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“So.” Rocky’s voice pulled my full attention to him like a bass on a hook. “Aside from coming over to take a dip, what other reason do I owe this surprise visit to?”
Right. The reason why I’d even come here… what was the reason again?
“Well, first off, I wanted to say thank you. What you did for Hazel, it’s more than anyone’s ever done for her. If she wasn’t so exhausted, she’d be here, too. I’m sure she’ll call you sometime tomorrow.”
“Was she okay?”
“Shaken up and in shock, but she’ll make it through. She always does.”
Rocky nodded at that. I drifted over to the opposite end of the pool from him, my boxers almost sliding off as I swam the last bit. He said something to me, but I couldn’t hear him over the sound of the waterfall. He put a finger in the air and then swam across the pool, feet splashing in the air, his butt lifting from the water and revealing those two perfect globes covered by the skintight black underwear. They were being pulled back slightly, showing me a brief flash of skin and crack.
Sparks shot off between my thighs.
He emerged right next to me. I could now see the different flecks of crystal blue he had inside his eyes, along with a couple of beauty marks that dotted his face. He was clean-shaven today, so if I were really inclined, I would have been able to count up all the marks, maybe even playfully trace them with a finger.
With my tongue.
“I was asking how you were doing.”
“Oh, right.”
You know, just trying to cope with having my roommate murdered, my best friend framed, and my hottest sex dream come to life all in the span of twenty hours.
“I’m fine.”
He smirked, his cheek revealing the hint of a dimple. I wasn’t entirely sure why that surprised me, but it did. I wanted to see more of it.
“You sure?” he asked.
“As fine as I can be, I guess.” I leaned back and let my legs float up. My toes curled, water swirling between them.
It felt good to float. Letting the weight of it all just drift off, so that nothing else carried me but some hydrogen and oxygen molecules.
For a moment, I closed my eyes.
When I saw Hazel’s bloody hands, I quickly snapped them open.
“I’m just worried, you know? I don’t want Hazel going back to jail. I know she didn’t do it.”
Rocky let his body do the same as mine, his legs floating out in front of him. We were far enough from the waterfall that we could hear each other perfectly, but still close enough so that we were gently lifting with the ripples caused by the cascading water.
“Shonda is one of the best attorneys out there. If anyone can get Hazel out of this, it’s her. And while Shonda works her magic in the courtroom, I’ll be turning over every rock I can so that I can find who Jesse’s actual killer is.”
Whoa, I wasn’t expecting that. “Oh, Rocky, I didn’t know… I don’t think Hazel even knows that you’re going to investigate this. It’s a much bigger case than hunting down stolen underwear… I mean, I can give you a down payment, I guess? Can we do that for, you know, detectiving? Detective work? Sleuthing?”
Rocky laughed, the dimple appearing again before he looked away. “I’m not expecting, or accepting, any money.”
“You’ve got to take something. I can Venmo you like… $500 now?”
“Seriously, don’t even think about it.”
“I just… why?”
“I’m not exactly wanting anything right now. I don’t need a fee that’ll potentially leave you in debt. I want to help, and I’m going to.” His tone took on the sharp edge of a sword. “And that’s that.”
And that’s that.
It sounded so final. Like the blare of an air horn at the end of a marathon.
Except nothing about this felt final. Somewhere, tucked away in my bones, as deep as the marrow, was a feeling that this was only the beginning. Of what, I had no idea. But of something. I caught myself staring into Rocky’s eyes, that feeling overtaking me, swelling over me like a tidal wave.
Our feet touched under the water, and it jolted me back to reality. My entire body stiffened, my heart hammered. I looked away, ahead at a small black bird that had landed on the freshly mowed grass, pecking away at whatever inhabitants lived between the bright green blades, completely unaware their death was hopping over to them on thin, silent legs.
My mind felt like a Ping-Pong ball that had been dipped in grease and set on fire. One second I was thinking about how close Rocky and I were, how I could almost stick out my tongue and lick the water droplets off his face, and the next second I was thinking about Hazel and the fucked-up situation now surrounding us.
