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“Is this a good idea?” I ask. All my enthusiasm has gone up in smoke since we left the bungalow. Suddenly this doesn’t feel like fun and games anymore.
Aiden’s mouth hitches up on one side. “Live a little, Maddie Lane,” he says, throwing my words back at me.
Then he walks backward toward the deep end of the pool. I think he’s going to step back, right into the water, but at the last moment, he turns and dives in. He disappears under the surface and stays there as his body blurs beneath the depths. He spans the length of the pool, all the way to the other side, and then reemerges like a sea monster lurking in the dark.
“I suppose you think I’m going to get in just like that? Well, I have news for you: I never learned how to dive, so I’m just going to get in the old-fashioned way,” I say, curving around the edge of the pool toward the shallow steps. I take them one at a time, watching my footing, all the while knowing Aiden’s eyes are on me.
It’s so quiet now. I’ve become habituated to the noise of the desert, so all I notice is the soft sound of my feet splashing in the water. Down I go until the water rises up over my calves and waist and stomach. My chest goes under and then all of me, submerged as I swim over to where Aiden is.
I pop up closer to him than I was expecting and try to tread water, but with the drinks in my system and my general lack of swimming expertise, I have to reach for the side of the pool almost immediately.
Aiden doesn’t. He floats in place and stays quiet, glancing up at the stars overhead.
He’s in a mood tonight.
Maybe he’s annoyed with me for leaving him all day. Maybe he’s annoyed with me for bringing him out here altogether. Either way, I can’t stand it.
“Are you upset with me?” I ask gently.
His attention sweeps down from the sky and falls on me like a weighted blanket. I’d drown if I wasn’t holding on to the edge.
“No.”
But that one word said in a gruff tone doesn’t convince me.
“You’re upset about something.”
“I don’t think upset is the right word,” he says, narrowing his eyes in thought.
“Then what is it?”
He shakes his head. “Not tonight.”
He ducks back under the water and swims away to the other side, then back to me, then back again. He comes up for air, but not for long, and then he’s back to swimming laps. It’s like he’s trying to work off steam, but I’m getting annoyed.
He reaches the deep end again and I swim toward him, blocking his path. He doesn’t realize I’m there when he turns to kick off the wall, colliding into me with more strength than I was expecting. The top of his head hits my stomach and I expel an audible oof. He reaches for me as I start to struggle to swim.
“Shit,” he says, his hand gripping hold of my upper arm. “Are you okay?”
“God that hurt,” I moan, wanting to wrap my arm around my stomach. I can’t until Aiden gets me back to the wall. He helps me grab the ledge and I try to suck in a deep breath, but it hurts my stomach too much.
“Here, get out. We shouldn’t be swimming,” he says, grabbing my waist so he can hoist me up and over the edge.
I’m not in a position to protest, so I let him push me out of the water, and then once I’m back on the concrete ledge, I roll over onto my back and lie down. My knees still dangle over into the pool, my calves half-submerged in the warm water. The concrete on my back feels good. It’s been heating up in the sun all day, and that heat pours into me. The pain in my stomach lessens. I know it’s nothing serious, but Aiden’s intent on checking up on me anyway.
He climbs out of the pool, dripping water onto my body as he hovers over me.
“Are you okay?”
I close my eyes. “Peachy.”
“Why’d you get in my way like that?”
His tone rankles me. “I was just trying to get you to stop moving for a second.”
His hand touches my abdomen and I flinch.
“I’m just trying to figure out if I really hurt you,” he explains.
I take my bottom lip into my mouth and don’t say a word. The truth is, he has hurt me. Living with him for two years under the guise of friendship has hurt, and the wounds are much worse than what he just did to me in the water.
His hand doesn’t move from my body, and my eyes stay closed.
His fingers start to gently drift higher, oh so slowly, along the center of my stomach, drawing a shiver out of me.
