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"Yeah, I just had to change."
"Show Cody one of your famous back busters," Ryan said, coming to stand at the back of the board near us.
I shook my head at my brother as I glanced at Micah, and I realized he was looking at me. He smiled when I looked his way, and I waved at him. I used my left hand, but it was quick, and I was far from him, so there was no way he saw the ring on my finger.
I was so excited that it took all my concentration to keep from clearing my throat and announcing it right there in front of everyone. I was antsy and jumping around, and Cody gestured for me to skip ahead of him in line. I went to the end of the board and hopped just right, pressing all of my weight onto the end of the board. I caught a good bounce, and I sprang into the air before curling up into a neat ball. I did a cannonball by instinct, and then I swam underwater toward the shallow end.
I opened my eyes underwater, and I could see a man swimming, making his way toward me in the pool. I knew it was Micah. His head was out of the water, but I could see the color of his swim trunks underwater. He left the side of the pool and came to meet me in the middle.
By the time I swam to him, he was casually resting in the water with only his shoulders and head out in the open. I swam right up to him, coming up for air a few feet from him so that I could shed the excess water before we connected.
"Nice cannonball," he said.
I wiped my face with my hand, and he was looking at me, but it didn't look like he saw the ring. He was just smiling at my face.
"Thanks," I said, swimming up to him.
I let my body move into his space, touching him intermittently as the motion of the water happened all around us.
"Nice one," Isaac said. "You should see her back-buster skills," he added.
"That's what I was saying," Ryan said.
"What happened with the back buster?" Ari asked.
"Ohhh, that was a bad one," Isaac said, laughing. "She tried to do a front flip and she completely under-rotated and bam! (He smacked his hands together loudly and dramatically.) She came down, smacking that water from ten feet up."
"I can't believe you guys tried to talk me into doing a flip off of a high-dive," I said. "I could not breathe for like ten seconds when that happened." I laughed and shook my head at my brothers, and as I spoke, I effortlessly moved into Micah's arms. I took his arms and wrapped them around my middle. We were under the cover of the pool, so it just looked like I was standing in front of him.
"I can't believe you actually did it," Isaac said.
"I was reluctant in the first place," I said. "I never should have done it when I was so reluctant."
"How old were you?" Micah asked.
I looked at Isaac with a shrug. "Twelve or thirteen?" I asked.
He nodded. "We were on vacation in Oregon. It was that year we rented a cabin."
"Yeah, my back hurt after that one."
Isaac smiled and threw the ball to Ryan who did a flip as he was catching it.
"You show off," I said, splashing him and laughing when his head came out of the water.
Ryan grinned at me and then turned to ask the girls to rate his entry into the water. They chimed in, and Cody said something about topping Ryan's score. They were distracted, which was perfect for me. I turned in Micah's arms, facing him, letting my body touch his as we rested weightlessly in the water.
"I've never been with anybody," I said quietly to him.
He pulled back with a curious expression.
"I know you know almost everything about me, but we've never talked about that, and I just wanted you to know I haven't. I was never with anybody in that way."
"What way are you talking about exactly?" he asked, gently touching my waist underwater.
"You know what I'm talking about," I said.
He stared at me with an unreadable expression. "You haven't? I just assumed…"
