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“Are you scared I’ll drown? Or that you’ll like how my mouth feels against yours?”

Both.

“I have a boyfriend.”

“Break up with him,” he suggests without flinching.

“For you?” I counter just as quickly.

Khaos’s grip loosens. Significantly.

“Oh.” I drop my hand. “Right.”

“No, it’s just that I…”

“It’s okay. That was…” Stupid. So freaking stupid.

My head won’t stop shaking as I step back. A halfhearted twist is all it takes to pull my arm from his hold.

“I wasn’t trying to—”

“You didn’t,” I assure him. “I…” A humorless laugh leaves me. “If I had a dollar for every guy that offered that.”

Shadows dance across Khaos’s face. “Offered what?”

“What you’re offering. To fuck without any strings attached.”

“That’s not…” His own head shakes before coming to an abrupt halt as he pins me with a hard stare. “How many dollars would you have?”

“A lot.” Wide eyes and raised brows match the severity of the lie, hopefully selling it.

“Who—”

Sold.

“Let’s focus on the lesson.”

I’m explaining the ol’ tried-and-true doggy paddle—demonstrating it, too—when Khaos says my name.

“Kota.”

I stop and wait but nothing comes. Steeling myself, I glance over at him.

“I’m not boyfriend material.”

Because I want him to hurt as bad as I do, maybe worse, I say, “And I’m not demented enough to want to date you.”

Silence swells around us, bigger and bigger, until it’s a living thing, breathing down our necks.

My neck at the very least.

“So much for being a solution,” I mumble.

“A guy like me’s nothing but problems.”

Then why the hell did he say that? He said it! Not me!

“Clearly.” I tap the water. “Your turn.”