He squints through the water. “What is it?”
Squaring my hands on the wall behind me, I push myself up until I’m sitting at the edge of the pool. I lift my foot again, and this time Gage catches it in his hands to examine it.
He traces the letters with his finger. “M. N. O.” He bites his lip as his chin lifts toward the sky. “Molly. Nicole. Olivia,” he finally guesses.
“Mm-hmm.”
He squeezes my foot. “I never realized your names were in order like that. Did your parents do that on purpose?”
I consider the question. “Not at first, I don’t think. They named Molly and Nicole and then when I came along, they realized they could continue the pattern. They only really considered names starting with O for me.”
“What were the runners-up?” Gage hasn’t let go of my foot. Instead, he’s using his thumbs to massage my arches, his hands sliding along my wet skin.
It’s making it hard for me to focus on his question. “Um, they said once that if I was a boy, I would have been named Owen. They’ve also mentioned Ophelia.”
Gage cringes. “If you were named Ophelia, I would have been more supportive about the switch to Delaney.”
I shove his shoulder. “Rude. Ophelia is a beautiful name.”
He nods. “It is, but it’s notyou.” I wave him away, but he continues. “Have you ever looked up what the name Olivia means?”
“Sure.” I shrug, but I don’t really remember the meaning.
“It means peace. That’s what I feel around you. Peace.”
My field of vision narrows, and everything around us in the crowded pool area disappears. A wave of assorted emotions roll over me—gratitude, insecurity, awe, doubt. A sensation prickles behind my eyes, and I slide back into the pool and under the water to hide.
Why is Gage so good to me? He makes it really hard not to fall for him.
The poignant moment threatens to overwhelm me, so I push it away.
When I pop back up out of the water, I say, “Enough of this lazing around—let’s race.”
Gage quirks his eyebrows up. “What did you have in mind?”
“Two words: Downhill Racer.” The Downhill Racers are headfirst mat slides that sit side by side, perfect for some friendly competition. I point to myself and then at Gage. “Head-to-head. Me and you.”
Gage smirks. “It's on.” He sets one palm on the side of the pool and launches himself up and out, somehow landing on his feet on the pool deck.
He looks back—undoubtedly to catch my reaction—and when he sees my wide eyes, he winks. He flexes his biceps. “It's all in the arms,” he says cockily.
As ridiculous as he's being, I'm grateful for the shift in tone. Confident, arrogant Gage is much easier to deal with than sweet, sensitive Gage.
I scramble out of the pool behind him, the bottoms of my feet stinging as they hit the hot deck.
Gage finds Matt and Brynn in the crowded pool to let them know where we're going. They decide to hang here a while longer, and, because our phones are in the locker, we pick a time and place to meet back up later.
“Looks like it’s just the two of us,” Gage says as we walk away.
I punch a fist into my hand. “Yep. And you’re going down.”
He smirks. “I am. I’m goingdownthe slide faster than you.”
I groan.
We continue the banter all the way to the Downhill Racer slides near the park entrance, our smack talk becoming even more lame as we go.
We each grab a blue foam mat and carry them toward the stairs. The mat isn’t heavy, but it’s bulky and keeps bumping my legs as I walk.
