Page 34 of Slash & Burn

GRADY

I’d gotten to the pool an hour early just to psyche myself up. Sitting on the bench in the locker room, I hadn’t gotten very far. I was stuck in place, working on the box breathing technique I’d watched on a YouTube video that morning. It was keeping me from spiraling, but then I heard the door to the ladies’ locker room click and knew Jill had arrived. Go time.

The smell of the chlorine was unsettling. As was the dark pool. Keeping the lights off had been part of the arrangement I’d made with Reggie, the gym manager. I’d told him I needed to workout without anyone around, and being such a big Brawlers fan, he’d agreed on the spot.

“Well, this is very horror movie-esque,” Jill said as she walked out of the locker room. “I take it the cloak of darkness is part of your plan?”

I scraped a hand through my hair, the sight of her in another bathing suit tipping the scales from anxious to excited in record time. “Just trying to keep that low profile. You gonna be okay with the lights off?” There were a series of dim lights all around the pool, but it was still pretty dark.

“Yeah.” She shrugged, tossing her towel on the bench by the wall. “Plenty of night swims in the lake. At least here there are no seaweed monsters grabbing at my legs.” She smiled up at me, and I relaxed a little more. With her eyes drifting over the still water, she tentatively asked, “How do you want to do this?”

“Very carefully,” I muttered, my eyes following hers as my stomach knotted. The fear of her getting hurt if I freaked out was very much top of mind.

Jill skimmed her hand down my arm and the touch sent a riot of sparks erupting under my skin. “Start small.” Moving past me she sat on the side of the pool, draping her legs into the water.

It was an invitation for me to do the same, but I needed to move faster this time. I didn’t want to give the fear a chance to creep up on me again. I needed to shove right past it, so I strode over to the stairs in the corner and took them one rapid step at a time. The water was practically room temperature but as it splashed up my legs and over my waist I grit my teeth. My whole body was shaking by the time I’d walked out into the shallow end, facing the other side of the pool but freezing in place before I could get there.

A tiny splash came from behind me as Jill hopped off the side and walked over. “Not sure why you needed me here. Looks like you’ve got this just fine.”

She stopped beside me, and I felt her eyes on me, but I couldn’t meet them. “Yeah, I’m doing great.” I looked down at my hands, water flinging off them because they were trembling so hard.

“You are. You’re doing better than you think.”

I needed a distraction from the sickness in my stomach that was starting to overwhelm me. “What’s your favorite color, Jilly?” Looking over in time to catch the surprise on her face, I focused on her as the stars started to flit on the edge of my vision.

“Green,” she finally said, lowering herself in the water until only her head and neck were visible. She spread her arms and fanned them back and forth, amusement in her eyes. “What about you?”

“Yellow.” I practically spat the word, fighting with my raging pulse to get enough air. “Favorite season?”

Jill stayed crouched beneath the surface, swaying back and forth, her eyes never leaving mine. “Winter. Best book-reading weather,” she added with a wink.

I huffed out a laugh, I loved winter, too, but for a different reason.

“And you? You know I’m going to hit you back.”

“Hockey season,” I said, my shoulders dropping a fraction as the stars faded.

“Typical,” Jill muttered, turning and moving farther away. The distance wasn’t great, but I found myself moving toward her, following her, not wanting the gap to get too wide.

“I know you’re going to hate this one, but what’s your favorite book?”

She spun back at me so fast water splashed up onto my chest and I let out a laugh. Her incredulous scowl was even more comical than I’d imagined it’d be. “How dare you! I could never.”

“You have to. Rules of the game.”

“You’re a mean man, Grady Holloway.” She frowned, splashing at the water like a kid. “If my life depended on me picking one . . .” She glanced up at me, biting her lip. “Just one?”

“Yep.” I was letting myself stare at the dent her teeth were making in that plump lower lip as I slumped lower in the water, letting it close around me up to my neck. Jill hesitated, watching me closely, as if she knew I was testing my limits, before she finally responded.

“Fine. Sadist.” She swirled the water around her again, and my eyes fell to the waves rippling off the tops of her breasts. “It’s not even a book. It’s a short story.”

“Spill it.”

“Floating Bridge by Alice Munro.”

I lowered all the way to my knees, the water just below my chin. “See, that wasn’t so hard.”

“It was cruel.” Jill moved in the direction of the deep end and I followed, stopping right before the edge sloped off. “Do I even bother asking if you have a favorite book?” She whipped around. “One that isn’t about sports.”

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