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Her mouth parted as if she were surprised. “You lost someone?”
“Yeah. I lost someone.” I didn’t share this shit with anyone—see the similarities?—but I answered, “My mom.”
“Oh, my god. I’m so sorry.”
Keeping my voice level, I said, “It was a car accident. She was passing through a green light and was sideswiped by a truck. It ran a red light, going over sixty miles per hour. Killed her on impact.”
“Axel.” She clenched my shoulders gently.
I stared off into the darkness. “I was sixteen, a sophomore in high school, when the school counselor came to my geometry class that afternoon and pulled me out of class.” Remembering that day like it was yesterday, my heart nearly stopped when I saw my uncle Morris standing in the main office with a somber look, and I knew something was very wrong. “I didn’t believe it at first, you know? How could you believe something like that would happen to your mom?”
“You can’t. You should’ve never had to experience that,” she whispered. “I’m so sorry, Axel.”
“I’m all right. It took me a long time, but I’m all right now. But it was hard back then. It took a lot of time to heal.” I glanced at her hand on my shoulder and covered mine with hers. “I know how it is.” Squeezing her hand, I bent down and kissed her temple. “I’m here for you, if you ever need to talk. I promise.”
Natalie gazed up at me with a tired smile, eyelids puffy and heavy. “Why, Axel Thomas, you truly are a player with a heart of gold, aren’t you?”
I grinned, lifting an index finger to my lips. “Shh, don’t tell anyone.”
Natalie
“What are we doing today?” A week later, we were back at his house. The house was deserted and quiet.
“Having fun,” he said as he whisked me into his room. I wondered where his other roommates were. It was a big-ass house that could room at least twelve people. But we were alone for the moment, it seemed.
Axel walked over to his dresser and pulled out a floral, turquoise two-piece bikini. “Let me take you to the pool.”
I eyed him skeptically. Where did that come from? “Why?”
“That word again,” he said tenderly, shaking his head as we shared a brief moment before he went on. “I want to teach you how to swim.”
“Where did you get… that?” I pointed at the material.
“Always so skeptical. You may be more of a skeptic than me.” He stepped closer, with the clothing held tightly in his hand. “I bought it for you when we went shopping.”
My adrenaline started to trigger a fight-or-flight mode. “I don’t know if I’m ready.” Yeah, I wrote it down as a goal to learn how to swim, but it was harder to do this in real time when someone was actually going to hold you accountable.
“I won’t let anything hurt you, Natalie. Surely, you know that by now.” He said all the right things to me, and I honestly knew he would never deliberately hurt me. So, why was I scared? I hesitated, thinking of a million ways to justify my fears, but there was never a direct answer to the way I felt. I couldn’t explain it.
Axel reached in and folded me in his arms. “I would never, ever allow you to be in danger. You know you can trust me.”
“I know.”
Somehow, he talked me into putting on the skimpy swimsuit and led me outside to the pool. He held my hand tightly. His sense of calm and confidence radiated around him and passed through me, giving mewe can do thisvibes. “If it makes you feel any better, I was a lifeguard during the summer of my junior year in high school. I’m a certified swimmer.”
“That’s good to know.” I really didn’t doubt him; I already trusted him. I did. Yet I was still trying to get over my own anxiety. He held my arm and led me down the steps, so slowly, allowing me to get used to standing in one foot of water. He waited patiently until I was ready to bring my foot down to the next step in the pool. When he stepped with me, he stood beside me, stone still, a clear show of letting me lead. Our legs were almost knee-deep in water. With his hand at the crook of my elbow, I felt comfort, knowing Axel would have my back.
Shoving my fears aside, I stepped down lower, past the final step, until I reached the bottom. It wasn’t too deep. My shoulders were still above water, so I knew I could handle this. “I want you to get used to being in the water,” Axel said from beside me. Warmth flowed through my skin with his touch, despite the coolness of the water.
Never leaving my side, we stood in the shallow end. Axel joked with me, stupid antics that would keep my mind off my worries about drowning. The longer I stood in the pool, the more a sense of tranquility settled over me.I could do this.
“See, it’s not so bad.” He moved in front of me, dipping low as his lips touched the water, and he playfully began blowing bubbles from his mouth like a child did when he discovered he could make noises with water. It was endearing to watch him letting go, not concerned about how he looked. He drew his head up. “You should try it. It’s fucking fun.”
Standing there unsure, I watched, mesmerized, as he bent down again, skimming the water with his lips and watching me with his boyish charm, blowing more bubbles, as if he knew I was enchanted. He paused, with his chin above water. “Come on, Hardcore,” he coaxed. “You can’t tell me you never wanted to make bubbles in the water.”
Finally, I relented. “Okay. Maybe I did when I was a child.” Perhaps when I took a bath, I played in the water like that, but it was so long ago. Bending my knees, I dipped down until my mouth was level with the water’s edge, keeping my eyes on Axel. Something passed between us, or maybe I was dreaming it. I inhaled a deep breath before I blew it out into the water, watching as bubbles formed around my face.
I stood up, swiping my hair off my face. “You were right. That was fun.”
