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Heading farther toward the gym, I was shocked to not hear sounds of grunting and punching from inside. Instead, the door to the pool was open.
“He had some extra energy to work off.”
I glanced sideways, not having heard Josh walking beside me.
“I honestly don’t think he’s human.”
Josh’s mouth twitched. “You might be on to something, Bailey.”
We came to the door and he stepped forward, checking the room before nodding for me to go ahead. I stepped inside, feeling the humidity and breathing in the chlorine before I noticed Josh shutting the door. A second later, I met his gaze through the door’s window, and he gave me another polite smile before pressing a button. The window frosted over.
Looking to the corner, I saw the camera’s light switch from green to red. Josh was giving us complete privacy, and only when that was all done did I seek out where Kash was.
He was at the far end, turning, flipping, and coming up a few paces away, heading my way.
I went to the edge and sat down, putting my feet in the water. I didn’t have long to wait, enjoying the view as Kash’s arms were cutting through the water, his shoulders and biceps bulging from the motion.
I forgot how he was a fish in water.
His head was perfectly in alignment with his shoulders, and every fourth arm swing he raised his mouth up for air and went back down. He went past me. I thought he was going to keepgoing, but at the last second, his hand snaked out. He latched on to my ankle and tugged me into the water.
I shrieked before I was eating chlorine. “Agh!”
He grinned, the water pulsating between us, and he maneuvered me back until I was against the pool wall. “What are you doing down here?” His eyes were alert, taking me in as he placed a hand on either side of me, trapping me.
The buoyancy kept me floating, but then Kash was moving his legs under me and I was completely resting over him. My legs straddled his, and he hooked one ankle around the other, tugging me to open even wider for him.
Heat flared in me, boiling my blood, but when I thought Kash would bend his head, finding my throat, he didn’t. He moved his head back, sinking so he was on the same eye level as me, and he tugged at his sweatshirt. “Nice shirt.”
I grinned, feeling a laziness intertwining with the warmth in me. “It was this or a robe. This was closer.”
“Really?”
I nodded, enjoying the teasing look in his eyes. It was dark, but it was there. “Really.” My voice hitched on a soft sigh with that one.
He grew sober, his head moving back so he could take me in more fully. “You look good.” His eyebrows dipped down. “You look like you again.” His hand moved, and he touched a wet finger beside my eye. “I see you again.”
My throat swelled up, my chest filled with an ache that was bittersweet.
“Woke up.”
“I can see that.” His head cocked to the side, but he didn’t say anything further. He was still holding me in place, and as he settled back, I knew he was waiting for me. He was waiting for whatever I was going to say or do, for whatever path I was going to put us on because that’s what I felt in that moment.
I was awake.
I was angry.
I was remorseful.
And I was thinking more clearly.
I said, “I know you’ve been waiting for me.”
That somber expression settled back on him, and his hand went back to the pool wall, trapping me in again.
“You let me mourn her, and I know that I’ll always grieve my mother. I’ll never forget what they did to her, whathedid to her, but I wasn’t myself. You gave me that time. You knew I would come back to me and I did. I’m here. Me. I’m ready for the next chapter.”
Hunger licked my insides, lighting that fire again.
