months.
    “Dakota.” The woman sniffed. “I’m sorry. Can we please talk?”
    Dakota swiped the moisture off her lashes. She’d promised herself not to shed another tear over this situation, to put it behind her and move on. She thought she had.
    It’d been three months since she had finally taken the wool off her eyes and confirmed that her best friend was having an affair with her fiancé. The gossip and sympathy in the small New England town had been overwhelming. The smartest decision she’d made in her twenty-eight years had been moving to Deerfield, Texas, with its wide-open pastures, warm and sultry nights, and friendly people.
    She had sealed the deal on her choice to rent an apartment and temporarily became a waitress at Ben’s Diner until a local computer-programming position became available. Life was starting to feel normal.
    “I trusted you, Jill.” Never again would she be so open in sharing the status of her sexual relationship with a single woman. The sex games and threesomes Steve had always wanted in the bedroom, Jill and her sleazy friends had happily fulfilled behind Dakota’s back. “You screwed me over.”
    “It just happened. We didn’t mean to hurt you.”
    “Oh, well that makes it okay, then. Why are you calling me? I’ve nothing to say to you.”
    “Then I’ll talk, you listen.”
    As much as Dakota wanted to disconnect her call, curiosity got the best of her. She gripped the phone. “Make it quick.”
    “I’m pregnant.”
    “What?” The news sat on her chest like an eight-ton elephant. The atmosphere thickened and her world crashed around her. Subconsciously, she had thought that one day Steve would realize he’d lost the best thing that had ever happened to him and come looking for his high school sweetheart, but the reality was she could never return to the arms of a man who had lied to her.
    For the past ten years, Steve had warned her that he would never want children. She had agreed to forego motherhood to spend the rest of her life making their computer company a success. Had he changed his mind now, or was she not good enough to birth his offspring? Oh shit. He thinks Jill makes for a better mother.
    Dakota placed her hand on her chest to keep the shattered pieces of her heart from spilling out onto the pavement. “Did you guys plan this?”
    “Not exactly. You know he didn’t want kids. It was an accident.” Jill sniffed. “Now that I am pregnant, he wants to get married before the baby’s born.”
    “You’re kidding me, right?”
    After taking a full breath, Dakota puffed out a sigh. Somehow knowing she hadn’t been his reason for not being a father made her feel a bit better. It had taken nine years for him to propose to her. They had never actually set a date, but now that a child was in the picture he was running to the altar. Well, she had to give him credit for doing the right thing by his child.
    “So, let me get this straight, Jill…not only are you living the life I should be, but now you’re calling to rub it in my face? You’re a piece of work. Over the years people tried to warn me about your backstabbing and jealousy. This really is a new low, even for you. I was your best friend since the third grade. It never occurred to me I’d be one of your victims. “
    “It’s not like that, Dakota.”
    “Oh no? Then what is the purpose of this call?”
    “To tell you I’m sorry. I miss you, and I hate myself for everything that’s happened. I need you to forgive me because I’d like for