But not right now.
The air left his lungs as Kat shrugged a shoulder, the sleeve sliding off one of her arms as if to say,well, I made it.
A smile tugged at his lips. Lowering himself into the pool, Lee crossed the length in three broad strokes, until he was looking up at this magnificent creature. “You’re coming in here with me.”
Kat laughed, her ponytail sweeping across her shoulders with the motion. “It looks cold.” She dipped a toe over the edge beside him. Lee traced the motion and traced up that leg. Oh, if she thought he was joking…
Placing a hand on either side of the ledge, Lee lifted himself halfway from the water. “Oi, Hanneman.”
“Yeah, Waters?”
“I’ve got something for you.”
“Oh yeah?”
Heaving himself the rest of the way out of the water, he wrapped both arms around her in a bear hug.
“Stop, stop!” she squealed, attempting to untangle his wet limbs from around her body. “You’re going to get your mom’s clothes all wet.”
“I really don’t care about the clothes,” Lee ground out, squeezing her tighter to him in emphasis.
She was still squealing but stopped fighting him, relaxing in his arms. Peering up at him with the wet linen hanging off her forearms, she held them up wide for him.
Lee made quick work shucking the damp whatever-this-zapping-thing-was, tossing it in a ball off to the side. Scooping her up in his arms, he pitched them both into the water.
CHAPTER 15: KAT
AFTER A week of sleeping in and breakfast on the patio—a week of unchecked afternoons, running in circles and lounging in the pseudo-salt breeze and shade with Lee—Kat had grown tired of Bri’s Bala Resort-cation. It was nice to be back aboard the Academy and its totally conventional, recycled-air vents and eggshell-colored, paneled walls.
The transports had returned them to the ship a few hours ago. She and Lee had grabbed a couple of sandwiches in the Canteen on their way back to their dorms. But since then, Kat hadn’t bothered to do more than drop her pink duffle at the foot of her bed, collapsing down onto her stomach to scroll through stale messages on her hyperband.
They hadn’t missed much. The release of final term schedules and course rosters. A new term, but the same old.
Kat barely looked up at the knock on her door. “It’s open,” she called over her shoulder, despite needing her hyperband to access her dorm from the outside. She took her time chucking her pillow then her boots at the door, one after the other, in a poor attempt to trick the sensor pane. Giving up, she slugged over, slapping a hand by the door. It slid open.
“Lazy much?” Lee smirked, stepping over the pillow and around her boots as he followed her inside.
“Too much serotonin.” Kat gave him a loose smile before flopping back down onto her bed. Neither of them had actually spent all that much time in the sun, other than their occasional dip in the pool and jogs about the track. But until term officially began tomorrow, she was on break. And she had at least another seventeen hours before then.
“I like this.” Lee tugged casually at one of the seams of her cropped tank, coming to crash beside her. “It suits you.”
Kat pulled her shoulders up to her ears, suddenly self-conscious again at Tonya’s kind gesture, even as she snuck a glance down to admire the way the dusty orange brought out the color in her arms. After a week in paradise, only the faintest shade of gold graced her skin. She was still as pale as the asteroids in the dark reaches of the star system, a cadet of the fluorescence. But, like with the swimsuit, Lee’s mom had gauged her well. Not only had Tonya picked the style with her in mind, but she’d also selected something that made her feel beautiful and valued.
Kat rolled onto her side as Lee traced her shape in the faded blush comforter from shoulder line to hip and over the wedge of skin peeking below the hem of her tank. He still carried on him the faint scents of coconut and rum butter. The scents of Lee with the sleeves rolled on his T-shirt and the breeze on their arms. Of those last few mornings, splashing in the chilled pool. And of saltwater kisses…
“Welcome back, Hanneman.”
“Ahoy there, Waters.”
They didn’t make it out of the dorms until much later that afternoon. It went against her seventeen-hour oath, but with the new term starting tomorrow, she may as well show her face around the ship. At least for a few hours.
She flicked through her course list again, scanning the cadet rosters in more detail while they headed down to the Hideaway.
“And look at that—I’ve got Jed in one of mine. For…” She flicked back up to read the course name at the top of the roster. “Personal Enhancement and Development.” Kat snorted, stopping before the Hideaway doors. The course was basically an open study hour. “That will be fun.”
Beside her, Lee had pressed his lips tightly together, the faint lines of amusement around his cheeks betraying his efforts. He was either reigning in his laughter or working very hard to hide something from her.
“Fine. Who do you have in yours?” She came around behind him to try to gain access to his hyperband and the hand stashed too casually in the back pocket of his black jeans.
