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“Does your dad have a pair you can borrow?”

“He doesn’t swim either.”

Because he can’t or because of another reason?

“I’ll be right back.”

“Where are you going?”

“To get my swimsuit,” I say with a gesture at my outfit.

“I meant what I said. This is a limited-time offer.”

“You can’t wait a couple more minutes?”

“No.”

Again, why the rush to learn this instant?

“Fine. We’ve both been in it without swimsuits before and survived.”

“Barely,” he mutters.

I tilt my head but don’t comment. His near drowning was unintentional. Mine was…

Not.

“We’ll start in the shallow end.” I pass him while peeling off my shirt. I have on a sports bra, which everyone’s seen me in, literally everyone, even Khaos. It’s no big deal. At all.

Except when I twist to see if Khaos is following, he’s looking at me like maybe it is a big deal.

“You don’t want to be weighed down either, so you should at least take off your jeans,” I tell him when he makes no move to shed a single layer of clothing. “You can keep your shirt on if you’re uncomfortable.”

After removing his shoes, he takes his phone and wallet out of his jeans and places them on a table, then he sheds both his pants and shirt.

Standing before me in nothing but a pair of black boxer briefs, looking like a statue carved out of marble, he says, “I’m not uncomfortable.”

His shoulders are broader than the rest of his torso, his biceps sculpted even while at rest. Unless…is he flexing? Every muscle on him is defined perfectly as if painted on, his abs a 3D model of inspiration.

I spy some fading bruises, making me once again wonder what he does for a living.

He rubs his hands together in front of that toned stomach, his Adonis belt still visible just below his arms. The deep V at his hips disappears beneath his waistband, giving me a sense of melancholy I can’t see where it leads.

I clear my throat and drop my gaze.

It lands on Khaos’s phone. That’s weird. He said it was new but it has the same scratch across the glass as his old one did. Did he break the screen in the exact same place?

“Feeling uncomfortable, Silver?”

It’s said in such a challenging tone, I have no choice but to rise to it.

“Not at all.”

Returning my eyes to his, I keep them while I slide my shorts down my legs, stepping out of them one foot at a time until I’m left in only my sports bra and panties. I’m showing less than I do when I’m wearing a swimsuit, I remind myself.

Khaos takes his time scanning my body from my head to my toes before meeting my stare again, his pupils blown.

“How cold is that water?”