Lan turns to Jake. “Best part? Mr. I Don’t Get Attached won’t let that compact seductressnearthe usual girls. Nah. Those, he keeps on leashes. Her? She gets the throne in the princess suite.”
That one lands deeper than his last hook. My fist answersfor me, cracking across his jaw. He staggers, spits blood, still smiling like he’s pulling my stitches apart.
Gasping between laughs, he shoves his glove at me to ward me off and says, “And—and—he hasn’t touched anyone else since she showed up.”
With a sneer, I spit out my guard. “When you’ve got a personal sex puppet, you don’t need to run a circus.”
The girls I use are bandages. Ashlyn’s my suppurating wound. Others let me disappear. She forces me to exist.
He shrugs, mouth curling. “Couldn’t tell you, bro. Keep lying to yourself, though.”
Jake cuts in. “We done?”
“Yeah.” I strip off my gloves and toss them across the mat. “Don’t know why we’re still friends.”
Lan punches my shoulder lightly, then gathers me under his broad arm. Ihatethat he’s so much taller than me. Not many people are. His lips smack loudly against my cheek. “Because I’m the only one who can tell you the truth and take your hits, bitch.”
My hands weasel out enough to shove him away from me as Tade enters with his athletic bag slung over one shoulder. His eyebrows raise. “Ready?”
“Give me two minutes.”
An ice-cold shower scrapes the heated rage from my skin. I toss on some sweatpants and a hoodie, then grab my bag and accompany myrealfriend to the natatorium.
The air shifts from chalk dust to sharp chlorine, and my muscles tingle, aching for a stretch in the warm waters. Tade’s a good guy and lets me in the building when I want to burn out the rest of any lingering agony left in my soul for the day.
And I have a lot to deal with, considering tonight is the Wednesday pre-Thanksgiving bar event withTheta…and lots of sorority sisters. Including Hailey Twinston.
Ashlyn’s at herOmegacharity event this afternoon, butshe’s supposed to show up at Westmore bar. And when she does, despite what Lan said, I plan to make her kneel at my side while toying with her all night. Probably make out with Elowyn and Blaire in the booth while my pet has to watch. And Hailey, too.Gods, maybe it will throw her off me.
Lights are dimmed in the arena. Filters hum under the balloon-white ceiling. First dive off the block, and the world disappears. Air is all I need to think about. I hold it as long as I can, then break the surface, pulling in only what I need to push forward again.
My shoulders roll through each stroke until I’m cutting down the lane like nothing outside the water exists. But when I flip and push off the wall, I’m not in the natatorium anymore.
I’m back at Crest.
The lake that summer was black as oil, glassy under a sky too dark to be trusted. She stood at the dock’s edge, shifting under the weight of the welt marks striping her back. Thirteen, trying to look like they didn’t hurt.
I pointed to the smooth surface like it were a patch of meadow. “Trust me. Cold water numbs it.”
Her eyes narrowed, full of suspicion. “Or it’ll make me drown.”
I dove in before she could argue. The shock of the midnight temperature stole my breath. When I resurfaced, tossing my wet locks out of my eyes, I beckoned her with a hand. “Then I’ll save you, baby girl.”
She lingered, bare toes curled over the cedar planks, lip caught between her teeth like she couldn’t decide if I was worth the trouble. Then she stepped off, straight into the deep, and I had her by the waist before she could flail.
We splashed, wrestled, her laughter snapping against the stillness like it didn’t belong there. Moonlight caught in her lashes, freckles bright with every flush of blood under her skin.
When we finally slowed, quiet enough to be sure nocounselor was near, we bobbed there, grinning like we’d gotten away with something. Her escape. Our secret.
I knew I’d want more of it. More of her.
Her lips trembled from the cold—or maybe the same thrill sparking in my chest. I brushed wet hair off her forehead and smirked. “You’ve never kissed anyone.”
Defiance flared in her eyes. “Yeah, I have.”
I swam closer, crowding her space until her back hit the dock’s submerged ladder. “No, you haven’t, baby.”
Her chin tilted up. “Have too.”