Lia👸B

The water in Sarah’s outdoor pool was perfectly warm against your skin, and you, once again, thanked the universe that you had a friend who had this amazing thing at her house. Such a luxury, right? You didn’t like to interfere or be all up in people's faces or walk around their property like it was yours—you were a pogue, at the end of the day. It was a thing only Kooks on the island could brag about, the only ones who could afford it. But your amazing, precious best friend had the purest heart on earth, and she just wanted to have you around whenever she could, always inviting you like she hated to be here all alone.

You two always spent time together: on the beach, in this exact pool when the sun was just perfect, in her room during sleepovers, and at every party she was invited to, where you were basically attached at the hip. 

Today, Sarah brought you here again. The day was disgustingly hot today, so much that you refused to move from under the AC until the sun started to set. Now it was almost dark outside. Cameron's estate was fully lit with those fancy lights, as well as the giant pool itself, which now was glowing with blue and white illumination. You had your favorite bikini set on, even though it was fully hidden under the surface, while Sarah was lying on the pool border on her stomach, talking to you about the date she and John B were going to tomorrow. 

You moved around in the water lazily, savoring the feeling of it against your skin, feeling how your muscles relaxed from the pressure of the day. Your head was now finally free from all the thoughts and worries. It was peaceful and quiet except for Sarah's expressive voice. She was such a chatterbox. God, you loved how easy it was with her, how she let you be introverted when you felt like it while she talked your ear off. And you didn’t mind in the slightest. 

But out of nowhere, her head snapped up from being rested on her arms, and her eyes grew wide as she stopped mid-sentence.

“Shit.” She breathed, sitting up and briefly dipping her legs in the water.

“What?” You peeked one eye open, not moving from where you were sitting on the stairs with water up your chin. 

“Wheezie.” She groaned, looking back at the house, even though she knew that her little sister’s windows were not facing this part of the property. “She had that project for her school. Like… art or something, I think? She begged me to help her because dad’s not here.” You nodded to her words. “Can I? I mean you’re okay to be here alone for some time? I’ll try to be quick.” Her brows rose and lips pursed in that signature Sarah-only way—the one that made her look so cute and literally impossible to deny anything to. Not that you really wanted. 

“I am not going to act like I'm not enjoying the shit out of your pool, Sar.” 

She was gone like a whirlwind, her sparkly flip-flops slapping against the stone of the pavement as she almost ran towards the house. She turned around, blowing you a kiss and a toothy smile, and you just shook your head, unable to stop the warm feeling. 

Your eyes closed again when the only sound left was wildlife. You took a few moments to really appreciate the beauty of it all: the distant sound of waves, some creaking insects accompanying you from the flower bed down the path, and the soft buzz of the overhead light. Calmness felt like a warm blanket around you, and you couldn’t remember the last time you felt so at peace. 

The sound that made you a bit more aware of your surroundings was another pair of flip-flops against the pavement—though this one was firm and much slower, like the person had all the time in the world, and you could feel the cockiness seeping through without even having to look. 

Your eye peeked open again, and, of course, the one and only Rafe Cameron was walking towards you with that signature swing of his tall frame. You felt slightly annoyed that someone disturbed your alone time, not to mention that it was him, out of all people, but at the same time, a knot of nerves tightened low in your stomach. You knew that it was just that uneasy feeling he gave you whenever he was around, and nothing else. He just was an asshole, and it must’ve been your body’s reaction to seeing its natural stimulus. Right?

Rafe stopped at the far end of the pool, hands on his hips as if he were assessing the situation, wearing nothing but navy blue swimming shorts that were sitting agonizingly low on his body. The overhead lights were definitely the paid actors, you thought, because they cast just a perfect shadow over every single ridge of his tanned and surfing-trained body, making you just barely shift in your place. His hair was tousled like he’d run a hand through it a dozen times, and that teasing smirk was already tugging at his lips as he looked down at you.

“Well, well.” He drawled, voice low and lazy. “Didn’t know we had a stray Poguie in the pool tonight.” 

You straightened a little, suddenly hyper-aware of how little your bikini covered, as the silhouette of your body was probably evident from the place where he was standing. The water suddenly felt cooler against your heated skin, and the perfect momentum of calmness seemed to vanish the moment Rafe started circling you. “Sarah invited me. Pretty sure that makes me a guest, not a stray. You gonna call security, Cameron?”

He chuckled, that deep, rumbling sound that always managed to crawl under your skin in more ways than one. “Nah. Not yet.” Rafe didn’t waste any more time as he stepped down the opposite stone steps, sinking into the perfectly-feeling water. Your eyes were steadied on him, and he didn’t look away from you either, like he was waiting for you to say something else so he could continue this little banter you always got going on. While you just hoped it wasn’t too obvious the way you were staring at the droplets of water clinging to his collarbone. “Just here for a quick dip before bed. Long day.”

“You’re such a liar, Rafe.” You couldn’t help a scoff and the way your eyes rolled back at that blatant lie. “You never swim here, especially not before going to sleep.”

He walked over the shallow part of the pool, moving in your direction, eyes sharp and far too knowing. They dragged over you, over your face and wet hair you tried to save by pinning up in a claw clip, then absolutely shamelessly slid down under the water, clearly seeing the outlines of your bright bikini.

“You know my routine, baby?” The corner of his mouth twitched. 

“I don’t care about your routine, but I know you’re full of bullshit.” 

“That’s my pool. Think you can dictate the rules now?”

You felt your blood starting to boil again. Because he was right—it was his pool, his house, and he was allowed to do whatever his stupid head dictated to him. So you pursed your lips, looking away from him to save yourself some headache, hoping that the lack of interest from you would just bore him. But it was Rafe, right? The most insufferable person who could annoy anybody on purpose, as if he had taken special lessons for that exact matter, so you should’ve really known better than to try to play these games with him. 

The water splashed in your face so suddenly it made your breath hitch. The next reaction was anger that suddenly started filling you with surprising intensity because this asshole was just looking at you all proud and with a stupid grin plastered on his face. The one that always drove you up the wall. Not to mention, he had all this fucking ridiculously giant, luxurious pool, but he chose to saunter over closer to you just to get on your nerves.

“Why so sulky?” He teased, moving his hand over the surface again and relishing the way it washed over your face. You stood up, your feet finding the slippery ground of the pool, eyes throwing daggers in his direction. Rafe’s eyes weren’t subtle in the slightest with the way he looked down at your tits in your bikini top now finally presented to him in full view. The water drops rolled down the tips of your wet hair, down your face, and prettily defined collarbones until they mixed with pool water. 

You were livid. So easily annoyed that it brought a wicked kind of satisfaction to Rafe’s face. The only opportunity for him to get any type of reaction out of you. You moved closer to him, just exactly the way he wanted, even if you didn’t realize it yet, with war written in your eyes. 

"You're such an asshole!” You splashed the water back at him, in the most childish way possible, easily falling for his bait to get to you. He laughed, deep and warm, as if he already expected that move from you, and it did nothing but irritate the hell out of you. 

He wiped the droplets from his smug face, taking one step towards you subtly, with water hiding all of the movements in a way it glistened around you. “And you’re so easy to piss off, don’t even have to do much.” 

You glared at him, chest rising and falling faster than the situation warranted. “Easy? You’re the one who came out here like a creep the second Sarah left. What, were you watching from your window like some pervert?”

Rafe’s grin only widened, predatory and far too pleased. He took another slow step forward, the water swirling around his waist. Those navy shorts clung to his hips, the wet fabric outlining the sharp V-lines disappearing beneath them. You hated how your eyes kept betraying you.

“Pervert?” He echoed, voice dripping with mock offense, with hands in the air as if he were completely innocent. “I’m just enjoying my pool. You’re the one standing there in that pathetic excuse for a bikini, looking like a walking wet dream.” You squirmed at his words, realizing that he and his stupid distractions brought you to the exact position he wanted—you stood in the shallow part too, water barely reaching your ribs and exposing almost half of your body to his eyes. 

Your face heated up. You crossed your arms over your chest even though it did little to help the situation, with the way your boobs squeezed together, the wet fabric of your top now practically translucent under the glowing pool lights. Rafe’s gaze dropped shamelessly, darkening. The water suddenly felt too warm and too cold at the same time, the exposure and the awkward feeling hitting you all at once—it was too intimate to stay in here with your best friend’s brother with barely any clothes on. And, to be fair, you hated how exactly it made you feel inside.

You bit your tongue, swallowing your pride once again. You had no power nor intention to keep going back and forth when Rafe had a comeback for everything and anything and a smart mouth that could really get him places. You turned around, going further into the deep part of the pool to get to the opposite stairs and maybe wait for Sarah in her room or help Wheezie too—anything to get away from the guy who was burning holes through you with his intense eyes. You hated how he made you feel, hated how your body reacted in a weird way whenever Rafe tried to rage bait or annoy you. You hated that weird flip in your stomach, that burning feeling in between your thighs when he looked down at you in that teasing mockery with a devilish grin plastered on his stupidly pretty face. You just needed to stay away from him as much as possible, because none of it was right. 

“I was talking to you.” Rafe’s voice came from behind you, far closer for your liking. You felt the movement, felt your heart racing as the realization that he wasn’t letting you go that easily settled in. “Why are you so complicated?” 

Rafe’s hand found yours underwater, easily spinning you around by just a grip on your wrist—an innocent touch that made the blood in your veins feel sparkly. You glared at him again when he didn’t let go of your hand—instead, he trailed up your forearm, dragging you back in his direction until you had to stop it with the palms of your hands flat against his solid chest. He was so impossibly close your breath hitched for a second. Your mind went blank when Rafe was the same height as you, as he was able to reach the bottom and you were now held afloat only by his hold. Your legs were still dangling under water, toes barely reaching the floor, and those stupid and a bit frantic movements just made you brush against him.

You were face-to-face, way too close for it to be innocent and normal. So close that you could see the freckles on his nose and a few different shades of blue in his eyes—the ones that stared at you with shameless intensity. 

“Why are you running, huh?” He murmured, voice low and rough. “Scared you’ll like what happens if you stay?”

“I’m not scared of you.” You shot back, but your voice came out breathier than you intended. Your hands didn’t push him away either. “I just don’t want to deal with your bullshit tonight.”

Rafe started shifting even closer. He couldn’t hold back a smile at the fire in your eyes, at the way you tried to be all nonchalant and calm even though he could tell your body was in panic mode because of the whole situation. You weren’t new to his teasing, after all. But he was sick with all this push and pull, having to have you around close enough to always see you, but not close enough for it to be something more. So maybe he had decided that it was it—the day he caught you, made you face him, and made you tell him exactly what you felt, because he knew he wasn’t delusional about it all. 

He made sure to have you all to himself at least for an hour when he paid Wheezie to keep Sarah occupied no matter what. 

Your skin was slick and smooth under his palm when he finally put his hand around your waist. You wanted to protest, to move back, even if your whole body reacted to that innocent touch in the most embarrassing way possible. But Rafe still didn’t allow you to do so. The only thing that was your warning was the way his hungry, lust-filled eyes dropped to your lips before he brought your body closer to him and kissed you. 

Stupidly enough, it did feel like sparks. It did feel like something just fell right into place. It did feel like those sappy rom-com scenes where people were having their kiss with a person they yearned for. At first you tried to resist, to push at his chest. But who were you kidding? Then, a second later, your body sagged in the water, fingers digging into his forearms. Rafe let himself guide the kiss, pulling at your lower lip teasingly, before pushing his tongue in your mouth and groaning like he had just found treasure. You were held afloat only by his arm around you, as water made your body feel completely weightless. 

You were too unaware of your surroundings. Fully lost in the kiss, in the feeling of his surprisingly soft yet demanding lips, you didn’t even notice when Rafe carried you towards the corner until the cooling sensation of the slick pool wall made you gasp in his mouth. Your back arched on instinct as you broke the kiss, but you quickly realized that his tall and big frame had fully blocked you from escaping. 

Rafe looked down at you, noticing the hair that was now half wet and sticking to your neck in a weirdly sexy way, the way your chest was moving with each long breath you took in, and the way your lips were plump and shiny with your shared spit. He wanted to ruin you, completely and utterly. He wanted to let all of his feelings out on you until you were left as a trembling mess, and his cock was already painfully hard and waiting against the front of his trunks. 

Water lapped gently around your bodies, but everything else felt electric—his chest rising and falling against yours, the hard plane of his stomach brushing your navel with every breath, the undeniable outline of his growing arousal trapped between you under the thin layers of soaked fabric.

“Rafe—“ You started something that sounded more like a gasp of his name than a protest, but he kissed you again, shutting you up oh so effectively, holding you flush against him with one hand. The other one started wandering, starting its way from your back, then down the curve of your ass, fingers toying with the strings of your bikini. 

The kiss was agonizing and dirty, wet and desperate, as if Rafe were trying to devour you right then and there. He moaned into your mouth, sliding his tongue against yours until your head became empty and body became mush in his hands. You didn’t even register when the slow-simmering feeling in your belly turned into a fire, when your thighs started pressing together in an attempt to relieve some pressure. 

He pulled back again, eyes half-lidded and dark, droplets of water clinging to his lashes. That smirk was still there, but softer now, edged with something much more natural and subtle. “Say you don’t want this and I’ll stop.” Rafe murmured against your lips, voice rough like gravel. His leg nudged your knee, and you let your legs spread obediently. He brought your body closer, letting himself step in between your thighs, then his hips rolled forward once, slow and deliberate, letting you feel exactly how hard he was. “But we both know you’re not gonna do that, baby.”

Your breath shook, every point where you were touching each other felt almost burning. Your thighs tightened around him, locking around his hips. You were giving up. Your body was betraying you. You felt too weak when he looked at you like this, felt too tired of the constant tension, and felt now too horny and turned on to let Rafe go. The feeling of his cock was shocking, the imprint so obvious through the few pathetic layers that separated you, and you would lie to yourself if you said that you had never imagined how the weight of him would feel in your hand or buried deep inside. 

Rafe took the conflict in your eyes as a sign to make another move, to make your body fully addicted to his touch and the way he made you feel. He left one hand under your ass, lifting you a bit higher to the surface. He leaned in, teeth grazing the column of your neck just enough to leave faint marks. Your moans turned into soft gasps as you let yourself relish the moment and let your own hands wander and grip his wet strands of hair. 

Rafe’s mouth trailed down, kissing your collarbone and your shoulder until your skin got covered in goosebumps and you started trembling in his arms. He reached blindly to the back of your neck, fingers tugging at the flimsy bow that held your bikini top together. 

Two triangles fell forward so suddenly, your tits sitting prettily and exposed right in front of his fucking face. You gasped, hand flying to either cover yourself up or to push at his shoulders, but then his mouth was on you, and your head tipped back with a breathy moan that was a mixture of his name and a curse. Rafe locked his lips around your perky nipple, munching on it as a deep sound of satisfaction rumbled in his chest. He licked and gently tugged with his teeth until it was borderline torture, then switched to the other side and did the same to give them both an equal amount of attention. 

You didn’t know how much time you were lost somewhere in the clouds while your covered pussy was trying to find any type of needed friction, which ended up being his abs. But then Rafe pulled you back down with a satisfied, devilish grin on his face, releasing your nipple with a wet and nasty pop that made you clench around nothing in a most pathetic way. “Been waiting to do this for so long.” He breathed, grinning and looking down into your eyes when you were mostly in water again. One hand was still holding you firmly against his chest with your tits now pressed to him, and another one was gripping and massaging your thigh while it was slowly but firmly moving towards your pussy. “Can you tell me how much you want it, baby?”

His velvety voice went straight to your pulsing core. You felt the fingers sliding along the hem of your bikini bottom, not touching you yet, but making your body shudder with anticipation. You shook your head no weakly, feeling how your eyes fluttered. 

Rafe tsked under his breath. His lips nipped at the side of your neck again, leaving wet and mouthy kisses, while his fingers slid over your covered pussy. He ran over the fabric once, then once again. The material was clinging to your skin, making it so obvious how aroused you were. The fingers pressed firmer against the soaked bikini, rubbing slow, deliberate circles right over your clit like he knew exactly what he was doing. The thin material did nothing to dull the sensation. Your hips jerked forward on instinct, chasing his touch, and a low, satisfied chuckle rumbled out of his chest.

“Look at that.” He murmured, lips brushing your ear. “You’re fucking dripping for me. Been soaked since I walked out here, haven’t you?”

You wanted to deny it. You wanted to call him an arrogant asshole and push him away just to prove a point. But the way his fingers kept stroking you—confident, knowing, relentless—made your mouth fall open in a silent moan instead. Your head tipped back against the pool edge, eyes fluttering shut as pleasure sparked through your core.

“Rafe…” His name came out shaky, almost pleading.

“That’s right. Say my name again.” He pushed the crotch of your bikini bottoms to the side, finally giving himself access to your body. Two thick fingers dragged through your bare folds, spreading your sticky wetness before he sank them inside you without any warning.

You gasped, eyes opening and barely focusing on the bright overhead lights, when your pussy welcomed him inside, trying to suck his fingers in as if she were greedy for anything he could give. Rafe worked you open with an intention to prepare you for what he was planning next, but also just loving how your body felt all around him. Relishing, finally, the moment when all of his fantasies came true and he could treat you the way you deserved. 

For the few agonizing minutes, his fingers and his mouth near your ear were the only things you could feel and think of. Rafe pumped inside of you slowly, curling his fingers in a way that made your thighs twitch around him and white dots appear in front of your eyes. You moaned softly and rocked your hips almost way too desperately, chasing the release you never knew you needed. 

Rafe’s thumb brushed over your clit, testing your reaction, noting the way your body jolted again, then rolled it softly until a high-pitched moan escaped from your lips and he could feel your velvety walls starting to clamp around him. Rafe pulled his face away from your neck, eyes briefly darting to the dark spot visible there, as he withdrew his fingers away from you, leaving you hanging on the edge. 

“Please! I need to—“ You should’ve been embarrassed of how desperately you sounded when you choked on your own words, but your head felt too heavy to worry about it now. You wanted to cry from the loss, from how close to cumming you were, when Rafe deprived you of it and left your pussy empty and clenching around nothing. 

“Need to cum?” He asked softly, the mockery barely heard in his voice, and your head nodded once, just barely. 

Rafe finally pulled the front of his swim trunks down, releasing his heavy cock with a deep sigh of relief. You were so closely pressed to him that you felt the weight of it against the lower part of your belly, shuddering with anticipation and pure, animalistic lust you felt right now. You rolled your hips again, gripping his shoulders for dear life, digging your nails in the firm muscles, and finally looked at the face that was studying you with precision. 

Your foreheads touched in a brief moment, eyes locked on each other in a way that felt too intimate, too desperate when Rafe ran the head of his cock over your slit and then slowly sank inside. He kissed you again to swallow your moan that carried both a surprise and relief from the stretch. He nestled so perfectly inside of you, filling you in a way you’ve never felt before. It was weird, borderline painful, but it made you clamp harder around him, grip his shoulders even tighter, and fully lock your legs behind his back.

“Fuck—shit, you’re so perfect around me.” He moaned into the kiss, your lips both wet with your spit and splashing water, but you didn’t care. “Baby, fuck!” Your back pressed harder into the pool wall when Rafe made the first experimental thrust, setting your body on fire with how deep he went.

“Oh—oh my god! R-Rafe—please!” You threw your head back, eyes rolling when his large hands gripped your thighs and moved you up and down his cock. He grunted, twitching inside of you when you involuntarily squeezed around him, lunging forward to suck on your suddenly exposed neck. 

The pace quickly turned overwhelming. Rafe had you trapped between his warm, massive body and the slick pool wall, making it nearly impossible to escape or move when every nerve in you felt like it was being electrocuted. He had you open for him underwater—thighs spread wide to fit him in—while he fed his cock into your cunt with every harsh, deliberate thrust.

Water surged and splashed around your joined bodies with each snap of his hips. The glow of the underwater lights painted everything in shifting blues and whites, highlighting the way his shoulders flexed, the way droplets clung to his collarbones, and the way his jaw clenched every time your pussy tried to suck him back in.

“Fuck, look at you.” Rafe growled, voice rough and strained, unable to look away from your fucked-out face—the one he dreamed about for many months before that. “Taking me so deep. You’re so fucking perfect for me, baby... All that attitude earlier and now you’re dripping down my cock.”

You tried to snap back, to come up with something sharp and witty to make that half-lazy smirk vanish from that perfectly pretty face. But you just couldn’t. All that came out was a broken moan, a breathy sound of his name when your hand touched his face. Your head dropped forward again, your foreheads resting against each other and mouths open while you panted and brushed your lips against each other with every move of Rafe’s hips. You brushed his face, lazily rubbing the clean-shaven cheek, staring deep into his dark eyes like it was the most natural thing for you.

You felt the pressure building low in your belly, as it was crawling in too quickly with the way his thick and veiny cock was grinding deep into you. But the thoughts kept coming back, the bitterness suddenly clouding your mind in the moment you should’ve enjoyed being fucked in the best way you could, as old and secret insecurities kept coming to the surface. You swallowed hard, eyes stinging for reasons that had nothing to do with the chlorine, when you finally managed a hoarse, "You don’t even like me.”

His laugh was breathless, almost pained. He almost completely stopped his movements, making you hiss at the feeling that your orgasm was vanishing slowly, with only the slow and shallow rocking of his cock keeping that fire alive. “You told yourself that, not me.” Rafe punctuated the words with a particularly deep thrust that made your back arch off the tiles and grip him harder even when your lips pouted. “I’ve been half out of my mind wanting you for months. Watching you around my fuckin’ house, watching you being everywhere I went, letting you talk back to me with this damn mouth of yours because it makes me hard when you’re being feisty like this… I paid my little sister off just so I could finally get you alone.”

The bitterness that had tried to settle in your chest cracked a little. You hated how much you wanted to believe him. Hated how good he felt still stretching you open. Hated how your body kept clenching around him like it never wanted him to leave.

“Still doesn’t mean you like me.” You whispered, the words more stubborn than convincing.

Rafe’s smirk returned, softer this time, almost fond. “Keep telling yourself that.” He pulled almost all the way out, then slammed back in hard enough to make water surge up between your bodies. “I’ll just keep proving you wrong.”

Whatever reply you had died the moment he set a new rhythm—faster, deeper, more punishing, bringing you back to the height you were before he slowed down. One of his hands stayed under your thigh, holding you open for him, while the other braced against the pool wall beside your head. Every thrust forced a soft, broken sound from your lips. The water made everything slicker and more intense, and the wet slap of skin on skin mixed with the quiet night sounds around the estate.

“Fuck—Rafe—” Your nails dug into his shoulders as the pressure built again, sharper and more overwhelming than before. “I’m gonna—”

“I know.” His voice was strained, almost desperate. “I feel you, baby. Come for me—fuck, please. Been waiting too fucking long for this.” His thumb found your clit suddenly, rubbing tight, perfect circles in time with his thrusts. The dual stimulation tipped you over the edge so fast it stole your breath. Your orgasm crashed through you in hard, pulsing waves, your walls clamping down around his cock as you cried out against his mouth. Your pussy pulsated around him in tune with every little shudder that ran through your body, making Rafe groan low and deep, burying himself to the hilt and following right after—hips stuttering as he spilled hot and deep inside you. 

Your legs shook, mouth open at the foreign feeling of his warm cum coating you from the inside, probably ruining the water with the way he still pushed his cock in softly. 

You two stayed locked for a few minutes, arms fully wrapped around each other like you didn’t want to let go of that moment, chests heaving in unison. Your head dropped in the crock of his neck, damp from water and sweat, and Rafe held you just a bit tighter, letting his lips brush your temple in a gesture that was too intimate yet so natural. 

Eventually he eased out carefully, fixing your bikini bottoms with surprising gentleness before reaching up to retie the strings of your top. His fingers lingered at the nape of your neck a second longer than necessary. “You’re not gonna play it cool with me now, you hear me?” He touched your cheek, brushing his thumb under your eye as you leaned in to the touch. 

You looked up at his flushed face with pink cheeks and a satisfied yet careful smile. His eyes seemed softer, warmer than you’ve ever seen before as they darted between your eyes and your tempting lips. Rafe brushed a wet strand of hair from your cheek, and it made something in your chest tighten painfully. 

Somewhere inside the house a door opened. Distant voices drifted out into the night—Sarah’s unmistakable laugh mixed with Wheezie’s higher one. Rafe’s expression shifted instantly as he pulled back and swam a few strokes away, floating on his back like he’d been casually cooling off the whole time. You stayed closer to the wall, legs numb and your face probably looking like a hot mess, as you tried to will your racing heart and flushed skin back to normal.

The water still felt warmer than it should. Your body still hummed with the ghost of his hands and mouth and the stretch of him inside you when you dipped yourself fully in the water for a few seconds to freshen up. 

Complicated didn’t even begin to cover the situation you two got yourself into.

But as Sarah’s sparkly flip-flops slapped back toward the pool deck, you found Rafe’s eyes fixated on you again. And you couldn’t bring yourself to look away from him either.