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I kick off the wall and am back to her in no time.
“Cramp,” she says, her face contorted as she works to stay above the water.
“Hold on to me.” I put her arms around my neck and swim us back to the side of the pool where the ladder is. “Do you think you can climb out?”
“Just give me a second,” she says, shaking her head, her arms still around me. “It’s a bad one.”
“Have you been drinking water?”
“Yes, you overcooked noodle,” she says, her voice strained.
“I’ve got you,” I say. With one arm around her waist, I hold on to a ladder rung for support with the other. “Try flexing your toes up and down.”
She moves her hands to my shoulders for balance, wincing as she flexes.
With her holding on to me, I pull my goggles off my head and throw them up on the deck of the pool.
She removes one of her hands from my neck and tries to take off her own goggles but then winces from the pain of the cramp.
“Let me help,” I say. She grabs on to me as I remove her eyewear, as well as her swim cap. I toss them up by mine.
“Thank you,” she says, her face still scrunched.
“Keep flexing,” I tell her, softly pushing her hair away from her face with my hand, letting it travel down to the wet strands that now hang around her shoulders.
I’ve been touching Lucy a lot lately, I’ve noticed. More hugging, more having a hand on her when we’re communicating. It felt like a lot more when we were painting the other night and I held her to me. True, it was to keep her from getting more paint on me, but I liked it. I liked having her so near me. I like it now, too.
She’s close to me, holding on as she continues to stretch and flex her leg. I see the moment when the cramp releases and her face relaxes.
“You okay?” I ask.
“Yes,” she says, relief on her face. She wraps her arms around my neck, and closing her eyes, she leans into me, nuzzling into my neck. I snake an arm around her waist, still holding on to the ladder to keep us above water.
“That looked like a bad one,” I say, rubbing her back with my free hand.
“The worst,” she says. “I used to get them back in high school. I’d forgotten how painful they could be.”
“You probably need to drink more water,” I tell her, not being able to stop myself from the diagnosis.
She pulls her head back, our faces close. “Duly noted, Doctor. I’ll drink more water.” She gives me a quick nod. “Thanks for saving me.”
I smile. “You’re welcome. I doubt you would have drowned, though. You’re too feisty to let a leg cramp stop you.”
“It’s true,” she says. I watch as a drop of water starts at her temple and runs down her face, and over her full pink lips.
My eyes snag there, on her lips. She’s so close, her body up against mine in this pool, her arms still around my neck, the water lapping up against us. She feels warm and good.
Her smile drops, and one of her hands runs from my neck down to my chest, where it lands, my heart picking up pace beneath it.
The tension between us pulls taut. Heat spreads from my head down to my toes. I inch closer, feeling her warm breath on my lips. I’m breathing heavier, like I’m in a trance, Lucy’s own inhales keeping pace. We’re like two magnets drawn to each other. My fingers splay across her back. I feel the pull—the intense draw—to feel her soft lips against mine. It’s all I can think about.
A whistle in the distance makes us both jump, causing a collision of noses. We break apart as a quick, slightly painful, tingling sensation erupts from mine.
“Ow,” Lucy says, reaching up and covering her nose with her hand.
“That hurt,” I say, touching my own.
“Am I bleeding?” she asks, pulling her hand away from her nose and tilting her head back.
