Page 103 of Bombshells
Cedric’s eyes are huge as dinner plates. “That’s some next-level shit.”
“Yeah, he’s not a good man.” I look down at the calm pool water. “But the point of this story is that swimming down to grab that weight appeals to me about as much as it does to you. And I didn’t want you to walk out of here thinking you were the only guy with an uneasy relationship with the water.”
He’s staring at me like he’s not sure I’m being serious. “But you taught us all those other things—treading water and everything.”
“Sure. There’s a fair amount of fake-it-till-you-make-it in every man’s life. You can bullshit your way through a lot when you need to. But there always comes a day when you have to fess up and own that you don’t know what the hell you’re doing. I guess that’s today.”
The proctor opens the pool door and sticks his head through. “I just realized my weights are still down there. Would you mind grabbing them for me?”
Cedric laughs. “You might have to ask someone else.”
“No,” I say, getting to my feet. I yank off my T-shirt. “I’ll do it.”
“Really, boss?”
“Yup. You going to help me?”
He hesitates. “Do I have to?”
“Nope. But...” I turn to Fineberger in the doorway. “If he gets a weight off the bottom, will he pass?”
The guy frowns. “If you hurry. Sure.”
“Come on, Cedric. Just try one more time. There’s nobody here to see what happens if it doesn’t work out.”
He groans. “Are you gonna get them both if I don’t?”
I slip into the water. “Can’t say for sure,” I admit. It’s the most honest I’ve been in a long time. “Could really go either way.”
“Hell,” he says under his breath. Then he walks over to the ladder and lowers himself back into the water. “That story you told me better not be something you saw in a movie once. Or I’m gonna be pissed.”
I laugh. “It’s not. I swear.”
“Two minutes,” Fineberger says. “And…go.”
I swim out into the middle of the deep end. I put my face under the water and look down. The weights are right under us. So close, but so far.
Cedric is watching me when I raise my head. “Count of three?”
“Yeah.”
He shakes his head. “This is so dumb. One. Two. Three.”
I take a deep breath, and I don’t wait to see if he’s going under. I just go. And it’s harder than I thought it would be to dive so deeply underwater. The last foot or two feel the worst, with my lungs bursting and my nose burning.
With a fierce kick, I close in on the weight, grabbing for it just as I see a Cedric-sized thing flailing to grab the other one.
Once my hand closes around it, I know this is going to work. I tug, putting my feet down at the same time. That gives me leverage to push off the bottom, and I go shooting toward the surface.
The damn weight practically floats through the water with me. Who knew?
When I break the surface, I’m alone up there for several rapid beats of my heart. But then Cedric pops up with a whoop.
“Swim down here, guys,” Fineberger says, because he’s some kind of aquatic drill sergeant.
“Piece of cake!” I yell, and Cedric laughs.
Then he inhales water and starts to choke, damn it.
