Page 16 of Swim To Me

“Okay,” I agree, gesturing with my hand to the pool lying ahead of the tunnel. “After you.”

With Delilah’s back to me, I’m able to let free the grin I’ve been holding back and allow my eyes to rest on her bouncing backside.

This is unfamiliar territory for me. I see bodies day in, day out, even more so when I used to compete. I’ve always seen them as simply a vessel which keeps us alive and active and able to do the things we love,withthe people we love.

Neverhave I before found myself crushing on somebody I’m teaching.

I’ve notcrushedon anybody since I was in my late teens.

Yes, there’ve been pretty girls, who’ve made my heart race and my cock hard. I’d even thought I’d been in love once upon a time.

But this…

My teeth at the back ache to bite down on Delilah’s soft flesh, but I can’t. I know I can’t.

But, God, do Iwantto.

Chapter 5

Grey

Ifold down the plastic seating of the chair, watching out of the corner of my eye as Delilah perches herself on the edge of her seat as much as humanly possible without falling off. Her towel sits in a tidy bundle on her lap, hands threaded together and resting on top. Her right leg crosses over the left, highlighting the lean line in her calf and the way the heel of her right flip flop hangs away from her flesh.

I find myself distracted by it.

Why the fuck am I distracted by it?

Spreading my own legs, I lean my forearms on my knees, turning towards her enough to spot her upper teeth sinking into her lower lip as she gazes across to the children’s swimming class. A third of them are in the water now, splashing and laughing while trying to catch as many rubber ducks for their team as possible.

Someone must have picked up the net bag and distributed them out after I’d dropped them all over the floor.

“God, this is ridiculous!” Delilah breaks out. “Why am I so bloody nervous? I—”

“It’s normal to be,” I reassure her as I would do any other nervous swimmer. “You’re learning something new.”

Delilah doesn’t reply, so I stay silent, the clock ticking obnoxiously above us until she physically straightens her back, turns towards me and accidentally knocks her knee in mine. A patch of strange heat flares up across my knee in response, in the exact spot her skin had touched mine for a second.

When I notice the way her hands tighten in her lap, her knuckles turning white, I guess she must feel the heat tickle her skin too.

As quickly as she knocks into me, Delilah retracts her body.

She doesn’t retract her tongue, though. “So, ground rules.”

I nod. “Hit me with them.”

“I-I don’t want to be pressured. I’m not looking to be a professional swimmer; I just want to–I just want to prove I can do it. Swimming. I want to prove I can get in the water and swim.”

“Of course. It’s a complete pressure free zone here, Delilah. You’re in control, whatever you say goes. Okay?”

Her head bobs in agreement, even though her face is still visibly drawn.

Across the pool, one of the gentlemen who’d been swimming, steps out, trailing water all over. Not a second later, a sharp whistle blows as Miss Peters wags her finger at a young girl for misbehaving.

I inhale, savouring the familiar sounds reverberating all around, the strong smell of chlorine I’ve grown up alongside.

Beside me, I see Delilah twitch.

I can sympathise with her fear; there’s things in this world I’m not too keen on myself and being a swim teacher for the past seven years has shown me every aspect of people’s fears alongside their capabilities.

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