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“Maybe we should try where it isn’t so deep?” I offered, nodding toward the shallow end. “You’re never going to learn if I keep holding you up.”
“Yeah, maybe,” he relented, and his legs finally relaxed. When my arms retreated, he started walking his hands along the tiles.
“When your knees can touch the bottom without your head going under, start practicing some leg movements,” I said, letting him go without me. “It’s kinda like walking, but a little extra force. Like you’re trying to kick someone’s ass.”
He let out a snort before lifting his knees in exaggerated movements under the water.
“Yep, you got it. Looking great.” He wasn’t looking great at all. His knee jerks were erratic and uncoordinated, but at least I wouldn’t have to worry about him drowning in three feet of water. I threw my face to the ceiling and floated on my back.
My ears sank low enough to muffle the chaotic sound of his limbs thrashing through the water, and I let out a relaxed sigh. Attempting to clear my mind, I focused on the whooshing sound of the pool filter as I fought back another replay of my day.
Nope, not again. It was relaxation time, and I planned to do just that while I had the chance. Soon I’d have a new day of horrors to look forward to, and I needed to be ready.
It would be Leander’s turn with me, right? The thought sent odd prickles racing down my neck and spine. Would he use his day with me to go searching for his father’s trident, finally?
“Oh,wow,” Kai blurted, his voice clear enough to hear from underwater. In fact, everything felt eerily calm, except for the steady hum of the pool filter. Had he exhausted himself already?
I flipped off my back to the sight of Kai clinging to the side of the pool. As easily distracted as ever, he hadn’t even made it over to the shallow side. Go figure.
“What’s up?” I called, wading in his direction.
His head whipped back, revealing a smile of pure delight slapped over his face. Uh-oh.
“Come here, come here, come here,” he beckoned, bobbing excitedly in the water on his feet. “You gotta feel this!”
Feel this? Feelwhat?
Thoughts of slimy patches of algae came to mind, and I suppressed a gag. The filter had been running all this time, but I held no illusions that the pool was actually clean.
“Yeah, I think I’ll pass,” I huffed back, drifting away. The water was shallow enough to walk across, and Kai took it upon himself to do just that. Wet hands clapped around my shoulders with a splash.
“Oh, come on! Wait,” he said, gesturing to the side of the pool. “You gotta come over! It’s the craziest thing.”
What could he possibly be so excited about?Ugh,damn his watery moon-eyes.
I relented with a heavy sigh, and he pumped a fist in the air in triumph. “Trust me, you’ll love it! I mean, I thought swimming like a human would be fun and all, but human pools are seriously thecoolest.”
“Uh-huh,” I said stiffly, letting him lead me back to the side of the pool. So much for relaxation time.
When we got to the side, he hovered behind me, moving my shoulders like he was deliberately lining me up with a specific set of tiles. What the heck was he even trying to do?
“Right about there,” he said finally, and his knees pressed against the backs of my thighs like he was trying to get both of us closer to the wall. His feet tweaked our position, a few little nudges to the left, then the right. “You feel that?”
“What do you—?” A shudder rippled through me as I felt it. And freaking damn, did I feel it.
A relentless outpouring of water rushed between my legs, andholy shit, did he really bring me over here to show me how good the water pump felt against his—
“Feel it now?” he groaned, his weight lightly shifting against my back. Arms caged around me as he pressed his palms into the tile in front of us, a slight hum riding on his next breath.
Shit, shit, shit. He was obviously feeling it, too.
“Kai, I really don’t think—” Something hard pulsed against the back of my thigh, and my words wilted in my throat.
An abrupt crash of glass rattled through the building, and both of us jumped against the jet of water.
“Fuck,” a voice growled as more glass crunched and shattered, and my heart quickened. I knew that fuck anywhere.
A string of curses reverberated through the pool hall as Leander emerged through the doorway, his face a pretty golden mess.
