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“Do I?”
“I thought so. Guess it depends.”
“Depends on what?”
“If you can beat me to the water.”
Before he can answer, I’m up on my feet and running toward the ocean.
Chapter 7
Rhett
Maia’s halfway down the beach before I even comprehend what she said. I race after her, but it’s no use. She’s in the water before me.
Somehow, she’s already knee-deep.
She holds out her hand as I get closer. “Sorry, rules are rules. Your invitation is no longer valid.”
“What if I’m a rule breaker?”
“That’s not tolerated around here. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’ll be on my way.” Maia inches out farther before diving beneath the water and disappearing.
Too bad for her, I’m a pretty good swimmer, and after endless games of Marco Polo or having to round my brothers and sisters up, it’ll be easy finding her.
I move quickly until I’m deep enough to swim on my stomach. Front stroke comes easy to me, my toned arms flying through the water like paddles, and I effortlessly glide to where I see her head bob on the surface.
“Marco,” I call, hoping she’ll play along.
“Polo,” she answers before diving beneath the surface once again. When she surfaces, I immediately call out Marco, yet she doesn’t answer this time. She swims away from me yet still remains silent.
“Polo, you’re a cheater!” I laugh and swim as fast as I can toward her. Maia’s laughter echoes across the water, and I swim faster. I can tell she’s tiring out, her laughter taking up too much energy, and sure enough, I catch up to her.
“I win!” I yell as I swim a circle around her.
“Cheaters don’t win. They only lose.” She sticks her tongue out at me.
“I think you confused me with yourself. You cheated, not me.”
“How so?”
“You didn’t call out Polo the second time.”
“And you didn’t close your eyes! So there, we’re both cheaters.”
“Cheaters gotta stick together, right?”
Maia laughs as she splashes me. “I’m not claiming the cheater title. Fuck that.”
“But you just said?—”
“To make you feel better. But I really am not a cheater.”
“You little trickster.”
“You’re just mad you didn’t think of it first.” She takes off swimming, and I follow close behind, both of us like two kids, yelling and laughing and splashing.
We swim for a lot longer than five minutes, but it’s the most fun I’ve had in a long time. I feel like a kid again, racing my friends or swimming with my family.
