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I studied his face. The sincerity in it. I’d known what he was feeling because I’d felt it too. Ever since I was a child, I loved to draw. I used to draw everything I’d see. Trees, buildings, cars. As I got older, that narrowed down into something more niche. I liked to draw history. I would imagine what ancient ruins looked like in their prime, inspired by other artist’s renderings. I loved it because there was no true way for anyone living to know what these places looked like before. We could only interpret based on what we had now. So the idea that I could take something old and weathered, making it brand new and beautiful inside my head, was inspiring. It made me feel full inside. I imagined that’s what Carter felt like when he studied nature through the lens of his camera.
Like him, I’d never been interested in sketching people. Even when I drifted into painting for some time, like my mother, I only focused on landscapes. Things that were open to interpretation. Then, I lost all interest in any of it. Sketching, painting, admiring the work of others. I didn’t even imagine ruins anymore. I only studied what I could see upfront. Only studied it for school. Only focused on what was absolutely required of me. I’d lost the passion I once felt. Passion for everything. I never wanted Carter to feel like that.
I’d never wanted to draw or paint people, but as I stared into his sunlit eyes, I thought that maybe I’d want to paint them someday. Maybe I’d be interested in sketching the look on his face when his jaw tightened in concentration, or the way he smiled at me.Thatgrin. And I understood why he was suddenly asking me to get in that freezing water for him. And I knew that if I had asked him myself, he would’ve.
“Okay,” I said. His eyes widened, his face taking on a look of complete astonishment. I stepped out of the ankle-deep water and began peeling off my leggings so that I’d have dry clothing to put on after coming out of the water.
He beamed at me as he shrugged out of his own flannel, tossing it onto the shore next to me. He began to unbuckle his jeans as he stepped out of the water to slip them off.
“What’re you doing?”
“I’m taking my clothes off?” He said it like a question.
“Why?”
He scoffed, “I wouldn’t ask you to get in cold-ass water if I wasn’t getting in with you.”
“Oh.” I blinked as I lifted the hem of my sweater.
“Leave the sweater on,” he said. I looked up at him, frowning. “If you can.”
“I won’t have anything dry to put on if I get this wet.”
“I have a shirt you can wear.”
I nodded, adjusting my sweater so that it fell off my hips once again. It was a loose-fitting, cream-colored, knitted sweater that hung off one shoulder. I wasn’t sure why he’d asked me to keep it on, but I realized that the neon pink sports bra I had on underneath it probably wouldn’t fit the aesthetic of the environment as well. By the time my feet were back in the water, he was knee-deep. He held his hand out to me as I inched in. “You know, I don’t think I’m a particularly talented model.”
He clasped my hand and waded me through the water until I reached him. The water lapped at the back of my knees, inching up my thighs. It was so cold it almost burned. My toes going numb, I began to shiver.“You’re absolutely perfect.”
I couldn’t reply through my chattering teeth. Or my pounding heart.
His arm coiled around my back, scooping beneath my ass as he lifted me around his hips and slightly out of the water. I crossed my legs behind him and threw my arms around his neck. He stepped in deeper. “Fuck,” he hissed as it splashed over his hips. He exhaled deeply. “Okay, I think this is deep enough. We’ll do it quickly, Pep. I’m going to let you go so I can step back and get enough space between us. I’ll tell you what to do. It shouldn’t take more than a minute.”
I nodded. I braced myself, closing my eyes and waiting for him to let go of my legs and let my body drop into the icy water. Instead, I found his mouth against mine, warm and inviting. I kissed him as I felt myself begin to fall backwards. As startling as his kiss was, his next movement was staggering. He held me tightly as we both tumbled into the water below us.
That numbness bit more than just my toes. The icy water nipped and tore at my face, my arms, my torso. Frigid streams wafted through my nose as I went under completely. Carter’s arm moved away from me, and I could no longer feel his presence at all. My body stung with ice, until the shock began to settle. My feet still touched the bottom of the creek bed, and I planted them down, pushing off and propelling upward. I broke the surface, inhaling sharply.
“To the right, Pep,” I heard.
My ears still ringing, my body still in shock, I couldn’t process what was being said. I began to move my hands toward my face to rub my eyes and open them.
“Penelope, stop!” I froze. “Shift to your right, about a foot. Don’t open your eyes yet, don’t touch your face.” As I realized what he’d done, realized that he was still standing near me, I realized I was furious. He’d dunked me, then let go and stepped away.
For some reason, I listened to him.
Dropping my hands back beneath the surface, I shuffled to my right. “Good girl.” I grumbled in disapproval. A burst of light shone through my closed eyelids, the warmth of the direct sun hit my face. “Now move your hands above your head, like you're pushing your hair out of your face. Move slowly and tilt your head up toward the sky.” I heard shutters of the camera, the water sloshing around him as he moved within it. By the sounds, it seemed as if he was standing a few feet in front of and to the right of me. “Perfect. Relax your face. Now move your right arm down, around your ear and against your neck. Slowly. Open your eyes once your arm meets your collar bone. Keep your face relaxed.”
I did as he asked. More shutters sounded around me. I realized he was getting closer. I let my eyes flutter open as softly as I could manage. I blinked rapidly as the sunlight hit my face, allowing a moment for my surroundings to come into focus.
I’d hardly noticed the sound of the waterfall in front of us, but with my eyes open once again, the roaring of it seemed to become more apparent. Carter was standing not two feet in front of me, camera at his face. Three more shutters sounded before he moved the camera back to his chest. His eyes glistened in the sun as he smiled at me.
“Y…you… a… ass,” I shivered.
“I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” he rambled as he waded to me. “I thought it would be easier if I just dunked you, instead of having you try and inch into it.” As he reached me, he dipped his head down to meet mine, planting a kiss on my mouth. His lips were hot where mine were ice. He pulled away, that pleading look from earlier back in his eyes. “One more?”
I frowned.
He began to back up toward the shore, bringing the camera up to his face. “Just come out of the water slowly. Lean forward so that your face hits the surface, gently though so you don’t cause ripples. Cross your arms in front of you and lay your cheek against them. Turn towards me and look up.” He moved so that he was standing at my side. I bent forward, the bitter cold constricting my chest as it dropped beneath the surface. I struggled to keep my lips from chattering as I crossed my arms and laid my face across them, looking up towards him. “I know it’s cold, baby, I know. Try to relax your face.”
